BLACK TUESDAY (1954) ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: Hugo Fregonese
Edward G. Robinson, Peter Graves, Jean Parker,
Milburn Stone, Sylvia Findley, Jack Kelly
Edward G. Robinson at his most vicious plays a gangster who breaks out of prison on the day he's scheduled to die in the electric chair. Peter Graves plays a fellow con who has some stolen loot stashed away, and Robinson wants that money real bad. Some of this plays like "Key Largo", with Robinson snarling abuse at a handful of hostages as the cops close in. Robinson's career was on the margins at the time, after his run-ins with the HUAC committee. Pacing his prison cell, he's literally a caged animal. It's an angry, haunted performance.
