Talk about overrated

I was very disappointed with this film, as I have been (so far) with the other selections in the Fox Film Noir V. 3 DVD set. Despite an excellent cast and the dazzling Jane Russell as the romantic lead, this film plods interminably. Almost half an hour goes by before Vincent Price makes his entrance, and by that time I'd lost interest in the story.

Mitchum, usually a commanding presence, is obviously suffering from weak direction, as he seems to be moving at a glacial pace. His dialogue is terrible and falls flat. Price is hyper-active, and Raymond Burr and Jim Backus are wasted in this terminally boring mix of suspense and strained attempts at comedy.

Worst of all, it's almost two hours long. Most "thrillers" of this vintage benefit from being concise. You get the setup, the windup, and the pitch in an economical 90 minutes, give or take. This flick, however, is more than slow-paced. It crawls.

When I see "film noir" on a box, I'm hoping for skull-duggery, moral grey areas, twists, turns, baffling mystery, people seeming to be other than what they are. While noir films don't all have to be James M. Cain stories, this one is really too light-hearted and satirical to qualify.