The Threat (1949)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

The Threat (1949) – F. E. Feist

Part police procedural and part character study of the sociopath they are trying to catch, this brief (66 minute) film noir contains enough tense moments to hold attention even if it doesn’t stay long enough to add anything new to the canon.  Gravelly-voiced Charles McGraw (also seen in The Narrow Margin, Armored Car Robbery, The Killers, and other noirs) is ruthless as the recently escaped con who tracks down and kidnaps the D. A. and detective who jailed him. They hole up in an old shack, waiting for his ex-partner who fled to Mexico with some of the loot to fly in and help them to escape.  Meanwhile, the cops methodically follow their trail.  It holds together pretty well but ends abruptly – as if the screenwriters had nothing left to say after the McGraw character exited the story. Not bad.