Johnny Allegro (1949)

An ex-gangster (George Raft), who once escaped from prison without completing his time, is contacted by a U.S. Treasury agent (Will Geer) to go undercover and infiltrate a counterfeit ring with a vague promise that it might pardon him. Directed by Ted Tetzlaff (THE WINDOW), this enjoyable potboiler has too many familiar elements from other thrillers (specifically THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME for one) to be original but it's fast paced and there's always something happening. The enervated Raft, never much of an actor, is already starting to show his age here and he has no chemistry with his leading lady, a sexy Nina Foch. But the lush, jungle like island setting off the coast of Florida (it's actually an arboretum near Pasadena, California) is a marvelous playground. George Macready as the sinister crime king seems to be doing yet another retread of his GILDA role. The active score is by George Duning. With Ivan Triesault and Gloria Henry.