A DANGEROUS PROFESSION

Wikipedia says that A DANGEROUS PROFESSION (1949) is a film noir.

I disagree.

In my opinion, this RKO production is an overly convoluted yet thoroughly routine crime drama made worth watching primarily for the cast.

George Raft, who made three other films at RKO after WWII (JOHNNY ANGEL (1945), NOCTURNE (1946) and RACE STREET (1948)), stars as ex LAPD detective turned bail bondsman Vince Kane. He's partners with Joe Farley (Pat O'Brien) and the two do a very good business.

When two bit hoodlum Claude Brackett (Bill Williams), gets arrested, Kane discovers that he's married to his old flame, Lucy (the oh-so-beautiful Ella Raines). Brackett was involved in a years-old robbery case and is wanted by police detective Nick Ferrone (Jim Backus), for the murder of a cop.

Kane takes a considerable amount of bail money from two separate parties to bail Brackett but when Brackett disappears, Kane is forced to play detective once again and find his missing client.

Kane's quest leads him into a complicated web of crime, intrigue and murder. Is he really trying to solve the case out of a sense of duty or to win back his old flame?

The film climaxes with a shoot-out and fight staged close to L.A.'s legendary Bronson Caverns in which a couple of stunt men really earn their pay.

Everything is tied up in a neat package at film's end and Kane and Lucy are reunited at last.

A DANGEROUS PROFESSION was directed by Ted Tetzlaff who directed the far superior noir thriller THE WINDOW (1949). Raft and O'Brien are old pros who seem to be on automatic. Raft is especially stiff while it's interesting to see perennial good guy O'Brien play a character with a touch of larceny in his heart. The gorgeous Ella Raines also appeared in such better noirs as PHANTOM LADY (1944), BRUTE FORCE (1947) and IMPACT (1949). 

The real surprise here is the appearance of Backus as both narrator and police detective. Of course, this was years before he did the Mr. Magoo cartoons and starred in IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD (1963) and television's GILLIGAN'S ISLAND. He's actually surprisingly good. 

 Light years away from greatness, A DANGEROUS PROFESSION is an okay time waster to enjoy on a brutally hot late summer afternoon.