This picture is, in some ways, a re-working of Fox's CHARLIE CHAN AT THE CIRCUS. The problem with the whole affair is that the pacing is deadly. Most emblematic of this is poor Lee J. Cobb. He sleepwalks through his performance (this is the same year he played Johnny Friendly in ON THE WATERFRONT). I would love to have been a fly on the wall between takes listening to Cobb and fellow Actors Studio chum Anne Bancroft bemoaning their current assignment. Don't get me wrong - this is a swell slice of cheese; the color is magnificent and even in 2-D it's a visual banquet set dec-wise. But it should have moved a lot quicker and clocked in around 76 instead of 83 minutes. With so much footage devoted to the investigating officer, they needed a firecracker in the Jimmy Gleason mold, not tired-out Willy Loman at the end of one of his long trips.
As for Raymond Burr being surprised that John Kellogg was a schnook behind the shooting gallery counter, he should have seen THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH!
As for Raymond Burr being surprised that John Kellogg was a schnook behind the shooting gallery counter, he should have seen THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH!