Andre De Toth a Hungarian by birth was renowned by all who knew him as a bit of character and a fun guy to be around, unless that is you were a producer at which point De Toth showed his argumentative side, a side of his character that saw him loose an eye in a pre war anti Nazi rally. De Toth was given a one off film deal with Warners to make a big budget film, Bogie,Cagney and Ava Gardner were proposed for this particular venture, to be filmed over 35 days, De Toth said he didn't want any of them and insisted he could make the film in 15 days with Sterling Hayden in the lead role of Det. Lt. Sims, De Toth's insistence paid off and he brought the completed film home two days ahead of schedule, despite this the film was shelved for 2 years and when eventually released failed at the box office, up until about ten years ago it was pretty much a forgotten film, with only one print known to exist. Filmed pretty much all on location around Los Angeles in a stunning verite style by Bert Glennon, the film has some truly stunning nightscapes with some very inventive lighting and tells the tale of Steve Lacey(Gene Nelson), an ex con, but a good guy at heart, who is now married to the stalwart Ellen(Phyllis Kirk) and is successfully going straight. Lacey receives a late night phone call from someone who doesn't identify themselves, Lacey worries that its his past come back to haunt him, he isn't wrong, within minutes a wounded ex cell mate of his from San Quentin is at his door looking for refuge, his wounds the results of a nearby brutal killing of a policeman at a gas station holdup. Before Lacey can do anything his guest dies, he rings his parole officer looking for help, but before he can do the right thing, the belligerent toothpick chewing Sims arrives at his door determined to pin the crime on him, the dead body only compounds Lacey's fate. Hayden is superb in the role and gives a very naturalistic performance in what is in some ways a semi documentary style of film, there's also a host of great supporting roles for the likes of Ted de Corsia and Charles Bronson who complete the hold up gang and also a really entertaining and utterly scene stealing "performance" by the truly psychotic Timothy Carey. Crime Wave is really well paced hard boiled Noir and at a paltry 73 minutes it passes all too quickly, it also has the distinction of being a rather important influence on Kubrick's The Killing which has a similar look and also most of the same cast. As my first viewing from the newly released Warner Film Noir Volume 4 boxset, I found it an unmitigated success, there's also a hilarious and very entertaining commentary from Noir luminaries Eddie Muller and James Ellroy, although the latters barking like a dog does grate just a little