Backlash

Backlash

1/3/1947 1h 6m 4.9/10

Overview

In a series of flashbacks, shows that attorney John Morland has given a lift to a hitchhiker who turns out to be a murderer. As a result, Morland himself is implicated in a killing. A pair of detectives discover that Morland has been having business problems and no end of difficulties with his wife Catherine. The trail of clues leads to a surprising revelation.

Director

Earl Bellamy

Top Billed Cast

Larry J. Blake

Larry J. Blake

Detective Lieutenant Jerry McMullen

Richard Travis

Richard Travis

Richard Conroy

John Eldredge

John Eldredge

John Morland

Robert Shayne

Robert Shayne

James O'Neil

Jean Rogers

Jean Rogers

Catherine Morland

Leonard Strong

Leonard Strong

Willis, Caretaker

Reviews

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

11/23/2023

5/10

Yikes, but there's a load of dialogue in this film-noir. It's almost exhausting to listen to after a period of relentless chatting and precious little actual action. "Moreland" (John Eldrdge) features much more prominently in this detective yarn about his own murderer than you might expect. That's because it's told via a series of flashbacks as the pursuing police detective "McMullen" (Larry J. Blake) interviews all the suspects and tries to piece together the evidence from his widow "Catherine" (Jean Rogers), the DA "Conroy" (Richard Travis) and just about everyone else from within a ten mile radius of the crime. Thing is - there is a twist, and one hell of twist at that, and that leaves "McMullen" and his theories all well and truly up in the air. We are given enough clues to anticipate the denouement, but Eugene Forde still manages to keep us guessing for some of this - it's just that there's way too much verbiage and the retrospective style of storytelling is a bit repetitive after a while. None of the acting, or the writing, really sets the heather on fire and at times it felt like quite a long hour-long watch. Watchable, but forgettable.

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