Riff-Raff

Having served a long apprenticeship as a cinematographer and waited six years after his debut with World Premiere, Ted Tetzlaff finally turned full-time director with this dynamic thriller down Panama way. He'd clearly picked up a few tips from Alfred Hitchcock during the shooting of Notorious. But this is more a comedy adventure than a suspense mystery, with shamus Pat O'Brien and the murderous Walter Slezak going hell for leather to find a map revealing the site of untapped oil reserves. With Percy Kilbride chipping in as a wisecracking cabbie and Anne Jeffreys providing sultry duplicity as a nightclub chanteuse, it's brisk, brash entertainment.