In one night after the Second World War, Capt. Warren 'Rip' Murdock (Humphrey Bogart) goes to a Catholic church and confess to a priest that he has been chased by the police and gangsters, and he would like to clean the name of his best friend, Sgt. Johnny Drake/John Joseph Preston (Wiliam Prince). He explained that Johnny was in love of a woman, Coral 'Dusty' Chandler (Lizabeth Scott). When they returned to USA, through the airport of La Guardia (N.Y.), they were confidentially sent by train to Washington. When they found that they would be decorated for their performances in the war, Johnny rushed to another train and vanished. Murdock decided to investigate the reason for such a behavior, and found in an old newspaper that Johnny was accused of murdering Coral's husband some years ago, and he had enlisted the Army with a false name, trying to escape from the crime. He moved to St. Louis, trying to meet Johnny, but instead he confronted a powerful mobster, Martinelli (Morris Carnovisky), had trouble with the local police and felt in love with Carol. "Dead Reckoning" is an authentic film-noir, with all the necessary "ingredients": the fatal woman, lots of money, sordid environment, crimes and dirty cops. However, the story of "Dead Reckoning" is magnificently developed in flashbacks and is very engaging, with many plot points, having a wonderful black and white photography, using perfectly the effects of the shadows, a very gorgeous actress Lizabeth Scott with a beautiful voice and Humphrey Bogart, my favorite actor ever. The dialogs are fantastic, having very sharp lines. I really liked this unknown film a lot, and I believe that fans of film-noir will certainly appreciate it. My vote is ten.
Title (Brazil): "Confissão" ("Confession")
Title (Brazil): "Confissão" ("Confession")