Big Town After Dark (1947) Reviews

Top-notch police reporter Lorelei Kilbourne (Hillary Brooke) decides to resign her job when her novel is published, and gives Big Town Illustrated Press editor-in-chief Steve Wilson (Philip Reed) her two-weeks' notice. Lorelei is surprised when Steve hires a replacement that day, Susan Peabody (Ann Gillis), a journalism student who is actually the niece of the newspaper's publisher Amos Peabody (Charles Arnt). Steve discovers that Susan has a gambling habit that she developed in college -- he tries to get to know her better by taking her to the Winners' Club, a crooked private gambling club that's the tip of the iceberg of an illegal gambling operation in Big Town, and is pummeled for his trouble, while the girl is seemingly kidnapped. Peabody gives in to the terms of gambling ring leader Chuck LaRue's (Richard Travis), and Susan turns up a few minutes later. But Steve comes up with a plan to undermine LaRue's operation, while Lorelei decides to look into Susan's background and finds lots of unsavory twists. There are more double- and triple-crosses to follow as the planning on both sides unravels amid overlapping and interlocking schemes, as well as a poker game motif that's about as good as you'll ever see in any B-movie of its time. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi