Crime Wave

Directed by André De Toth, Crime Wave follows Gene Nelson’s Steve Lacey as he’s forced to participate in a heist by his former crew – with the impending caper investigated by a determined cop named Sims (Sterling Hayden). De Toth, armed with Crane Wilbur’s screenplay, delivers a mostly compelling endeavor that succeeds as both a police procedural and a tense film noir, and there’s little doubt, certainly, that Crime Wave benefits substantially from its array of first-class performances – with, especially, Hayden’s entertainingly grizzled turn as the toothpick-chewing Sims remaining an obvious highlight within the proceedings. And while the picture does suffer from a small handful of lulls, Crime Wave, buoyed by an exciting, satisfying third act, generally comes off as a stirring piece of work that is, on top of everything else, quite stylishly directed by De Toth.

*** out of ****