In the late 40s, director Richard Fleischer was given the opportunity to direct a series of "B-list" film noirs including The Clay Pigeon. Typically a picture such as this, which only ran little more than an hour, was placed on the "undercard" of a double bill. Fleischer was given the reins to make such pictures at the time because he was regarded as being highly competent-he later proved his mettle directing numerous "A-list" films including Compulsion (starring Orson Welles) and Fantastic Voyage.
From the get go, The Clay Pigeon draws you in-a Navy veteran. Jim Fletcher (Bill Williams) wakes up from a coma in a naval hospital suffering from partial amnesia. Soon he learns that he's about to be court martialed for treason so he skedaddles out of the hospital, seeking to find out why he's in so much trouble.
Fletcher first seeks out Mark Gregory, his old pal from the Navy; both were imprisoned by the Japanese in a prisoner-of-war camp. When he gets to what he believes is Gregory's residence, his wife, Martha (Barbara Hale) is there instead. Hale of course was famous for playing Della Street, Perry Mason's secretary, on TV for years. You get the feeling that Hale and Williams have a lot of chemistry in their scenes together-that's because they were husband and wife in real life.
Before you know it, we discover that Fletcher, due to his amnesia, was unaware that Mark was dead]. Martha unsuccessfully attempts to call the police but Fletcher knocks her out and then forces her to drive him to Los Angeles where he can contact his other buddy from the prisoner-of-war camp, Ted Niles (Richard Quine).
Perhaps the weakest part of the script is the idea that Martha would so easily change her negative attitude toward Fletcher. This occurs when the couple is being chased by two unknown thugs on the way to Los Angeles. After escaping this threat, Fletcher makes contact with Niles and learns why he's wanted for treason: apparently he was blamed for snitching on Gregory who stole food from a pantry and subsequently was beaten to death by a cruel Japanese guard.
The tension ramps up when Fletcher spots that very Japanese guard-now working here in the U.S.-and unsuccessfully tries to detain him. Eventually there's an even bigger twist with Niles revealed as the real snitch and behind the plot to do Fletcher in. While the sadistic former guard Tokoyama (Richard Loo), referred as "The Weasel" during the war, appears to be a bit of a stereotyped villain, screenwriter Carl Foreman, way ahead of his time, balances things out when he has Fletcher hiding from the bad guys in the apartment of a Japanese-American widow--whose husband received the Distinguished Service Cross while serving in the 442nd Infantry Division, consisting of Japanese-Americans soldiers, bravely fighting in the European theater during World War II.
There's an exciting climax in which Fletcher fights both Tokoyama and Niles on a train and does them in with the assistance of local police, notified by Naval Intelligence at the last minute. The Clay Pigeon shines due to its nifty, efficient script, that clocks in at that aforementioned slightly more than an hour's running time!
From the get go, The Clay Pigeon draws you in-a Navy veteran. Jim Fletcher (Bill Williams) wakes up from a coma in a naval hospital suffering from partial amnesia. Soon he learns that he's about to be court martialed for treason so he skedaddles out of the hospital, seeking to find out why he's in so much trouble.
Fletcher first seeks out Mark Gregory, his old pal from the Navy; both were imprisoned by the Japanese in a prisoner-of-war camp. When he gets to what he believes is Gregory's residence, his wife, Martha (Barbara Hale) is there instead. Hale of course was famous for playing Della Street, Perry Mason's secretary, on TV for years. You get the feeling that Hale and Williams have a lot of chemistry in their scenes together-that's because they were husband and wife in real life.
Before you know it, we discover that Fletcher, due to his amnesia, was unaware that Mark was dead]. Martha unsuccessfully attempts to call the police but Fletcher knocks her out and then forces her to drive him to Los Angeles where he can contact his other buddy from the prisoner-of-war camp, Ted Niles (Richard Quine).
Perhaps the weakest part of the script is the idea that Martha would so easily change her negative attitude toward Fletcher. This occurs when the couple is being chased by two unknown thugs on the way to Los Angeles. After escaping this threat, Fletcher makes contact with Niles and learns why he's wanted for treason: apparently he was blamed for snitching on Gregory who stole food from a pantry and subsequently was beaten to death by a cruel Japanese guard.
The tension ramps up when Fletcher spots that very Japanese guard-now working here in the U.S.-and unsuccessfully tries to detain him. Eventually there's an even bigger twist with Niles revealed as the real snitch and behind the plot to do Fletcher in. While the sadistic former guard Tokoyama (Richard Loo), referred as "The Weasel" during the war, appears to be a bit of a stereotyped villain, screenwriter Carl Foreman, way ahead of his time, balances things out when he has Fletcher hiding from the bad guys in the apartment of a Japanese-American widow--whose husband received the Distinguished Service Cross while serving in the 442nd Infantry Division, consisting of Japanese-Americans soldiers, bravely fighting in the European theater during World War II.
There's an exciting climax in which Fletcher fights both Tokoyama and Niles on a train and does them in with the assistance of local police, notified by Naval Intelligence at the last minute. The Clay Pigeon shines due to its nifty, efficient script, that clocks in at that aforementioned slightly more than an hour's running time!