No Questions Asked

No Questions Asked (1951)

Runtime: 80 minutes

Directed by: Harold F. Kress

Starring: Barry Sullivan, Arlene Dahl, George Murphy, Jean Hagen, Richard Anderson

From: MGM

This is a random, obscure film noir and it's not the best I've seen from the genre... yet even the ones that are "only" good in the genre are ones I am still happy to see: 

I realized recently I hadn't seen any film noir for awhile; last night TCM played this obscure one so I knew that would be better than streaming an appropriate movie online. This is a noir about insurance scams; is no Pitfall, let alone Double Indemnity, but that does not mean the film is bad.

The scam itself is buying stolen merchandise from gangsters, and it's the insurance companies that are involved. Sounds like a paradox, but the lead (Steve) gets a finders-fee, the insurance company avoid a large settlement and the gangsters more cash than they would have otherwise. It is clear that Steve is the one who recovers the stolen goods so to paraphrase what a cop says, “Technically, it's legal. Morally, it stinks.” Morally, Steve does not look like a hero, even if he wants more money in order to impress a woman. There are two main ladies; of course one is a femme fatale bad girl where another is virtuous. Naturally, dealing with such people ends up causing Steve a lot of trouble. This is definitely a noir, and not just for how the movie begins with Steve being chased by the cops and him narrating to us how he ended up there... and all the scenes where you see people in the back of vehicles.

While not the best of its type, the movie is still fine. Barry Sullivan was in his fair share of genre movies so no surprise he did well here. So did Arlene Dahl and Jean Hagen as the two ladies. There are some surprises and amusing moments in the script from Sidney Sheldon, of all people. A villain who wishes to be Olympic-caliber in swimming is rather uncommon. While you may question a thing or two about the movie, it still should be a fine watch for noir fans, even though it is one of many films in the genre which are “fine” or better.