***SPOILERS***Fairly decent re-make of the 1942 crime classic "This Gun for Hire" directed by, in his first and only attempt, James Cagney. It's the cat loving hit-man Kyle Niles, Robert Iver, who after murdering buildings inspector Carl Adams, Peter Baldwin, and his secretary in cold blood gets double-crossed by the person who hired him "Fat Man" Bharwell, Jacques Aubuchon, to get him out of the way. Giving Niles his cut in the double murders $1,000.00 he dropped a dime on him by informing the police that the money was stolen,and giving them a list of the bills serial numbers, which Bharwell in fact embezzled from his own construction business! Niles who soon found out about the "Fat Man's" back stabbing not taking this lying down is now determined to make him pay with his life for this dirty double-cross on his part!
The film takes the same track as the original "This Gun for Hire" with Niles hooking up with this innocent bystander, while on the run from the police, Glory Hamilton,Georgann Johnson, who ends up not only falling in love but also humanizing the cold blooded killer. Who's only human emotion was when he accidentally killed a stray cat, who jumped on him in the dark, and then broke down and cried like a baby! With the police on his as well as Glory's, who helped him on every turn, tail Niles finally tracked down not only "Fat Man" Bahrwell but his boss crooked and criminal businessman AT, Richard Hale, at the AT Mansion.
***SPOILERS*** It was a stroke of luck for Niles as well as later for the police and D.A's office in that AT had his tape recorder on when confronted by him that implicated him and "Fat Boy" in Adam and his secretary's murders. With nothing left for him now Niles makes a run for it after dispatching AT "Fat Man" and the house butler as well as torture freak Nichols, Murvyn Vye, on his run to freedom. Niles in a futile attempt of desperately trying to escape only gets gunned down by the police and ends up dying in Glory's arms who had tried to talk him into surrendering. A fitting ending for a man who after a life of crime & violence finally saw the light and in a strange way ended up redeeming himself!
The film takes the same track as the original "This Gun for Hire" with Niles hooking up with this innocent bystander, while on the run from the police, Glory Hamilton,Georgann Johnson, who ends up not only falling in love but also humanizing the cold blooded killer. Who's only human emotion was when he accidentally killed a stray cat, who jumped on him in the dark, and then broke down and cried like a baby! With the police on his as well as Glory's, who helped him on every turn, tail Niles finally tracked down not only "Fat Man" Bahrwell but his boss crooked and criminal businessman AT, Richard Hale, at the AT Mansion.
***SPOILERS*** It was a stroke of luck for Niles as well as later for the police and D.A's office in that AT had his tape recorder on when confronted by him that implicated him and "Fat Boy" in Adam and his secretary's murders. With nothing left for him now Niles makes a run for it after dispatching AT "Fat Man" and the house butler as well as torture freak Nichols, Murvyn Vye, on his run to freedom. Niles in a futile attempt of desperately trying to escape only gets gunned down by the police and ends up dying in Glory's arms who had tried to talk him into surrendering. A fitting ending for a man who after a life of crime & violence finally saw the light and in a strange way ended up redeeming himself!