TCM sure loves this classic tale of film noir. Film Site dot org has a real good recap of it, a lot of it actual script dialog. The ‘big jewel heist’ movie. The “plan” was going so well too (as well as grand larceny goes), until they were leaving the bank. A copper surprises them and drops his gun when their muscle (Sterling Hayden) punches him out. The gun goes off and nails Anthony Caruso. Things start to fall apart after that like flood water chipping away at a berm.

As each part of the gang is exposed, its on their own particular weaknesses that doom them. Sam Jaffe’s weakness for young women keeps him at the cafe too long or he could have gotten away to Cleveland. Marc Lawrence’s ‘Cobby’ is a weakling afraid of violence so he confesses to the cop. A somewhat lovable Louis Calhern’s weakness is Marilyn Monroe. She had put his finances in the dumpster and made him vulnerable to participating in the theft.

Filmed in Cincinnati, it makes sense Jaffe tries to escape to Cleveland, and Hayden makes the last ditch run to Kentucky (1 hour 33 minutes). That’s become my favorite part of the movie. Sterling had been shot in the right-side of his abdomen during the double cross with the lawyer. He keeps refusing treatment as his condition gets worse and worse.

He had been telling ‘Doll’ (Jean Hagen) the entire movie about his idyllic childhood on the horse farm in Kentucky, and that everything will be alright (gut shot and dying) if they can just make it there! Speeding there on the beautiful two-lane of southern Ohio and Kentucky, the pace becomes more furious as the life force ebbs out of Hayden.

The car screeches to a halt at the gate to the horse farm (Hickory Wood Farm). He staggers out of the car, past the gate and into the pasture towards the horses as Jean Hagen screeches, “Dix! Dix!” He gets within a few feet of the new colts as he collapses to the ground, they run up to him, nuzzling him as he dies in the Kentucky bluegrass.

The closing minutes of the film are a great juxtaposition to the rest of the film. It was set primarily in darkness, with a gritty urban backdrop. As we get near his old Kentucky home, the sun rises bright and glorious! The sickness and decay of city life is replaced with the healthy environment that God intended people to live.

Except in this case Dix dies, but other than that.