Occasionally gripping noir from noir's golden period. Middle-age loner Harrow (Wayne) is a serial killer of little girls. His sixth murder alarms much of LA, especially the underworld which feels extra pressure now from the cops. As a result, the various gangs organize in pursuit of the killer before he strikes again. But will the cops and gangsters catch him in time.
The movie has many fine touches, except for the final chase whose massive gangland presence without police intervention amounts to a real stretch. Where the film excels is with Harrow alone and acting out his illness. Note how he squeezes off the head of a female doll with a photo of his mother in the background, the significance of which turns up at the end. Also, his caressing of shoelaces from his victims suggests a sexual fetish. As a reader of true crime, I've learned that shoe fetishes are not that unusual-- there seems no end to human oddities. At the same time, there's the telling touch of a little girl's balloon soaring toward the heavens that implies her death at the killer's hands, along with a note of hope for something better. Oddly, actor Wayne has practically no lines until the final segment. There his monstrous nature is somewhat mitigated by a heartfelt recognition of his mother's twisted role that he was apparently too weak to overcome.
Ace director Losey makes good use of the many LA locations including the famous Bradbury building from DOA (1950) among others. And that's along with a number of noirish lighting touches. Too bad Hollywood's notorious Blacklist period sent him into exile in England during probably his most productive period.
Except for Wayne, the supporting cast is not called upon to express much emotion. Thus attention remains on the killer and the little girls he inveigles with toys and goodies. As indicated earlier, the weakest parts are the staging of the gangland mobs that appear to have buried their differences in favor of large uncontested mob action.
Despite the downside, the movie's subject matter challenged taboos of the time and still manages moments of genuine involvement.
