I always felt that Fred MacMurray was a bit of a lurch as an actor. Never particularly versatile nor charismatic to watch. Here, though, he is pretty effective as the undercover cop "Sheridan". Things hot up for his character when he encounters the enigmatic "Lona" (Kim Novak) and soon they are having a passionate affair. What we soon find out is that she is the gal of a thief behind a $200k robbery and he is supposed to be using her to get to her beau. When she discovers he is a policeman she tries to make sure that he is, and stays, in her corner. He, on the other hand, has a job to do - or does he? This packs loads into ninety minutes with a decent amount of intrigue and plenty of raw greed as you are never quite sure who (if anyone) is going to betray whom. Novak is also on good form as is the sparingly used Dorothy Malone and E.G. Marshall as his streetwise lieutenant "Eckstrom". Richard Quine manages to sustain the suspense well right until the end of this superior crime-noir that boasts a better than average plot and script and is well worth a gander.
