Federal Agent At Large (1950)

This blog has been dormant for far too long, so it's time for a change... I will try to do smaller reviews more frequently with hopefully a bigger review every so often. I will also post these smaller reviews on my Letterboxd account, so feel free to follow me on there. First up is Poverty Row's 'Federal Agent At Large' from 1950...

Matt Reedy (Kent Taylor, Boston Blackie in the early 50s TV series) -- and not Mark Reed as listed on IMDb -- is an undercover US federal agent in Mexico under the alias Nick Ravel. He is investigating a gold smuggling ring that is also believed to have ended the life of another undercover agent. The gang is forcing archaeology professor Dr. Ross Carrington (Robert Rockwell, 'Lonely Hearts Bandits') to hide the gold inside artifacts to smuggle them into the States. Through a local pawn shop owner Reedy manages to infiltrate the gang by getting introduced to Solitaire (Dorothy Patrick, 'Follow Me Quietly') who is second in command just below the mysterious Mr. Upstairs but who carries a toch for Carrington...

The way the story is told is primarily through one long flashback sequence. Reedy strikes up a friendship with one of the gang members, Angel (Frank Puglia, 'Walk Softly, Stranger') by helping him write letters to his daughter. It is through Angel that Reedy manages to deliver a recording of all that's going on to his superiors. The movie starts with Angel delivering the tape to the feds, and right up until the very end the movie's told in flashback as the agents listen to the tape before springing into action.

This movie was made by Republic Pictures, one of the most prolific Poverty Row studios. Their noir-ish movies (and this is admittedly barely noir-ish) tended to be decent and fast-paced, but you wouldn't expect to find many gems among them. Don't expect brilliantly lit chiaroscuro scenes or labyrinthine plots, but at the same time these movies rarely had filler scenes. Prolific director George Blair ('Scotland Yard Investigator') and DoP John MacBurnie ('The Red Menace') knew how to make these movies, and they also deliver here. Unfortunately the actors are less than stellar, even by Poverty Row standards they don't really stand out. Except perhaps Dorothy Parker, but that has more to do with the ambiguity in her character than her own talents.

One thing to note, and this is a spoiler, is that Reedy does not make it to the end of this movie alive. It is quite different compared to most crime & noir movies of that era and does set this movie apart a bit. However, it is far from a hidden gem, and I would only expect fans of these low-budget crime movies to enjoy 'Federal Agent At Large'.

5+/10