....and everyone's heard of the 'Duke Mantee' role which helped put Bogie onto the road to stardom. He is quite convincing, obviously modelled on Dillinger--sitting, glowering, pointing w/ his gun and ruling the second half of the movie as he does the BBQ w/ ease. The first half--is kinda slow and talky, w/ Foran, Davis and Howard trading jobes, dreams and stereotypical commentary back and forth 'til you really are just hoping someone comes by and pushes Howard out the door.<br /><br />I agree w/ the strikingly modern portrayal of Slim Thompson-seen almost as an equal in the Mantee clan as 'Jackie Cooper',( it's a better part than Sam Jackson had in Goodfellas, for example._ Contrast it w/ the Uncle Tom limo driver and you see what I mean.<br /><br />Porter Hall by the way looks an awful lot like Mel Blanc doesn't he? I enjoyed how these three strutting 'vigilantes' are completely at a loss when actually confronted by Mantee. That was funny.<br /><br />Overall an obvious talky play was the source, but it's well handled, fakey cloud painting backdrop and all.<br /><br />*** outta ****