It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Lightweight musical comedy star, John Payne, re-invented himself for this gripping film noir, in which he delivers a solidly convincing performance as an amnesiac who is bent on discovering – or rather uncovering – his criminal past. He is aided by vicious criminal, Sonny Tufts (also brilliantly cast against type), and Ellen Drew. (Whatever happened to her? Her career was going strong until 1951 and then she suddenly disappeared. Maybe IMDb can solve this mystery? Ah! She sold herself to TV. We didn't have TV in my neck of the woods until 1955 and it was very slow to catch on. Instead, they were still building and opening new movie theaters until well into the nineteen eighties). Also soon switching to TV, but with an enormous amount of success, Percy Helton has one of his best roles here as Petey. Another actor I'd like to draw attention to is Welsh actor, Rhys Williams who plays the police lieutenant, Joe Williams, most successfully. One of my favorite directors, Robert Florey, who always had a penchant for atmosphere, is absolutely right on target with this venture, but was soon to accept numerous offers on TV. And also making one of his best and most moody movies with this entry, is acclaimed photographer, John Alton. All together, The Crooked Way is a superior noir in all departments – script, acting, direction and photography. (Available on an excellent Geneon DVD).

With all the past notoriety in the Los Angeles papers and the officials couldn't figure out who amnesiac John Payne (Eddie Rice- Riccardi) was? That I found to be somewhat hard to digest.Nonetheless, this is a nicely paced action thriller where an amnesiac returns to where he had originally enlisted only to find that he has some criminal past and that a guy who was guilty when he was freed is out to get him.Ellen Drew does a nice job as Eddie's wife, now working for the ruthless Sonny Tufts. To add more to this, the Tufts character frames Eddie for the murder of a police officer and therefore the majority of the film becomes centered around Eddie trying to prove his innocence while eluding the police.

The plot for "The Crooked Way" is far-fetched but that isn't a problem if the film is well made. It begins with a soldier (John Payne) talking with his doctor. It seems he was gravely injured during the war and took some shrapnel to his skull. He will live and the doctors have done all they can--but Eddie (John Payne) has no memory before the injury. And so, he sets out for what he thinks might be his old home in order to learn who he was. The trouble is, he might not like who he was AND there are some folks there who might just beat his brains in or worse!This film represented a big departure for John Payne, as up until this film, he was mostly known as a pretty guy--nice and safe. Here, however, he's a man out to destroy...or be destroyed. Because of this movie, he'd soon go on to make other excellent noir films such as "99 River Street" and "Kansas City Confidential". As far as the quality of the plot goes, it's generally very good--though you do wonder why the now nice guy Payne's character has become is so pig-headed and intent on nearly getting himself killed. But, with a great (and very tough) plot and characters, and especially a very strong ending, it's well worth your time.By the way, look for Rhys Williams as the police lieutenant. There's no trace at all of his native Welsh accent here! Nice job, Rhys!

Crooked Way, The (1949) ** (out of 4) Weak film noir about war vet Eddie Rice (John Payne) who is suffering from amnesia after going through shell shock. His doctor recommends he go back to his old stomping grounds to see if perhaps someone will notice him and tell him who he really is. This doesn't take long to happen but unfortunately for Eddie he learns that he's in bad with several gangsters. THE CROOKED WAYS features a few interesting ideas as well as some terrific cinematography but in the end the story is just way too loose and the direction downright flat. There are a few interesting ideas here including using a war vet who was a lousy crook only to discover bravery during the war. I think this aspect could have been focused on more and the film would have benefited. Another good aspect is simply the amnesia touch as this is a very simple but often effective gimmick used in various noirs and other dramas. I think this story line is something very hard to mess up but sadly Florey does just that. There isn't an ounce of energy to be found anywhere in this picture. The film is downright flat from the opening scenes all the way to the closing and it really appears that no one got the message that they needed suspense and tension in a film like this. The mystery involving who this guy is never comes off nor does anything doing with his ex-wife who is still with the gangsters. I think the twists and turns in the screenplay were all obvious ones that never really paid off. I also wasn't too impressed with any of the performances including Payne who seemed too bored here. I'm not sure what the reasons for but there wasn't any passion or energy in his performance. The same is true for Ellen Drew as the ex-wife. Rhys Williams is pretty good as the Lieutenant and Sonny Tufts isn't too bad as the gangster. Future Oscar-winner John Alton does a terrific job with the cinematography as he gives the film a unique and original look. As you'd expect there's a lot of darkness and shadows but the cinematography really makes the atmosphere something interesting and the look alone almost makes this film worth sitting through. With that said, overall this is 90-minutes worth of boredom without enough energy to keep it going through the end. Considering the talent you have to strike this one up as a disappointment.