Hell's Half Acre (1954)

When a man (Wendell Corey) attempts to break free of his criminal past, his former partner (Robert Costa) attempts to blackmail him but is killed by the man's fiancee (Nancy Gates in Asian make-up). From there things go from bad to worse and only intensify when the man's first wife (Evelyn Keyes) show up to look for him. Set in Hawaii, this minor Republic noir effort makes good use of its Hawaiian locations but it's not the usual Technicolor exotic tourist Honolulu. Instead, we get the B&W seedy underbelly that the tourists never see, wonderfully shot with lots of shadows and dingy atmosphere by John L. Russell (PSYCHO). That's about the best that you can say about director John H. Auer's (who also produced) improbable scenario. Even its cast has seen better days, notably Evelyn Keyes who looks rather blowsy. The film gives two reliable supporting players, Philip Ahn (who gets to romance Marie Windsor) and Jesse White, some juicy roles for a change rather than the usual uninteresting parts they end up with. With a wasted Elsa Lanchester as a lady taxi driver, Keye Luke and Leonard Strong.