Under-Cover Man

It's a pretty good story but not that good a film. The problem is that never feels alive, nobody seems real, there's nothing to engage with but it still keeps your attention.

Undercover Man is the best track on VDGG's Godbluff album (1975) and is a lot more interesting than this film.

If you not sure whether George Raft is the most wooden actor of Hollywood's golden age then this will confirm your worst suspicions. The plot however keeps him busy enough for you not to notice his acting limitations. The plot is pretty good and could have been the basis of a fantastic movie had it been made by a different director with a different cast and a different scriptwriter. Besides George Raft (who for some reason have had a huge fan-base) and David Landau (who makes George Raft seem like Laurence Olivier), the other problem is that nobody is at all likeable. You couldn't care less what happens to them.

Nancy Carroll wasn't flavour of the month at Paramount by the time she was in this, she wanted meatier dramatic roles, she believed she was too good for these run of the mill type movies - her lack of enthusiasm shows in this and it didn't do much for her career. Nevertheless she was a good actress (as she showed in DEVIL'S HOLIDAY and BROKEN LULLABY) and is one of the few people in this picture who manages to seem like real person.