

Gamblers who "took" an out-of-town sucker in a crooked poker game feel shadowy vengeance closing in on them.
Acting
Pre-icon Heston, sweaty and desperate.
Cinematography
Victor Milner makes every doorway a threat.
Direction
Dieterle builds dread like a debt collector.

Director
William Dieterle
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Charlton Heston's first leading role—studio wanted him bulkier, he refused. The insecurity you see is partly real.
Released the same year as Sunset Boulevard, this B-noir got buried. It's Dieterle's revenge on the industry that sidelined him after The Devil and Daniel Webster.