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Lara Pop4.0

Sizzling with red-hot dialogue and boasting a finely chiseled script, Dead Reckoning is a highly entertaining noir roller coaster starring your favorite quick-witted garrulous chum, one Humphrey Bogart. He brought his usual nimble charm here, but the absolute standout was Lizabeth Scott. By actually realizing the unchangeable rottenness at the core of her character's nature, always looking out for her own interests and incapable of connecting to other people on an emotional level, she brought a masterful twist to the femme fatale persona and refreshed its sometimes oversimplified role in noirs. Her fate was the most tragic of all: she desperately wanted to love and be loved, but when she did get the latter, she didn't know what to do with it. She was at war with herself at all times, her unconscious self clashing with her conscious desire to change and become a better person. She wanted to love Bogie unconditionally, but would constantly get reminded of the futility of her endeavors by her inner demon. She wanted to trust him genuinely, yet she couldn't help but repeatedly barge into her own impregnable wall of resistance, fueled by the insecurity and fear of what could happen if she were to let her guard down for a second and finally give instead of take. She was trapped in a vicious circle that hurt her every time she attempted to get out. And the fact that she realized her own tragedy just made it all the more tragic. Thank you, Lizabeth Scott, for capturing this harrowing colorfulness, it was brilliant.

Ethan ☀️

The film itself is nothing to shout about but Bogie completely committing to the ridiculous narration single-handedly cured corona and cleared my skin.

Slig0014.0

Dead Reckoning is not the most original slice of noir, taking influence from a number of more famous genre entries, but it is a real hard boiled example of the style in its own right. Humphrey Bogart is a Captain who finishes with the war, and subsequently finds himself embroiled in a plot involving murder and betrayal while trying to track down a friend who fled to avoid being awarded a Medal of Honor. This one really nails the style - Bogart begins his voice over with his face hidden in shadow. The dark plot is augmented by a script full of sharp dialogue, while John Cromwell's direction is slick and the film benefits from a number of well staged scenes. The narrarive relies on chance and convenience at times, but it moves fast and is consistently interesting. Dead Reckoning features numerous links to the war - paratroopers jumping out of an airplane makes up a motif that occurs often. Bogart is good in the lead; delivering his usual swagger including some interesting ideas on how to treat women, but it's Lizabeth Scott who really steals the show as the husky voiced femme fatale. Dead Reckoning delivers a story where everything feels simple and well defined, right up until it doesn't. Not the pinnacle of the genre, but an interesting and well made example.