This is a most effective little thriller from 1950 concerning a disturbed killer who holds a group of people hostage in a bar. It's the sort of story that had been done many times before in films, and which would soon be a staple on television. There are few surprises in this one, as everyone goes through the motions as one expects they would in a movie like this. As the psychopath, Marshall Thompson isn't really up to the job. He's not awful, but he doesn't generate much tension personally. Robert Walker would have been much better. The actors playing the various hostages are capable, however, and there's a nice sense of what city life was probably like at around this time. Slick and artificial as it is, the film has its charms. It's never boring, and director Gerald Mayer maintains a nice pace.
