Humphrey Bogart stars along with Lizabeth Scott in this movie set in a small seaside town, called Gulf City. He plays an army captain, Warren (Rip) Murdock, an army paratrooper, who’s been ordered to find a sergeant, who went missing, before he was to receive The Congressional Medal of Honor. He finds out the sergeant, a close friend, was killed in a car accident. When he starts to close in on why his friend was killed, the crime boss of the town, Martinelli, has him questioned, by his enforcer using more than a little physical force. Bogart tells Martinelli, that he left a note at the hotel desk, explaining things. He also tells him that he told the desk clerk, to call the police, if he wasn’t back at a certain time. Martinelli instructs his enforcer to take the badly beaten Bogart, back to the hotel, to retrieve the incriminating letter. When he is taken out of the car, he sees two detectives, who have an interest in the case. Bogart tells them that the thug has a gun, but he flees in his car, before they can catch him.
Bogart is nursed to health, by Dusty Chandler, the woman with a connection to Martinelli. When he recovers, he tracks Martinelli and his gunsel down. This time he’s armed with phosphorus grenades, which he uses. Martinelli’s muscle flees through a window. Martinelli, fearing death confesses. He tells Bogart that he was in love with Dusty, but she was married to an old man in frail health. He got the sergeant to kill her husband, so he could marry her. The sergeant was also in love with her, and he was killed by Martinelli. After he confesses, Martinelli tries to flee out the front door. He is shot dead by Dusty Chandler. Bogart and Dusty leave the scene in a car. While traveling, Bogart tells her, that he knows the deal, and that she meant to kill him, but she thought Martinelli was him. She grabs the wheel, causing an accident. Bogart is recovering from his injury, and receives a call from his commanding officer. He tells him he’s wrapped up the case. After this, he visits Dusty, in the next room, who dies from her injuries.
Dead Reckoning isn’t Bogart’s best film. He does get an A for effort for giving his best with a weak script. His mark as an actor was bringing film noir to to the general public. This genre made him a star.
Lizabeth Scott plays the femme fatale in this film. She is credible in this movie. She lacks the fine acting skills required of her for this part. It doesn’t help her that the dialogue isn’t the best.
Morris Carnovsky plays Martinelli, the crime boss in the film. He is typical of the bad guy in this genre, but his performance doesn’t really make or break the film. He does show his true colors, when he confesses to Bogart, because he doesn’t want to die. He does show his acting skills when he runs out in panic, when the room is on fire.
John Cromwell directed this movie. He has a couple good directorial scenes. He has a scene when Bogart is hit on the head and lapses into unconsciousness. Bogart’s character describes it like being a paratrooper and jumping out of the plane, and then hitting the ground. When he wakes, he sees bright light, which reminds him of enemy fire. Also when the house is burning, at the climax of the film, it is raining outside, lending to the gloomy atmosphere.
This film is ok for what it is. That is, another entry into film noir. This genre like horror, requires a certain type of feel. That doesn’t always work, which is the case with this movie. It does have two points in its favor. The first is Humphrey Bogart is telling his story to a priest, making the narration a little different. The second one is that it has Bogart in the movie. He excelled in film noir, and should be mentioned in any conversation about this genre.