George Brent had his last leading role in a movie when he made this low-budget drama for Monogram/Allied Artists. A bit of a letdown considering the great stuff he had done with Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck and Olivia De Havilland who would all continue to make big budget films for some time after this.
The popular leading man of the 1930s and 1940s still looks fit for a guy of his age, and his pleasing personality is apparent in all his scenes. But the routine plot and by-the-numbers character he plays is certainly no challenge for him. Or for some of us watching, who wish to stay awake. In some ways, you can see the influence television was already having on mainstream films such as this one. It does not differ from any crime yarn that would be made on the small screen during this era, except that at around 70 minutes and with no commercials, it's a longer drama with a number of outdoor sequences.
Helping the production is actress Hillary Brooke who specialized in playing crooked "dames" as well as Marjorie Lord who appears as Brent's girl Friday. Lord's movie career never really went beyond B films like this, and she would soon make a more lasting mark on TV as Danny Thomas' wife on his long-running sitcom.
I'd recommend MEXICAN MANHUNT not exactly for the story (it's been done a million times) but for anyone who likes George Brent. He deserved a better script but shows us he still had considerable charm and was still every bit a class act though his days as a movie star were now over.
The popular leading man of the 1930s and 1940s still looks fit for a guy of his age, and his pleasing personality is apparent in all his scenes. But the routine plot and by-the-numbers character he plays is certainly no challenge for him. Or for some of us watching, who wish to stay awake. In some ways, you can see the influence television was already having on mainstream films such as this one. It does not differ from any crime yarn that would be made on the small screen during this era, except that at around 70 minutes and with no commercials, it's a longer drama with a number of outdoor sequences.
Helping the production is actress Hillary Brooke who specialized in playing crooked "dames" as well as Marjorie Lord who appears as Brent's girl Friday. Lord's movie career never really went beyond B films like this, and she would soon make a more lasting mark on TV as Danny Thomas' wife on his long-running sitcom.
I'd recommend MEXICAN MANHUNT not exactly for the story (it's been done a million times) but for anyone who likes George Brent. He deserved a better script but shows us he still had considerable charm and was still every bit a class act though his days as a movie star were now over.