Crime Wave
“Crime Wave” is not a film I would have known about had someone not recommended it to me. When that someone is Martin Scorsese, you take notice. In his documentary on American cinema, he carves out a particular section devoted to film noir, and André De Toth‘s 1953 film is part of that discussion. While I would not put it high among my list of the best noir, I can see why it connected with Scorsese- it’s a film about how precarious your life is when you’re trying to step away from a criminal past.
One of the things society is good at is stigmatizing criminals, even as they try to reform. If they are unrepentant about their behavior, forgiveness should be harder to earn. But what about people who are actively trying to get better? Do no criminals deserve a chance for redemption? I believe most of us would say that yes, redemption should be in reach. When law enforcement perpetuates the idea that once a crook, always a crook, though, most of us go along with it.
We begin with a robbery at a gas station. A car pulls up, acting as if it is getting gas, and knock the attendant on the head. As they do the job, a cop on a motorcycle passes by, but comes around. The cop is shot. A call is made while the gang is fleeing the scene. The recipient is Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson), an ex-con sleeping with his wife, Ellen (Phyllis Kirk). He has this sense that something isn’t quite right after the caller just says his name. As the investigation digs in, Detective Lieutenant Sims (Sterling Hayden) keeps a close eye on Lacey, who associated with the gang in the past.
Though not based on a novel, “Crime Wave” unfolds as a narrative in a very literate manner. The way scenes lead into one another here is exceptionally crafted by screenwriter Crane Wilbur and director De Toth. The film plays with the idea of destiny and a man continuing to get pulled back into his old life with a sense of Greek tragedy that feels very much at home within the world of film noir. This isn’t to say the film itself is great- Nelson and Kirk are good, but not given great moments (that’s basically reserved for Hayden)- and the ending it arrives at feels too pat, even if it is satisfactory. But I love watching this film unfold; the ways it brings Lacey into the fold, and it keeps bringing him in deeper, is gripping, and enlightening in the way that sometimes, the criminal world cannot let us go, no matter how much we want it to. When that happens, we need sympathetic people in our corner, however unexpected they may be.
