Abandoned (1949)

A young woman (Gale Storm) arrives in Los Angeles looking for her missing sister. When she discovers her sister is dead and supposedly committed suicide, she refuses to believe she took her own life. Teaming with a newspaper reporter (Dennis O'Keefe), their journey leads them to the unsavory world of black market baby brokers. Directed by Joseph M. Newman (THIS ISLAND EARTH), this is a skillful B programmer that follows the traditional film noir path with ace results. It benefits from a semi documentary approach (it even has a narrator) and authentic L.A. locations. I didn't detect any studio scenes. That underrated cinematographer William H. Daniels (SOME CAME RUNNING) is responsible for the evocative B&W atmosphere, almost the entire film takes place at night with only a couple of daytime scenes. The acting is fine (though O'Keefe's character is annoying at times) but two performances stand out. Raymond Burr as a slimy private dick and Marjorie Rambeau as the cold blooded baby broker. The underscore is comprised of stock music but the main title is recognizable as the work of Miklos Rozsa. With Jeff Chandler (who also does the voice over narration), Jeanette Nolan, Will Kuluva, Mike Mazurki and Meg Randall.