MOVIE · 1954

Private Hell 36

CrimeDrama81 min

A year after a $300,000 New York bank robbery goes cold, marked bills turn up in a Los Angeles drugstore theft and send detectives Cal Bruner and Jack Farnham back on the trail. Steve Cochran's Cal is the sharper, more restless half of the pair, while Howard Duff's Jack keeps the investigation grounded as it moves from routine police work to a nightclub where singer Lilli (Ida Lupino) has also handled one of the stolen bills. As the missing cash comes into view, the case stops being just about evidence and starts to strain the partners' sense of duty.