# The Crooked Way > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Crooked_Way > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Crooked_Way.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crooked_Way > Source revision: 1339368814 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1949 film by Robert Florey The Crooked Way Theatrical release poster Directed by Robert Florey Screenplay by Richard H. Landau Based on the radio play No Blade Too Sharp by Robert Monroe Produced by Benedict Bogeaus Starring John Payne Sonny Tufts Ellen Drew Cinematography John Alton Edited by Frank Sullivan Music by Louis Forbes Production company Benedict Bogeaus Productions Distributed by United Artists Release date April 22, 1949 (1949-04-22) Running time 90 minutes Country United States Language English ***The Crooked Way*** is a 1949 American [film noir](/source/Film_noir) starring [John Payne](/source/John_Payne_(actor)), [Sonny Tufts](/source/Sonny_Tufts) and [Ellen Drew](/source/Ellen_Drew). Directed by [Robert Florey](/source/Robert_Florey) and shot by [John Alton](/source/John_Alton), the film has a similar plot (a war hero loses his memory from a combat wound) to another film noir, *[Somewhere in the Night](/source/Somewhere_in_the_Night_(film))*. ## Plot After sustaining a head wound in combat, decorated [World War II](/source/World_War_II) veteran Eddie Rice (John Payne) is treated at a [San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco) military hospital for a permanent form of [amnesia](/source/Amnesia). This leaves him with no knowledge of his life, family and friends prior to his enlistment. Army intelligence is unable to fill this void, as all they know about his past is that he enlisted in [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles). Doctors tell him that no medical cure exists for his condition, but suggest that returning to L.A. might allow him to run into people who know him and might help fill in the blanks. Rice does so, and promptly runs into some folks who recognize him. However, they know him as Eddie Riccardi, a dangerous gangster gone missing, whose past record generates mistrust both among the police and all those who formerly knew him. A woman, Nina Martin, appears to help him, but instead turns him over to ruthless crime boss Vince Alexander (Sonny Tufts), who was betrayed by Eddie before leaving town, and is now out for revenge. Vince tries to frame Eddie for the murder of a policeman, but Nina, who reveals to Eddie that she used to be his wife in a stormy marriage, finds her bitterness towards him changing to tenderness, and decides to help him genuinely. ## Cast - [John Payne](/source/John_Payne_(actor)) as Eddie Rice/Eddie Riccardi - [Sonny Tufts](/source/Sonny_Tufts) as Vince Alexander - [Ellen Drew](/source/Ellen_Drew) as Nina Martin - [Rhys Williams](/source/Rhys_Williams_(actor)) as Lieutenant Joe Williams - [Percy Helton](/source/Percy_Helton) as Petey - [John Doucette](/source/John_Doucette) as Sgt. Barrett - Charles Evans as Captain Anderson (as Charlie Evans) - [Greta Granstedt](/source/Greta_Granstedt) as Hazel Downs - Raymond Largay as Arthur Stacey, M.D. - Harry Bronson as Danny - [Hal Baylor](/source/Hal_Baylor) as Coke (as Hal Fieberling) - [Don Haggerty](/source/Don_Haggerty) as Hood - Jack Overman as Hood - Crane Whitley as Doctor Kemble/Off-Screen Narrator - [John Harmon](/source/John_Harmon_(actor)) as Kelly - [Garry Owen](/source/Garry_Owen_(actor)) as Man from Green Acres Mortuary ## Reception The contemporary *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)* film critic wrote, "*The Crooked Way* races along as a melodrama should and it has more than enough plot to keep its hard-working actors going from one dangerous situation to another. But there is so much pointless brutality in it that one may seriously question whether the movie people are wise to go on with the making of such pictures. The human family may not be perfect, but why subject it to so-called entertainment that is only fit for savage beasts."[1] In the 2009 book *100 Film Noirs*, Jim Hillier compares and contrasts the film to *[Somewhere in the Night](/source/Somewhere_in_the_Night_(film))*. Hillier says that *The Crooked Way* benefited from its low budget by forcing the filmmakers to be more creative, which makes it the better film.[2] ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [*The New York Times*](https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E03E1DC1E3EE03BBC4D53DFBF668382659EDE). Film review, September 5, 1949. Accessed: July 9, 2013. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Hillier, Jim (2009). [*100 Film Noirs*](https://books.google.com/books?id=4WgdBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA59). [Palgrave Macmillan](/source/Palgrave_Macmillan). pp. 59–60. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781844575534](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781844575534). ## External links - [*The Crooked Way*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041269/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) - [*The Crooked Way*](https://web.archive.org/web/1/https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/71873/enwp) at the [TCM Movie Database](/source/Turner_Classic_Movies#TCMdb) (archived) - [*The Crooked Way*](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/25890) at the *[AFI Catalog of Feature Films](/source/AFI_Catalog_of_Feature_Films)* - [*The Crooked Way*](http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews20/the_crooked_way_dvd_review.htm) informational site and DVD review at DVD Beaver (includes images) - [*The Crooked Way* film scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTWP3IIp5aM) on [YouTube](/source/YouTube_video_(identifier)) v t e Films directed by Robert Florey One Hour of Love (1927) The Romantic Age (1927) Face Value (1927) The Life and Death of 9413: a Hollywood Extra (1928) The Hole in the Wall (1929) The Cocoanuts (1929) The Battle of Paris (1929) Skyscraper Symphony (1929) The Road Is Fine (1930) My Wife's Teacher (1930) Love Songs (1930) Black and White (1931) Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) The Man Called Back (1932) Those We Love (1932) Girl Missing (1933) Ex-Lady (1933) The House on 56th Street (1933) Bedside (1934) Registered Nurse (1934) Smarty (1934) I Sell Anything (1934) I Am a Thief (1934) The Woman in Red (1935) The Florentine Dagger (1935) Going Highbrow (1935) Don't Bet on Blondes (1935) Ship Cafe (1935) The Payoff (1935) The Preview Murder Mystery (1936) Till We Meet Again (1936) Hollywood Boulevard (1936) Outcast (1937) King of Gamblers (1937) Mountain Music (1937) This Way Please (1937) Daughter of Shanghai (1937) Dangerous to Know (1938) King of Alcatraz (1938) Disbarred (1939) Hotel Imperial (1939) The Magnificent Fraud (1939) Death of a Champion (1939) Parole Fixer (1940) Women Without Names (1940) The Face Behind the Mask (1941) Meet Boston Blackie (1941) Two in a Taxi (1941) Dangerously They Live (1941) Lady Gangster (1942) The Desert Song (1943) Roger Touhy, Gangster (1944) Man from Frisco (1944) God Is My Co-Pilot (1945) Danger Signal (1945) The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948) Rogues' Regiment (1948) Outpost in Morocco (1949) The Crooked Way (1949) The Vicious Years (1950) Johnny One-Eye (1950) Adventures of Captain Fabian (1951) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Crooked Way](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crooked_Way) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crooked_Way?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.