1942·Crime·1h 21m
7.1
★
Sadistic killer-for-hire Philip Raven becomes enraged when his latest job is paid off in marked bills. Vowing to track down his double-crossing boss, nightclub executive Gates, Raven sits beside Gates' lovely new employee, Ellen, on a train out of town. Although Ellen is engaged to marry the police lieutenant who's hunting down Raven, she decides to try and set the misguided hit man straight as he hides from the cops and plots his revenge.
Directed by Frank Tuttle
police
hitman
propaganda
cat
paranoia
femme fatale
film noir
conspiracy
black and white
train
hired killer
police shootout
nightclub performer
murder mystery
female magician
Trailer
IMDB
N/A
Where to Watch
Cast
Alan Ladd
Philip Raven
Veronica Lake
Ellen Graham
Robert Preston
Det. Michael Crane
Laird Cregar
Willard Gates
Tully Marshall
Alvin Brewster
Marc Lawrence
Tommy
Olin Howland
Blair Fletcher
Roger Imhof
Senator Burnett
Pamela Blake
Annie
Frank Ferguson
Albert Baker
Victor Kilian
Drew
Patricia Farr
Ruby
Crew
Frank Tuttle
Director
W.R. Burnett
Screenplay
Albert Maltz
Screenplay
John F. Seitz
Director of Photography
Wally Westmore
Makeup Department Head
Edith Head
Costume Design
Graham Greene
Novel
Frank Tuttle
Additional Writing
Walter Scharf
Orchestrator
Frank Loesser
Songs
Popular Reviews
54 reviews
Aphrodite
6.0★ · 05/13/26
ok raven, now you don't have to dream that nightmare anymore 🦅
ok raven, now you don't have to dream that nightmare anymore 🦅
playlistz
9.0★ · 12/27/25
probablemente la película a la que más amor le tengo, gracias veronica lake por hacerme entrar a este mundillo
probablemente la película a la que más amor le tengo, gracias veronica lake por hacerme entrar a este mundillo
annie
8.0★ · 11/25/25
“raven... how do you feel when you're doing... this”
“i feel fine”
this has been on my watch list for so long and im so glad i finally watched it. i loved it so much omf. veronica lake was phenomenal as always. alan ladd ate and robert preston was so cute.
veronica lake is so beautiful i can’t get over it. i’m so glad i got her to hear her sing. her voice is so pretty i love it so much. her hair is also on another level. it looks so soft i want to run my fingers through it. she was so good as ellen. and ellen was so extremely smart throughout this entire film. especially when she was leaving clues for the cops. i hate what gates did to her like she didn’t deserve that. gates sucked.
i don’t blame raven for what he did tbh. it was valid. especially for what that girl did to the cat in the beginning i would have slapped her too. and i mean he was sweet in his own way he bought her a dress and i love how he basically immediately fell in love with ellen. he was so real for that.
i loved ellen’s cop he was so sweet most of the time. i love how at the end he wasn’t really mad at her. like he tried to reason with her and idk i just liked them together. i wish we got more scenes with both of them.
i loved everyone in this but i would have loved to see bogie and bacall in this. i just feel like this would have been a good fit for them yk.
anyway shorter review than normal but im traveling for thanksgiving so i’ll try my best to continue my movie everyday streak!!! im up to an 83 day streak :)
“raven... how do you feel when you're doing... this”
“i feel fine”
this has been on my watch list for so long and im so glad i finally watched it. i loved it so much omf. veronica lake was phenomenal as always. alan ladd ate and robert preston was so cute.
veronica lake is so beautiful i can’t get over it. i’m so glad i got her to hear her sing. her voice is so pretty i love it so much. her hair is also on another level. it looks so soft i want to run my fingers through it. she was so good as ellen. and ellen was so extremely smart throughout this entire film. especially when she was leaving clues for the cops. i hate what gates did to her like she didn’t deserve that. gates sucked.
i don’t blame raven for what he did tbh. it was valid. especially for what that girl did to the cat in the beginning i would have slapped her too. and i mean he was sweet in his own way he bought her a dress and i love how he basically immediately fell in love with ellen. he was so real for that.
i loved ellen’s cop he was so sweet most of the time. i love how at the end he wasn’t really mad at her. like he tried to reason with her and idk i just liked them together. i wish we got more scenes with both of them.
i loved everyone in this but i would have loved to see bogie and bacall in this. i just feel like this would have been a good fit for them yk.
anyway shorter review than normal but im traveling for thanksgiving so i’ll try my best to continue my movie everyday streak!!! im up to an 83 day streak :)
Poo
7.0★ · 11/08/25
Raven to every person around him: 😠
Raven to a stray cat: 😍
Raven to a stray cat: 😍
Raven to every person around him: 😠
Raven to a stray cat: 😍
Raven to a stray cat: 😍
Bryce
8.0★ · 07/31/25
Alan Ladd does a great job of making you root for raven in this and him and Lake have great chemistry. Raven suffers from childhood trauma. The plot is engaging in its very fast run time. Raven unfortunately can't survive because villains had to lose in the 40s
Alan Ladd does a great job of making you root for raven in this and him and Lake have great chemistry. Raven suffers from childhood trauma. The plot is engaging in its very fast run time. Raven unfortunately can't survive because villains had to lose in the 40s