Nick Cherney, in prison for embezzling from Torno Freight Co., sees a chance to get back at Johnny Torno through his young priest brother Jess. He pays fellow prisoner Rocky, who gets out a week before Nick, to murder Jess... who, dying, tells revenge-minded Johnny that he'd written a clue "in the Bible." Frustrated, Johnny obsessively searches for the missing Gideon Bible from Jess's hotel room.
Acting
Raymond Burr's simmering prison menace.
Cinematography
Shadow-drenched LA locations scream noir.
Direction
Roy Del Ruth keeps it lean and mean.
Director
Roy Del Ruth
George Raft
Johnny Torno
Virginia Mayo
Carla North
Gene Lockhart
Warni Hazard
Raymond Burr
Nick Cherney
Harry Morgan
Rocky
Barton MacLane
Detective Strecker
Arthur Franz
Fr. Jess Torno
Ken Murray
Ken Murray
Stanley Clements
Carlson Hotel Bellhop
William Frawley
Hotel Night Clerk
Arthur Shields
Father Redmond
Frank Orth
Wallace 'Wally' Stoner
Phillip Pine
Pablo Cabrillo
William Phillips
Det. Jim Ryan
Movita
Trina (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was one of five films George Raft made in 1949 as his star power faded; he reportedly hated the script but needed the work.
The 'Gideon Bible as clue' gimmick rode a postwar religious revival wave, making sacred objects suddenly marketable in crime plots.
US
