Alias Nick Beal (1949)

An honest but ambitious District Attorney (Thomas Mitchell) wants to run for Governor and clean up the criminal elements in his state. This makes him easy prey for a slick con man (Ray Milland) who magically has the ability to get things done. Directed by John Farrow (THE BIG CLOCK), this is an updating of the Faust legend with film noir trimmings. I think it might have worked better if Milland's evil con man was merely a devilish hustler instead literally being the devil. This lets Mitchell's "good" man off the hook too easily. He greedily gobbles up every slice of corruption offered up by the satanic Milland but his too quick change of heart at the end seems like a deus ex machina rather than coming organically. This being the post war 1940s, it would be too much to ask for the movie to descend into the darkness that seems inevitable rather than the pseudo religious ending. With Audrey Totter giving a nice performance as a prostitute serving Milland's devil, George Macready, Fred Clark, Geraldine Wall and Darryl Hickman.