Dead Reckoning

Dead Reckoning

1947. USA. Directed by John Cromwell. Screenplay by Oliver H.P. Garrett, Steve Fisher. With Humphrey Bogart, Lizabeth Scott, Morris Carnovsky, Wallace Ford. A returning war hero (Bogart) investigates the sudden disappearance of a paratrooper buddy who’s been accused in a crime of passion, only to get drawn into a Florida Gulf love triangle involving Coral Chandler (Scott), a husky-voiced cabaret singer who harbors deadly secrets, and a smarmy casino owner named Martinelli (Carnovsky). Lizabeth Scott may have been no Lauren Bacall—or, for that matter, Rita Hayworth, who was unable to star in Dead Reckoning because she was committed to her estranged husband’s The Lady from Shanghai—but John Cromwell and Humphrey Bogart seem to be having fun quoting earlier noirs like The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon. 100 min.