Cornered (1945)

At the end of WWII, a Canadian pilot (Dick Powell) goes on a self appointed mission to track down the Nazi who murdered his bride and kill him. This takes him to France, Switzerland and eventually, Argentina. This taut and tenacious noir is smoothly handled by Edward Dmytryk, who along with his star Powell and screenwriter John Paxton, had given us the classic MURDER MY SWEET the year before. Powell's protagonist is an irresponsible, headstrong bull; the kind that busts into a room shooting or beating up people and asks questions later. What this does, in fact, is risk far more important plans as well as jeopardize lives that go beyond his own personal vendetta. To the film's credit, the film doesn't try to justify his actions but paints a portrait of a very flawed hero. With Walter Slezak, Luther Adler, Morris Carnovsky, Steven Geray, Nina Vale and Micheline Cheirel (CARNIVAL IN FLANDERS).