Assigned to Danger

Plot synopsis:
Frankie Mantell's gang pulls an $80,000 payroll stickup in Los Angeles. But getaway driver Nip Powers is killed and Frankie shot and wounded.
Insurance investigator Dan Sullivan is assigned the case by the company that's been robbed. Following a lead, Dan goes to a mountain lodge. It is run by Bonnie Powers, the dead getaway driver's sister, with the help of Joey, a deaf mute. Dan doesn't disclose his identity, and Bonnie mistakenly believes him to be a doctor.
Frankie and his gang members, Louie, Matty and Biggie, come to the lodge. They are suspicious of Dan, but Bonnie vouches for him. Since he's said to be a doctor, Frankie demands that Dan remove the bullet from his arm. He sends Louie into town to get the necessary instruments.
Dan learns that Bonnie is married to Frankie, but hates him now, not knowing of his criminal nature when they wed. Frankie tells his men to kill Dan if the operation doesn't succeed. Louie panics and tries to leave, so Frankie kills him. Now fearing for Bonnie's life, her deaf employee Joey slips into Frankie's room and suffocates him to death.
The other gunmen shoot Joey and try to prevent Dan and Bonnie from getting away. Dan gets his hands on a gun and manages to overcome them. Bonnie is placed under arrest and charged with harboring a fugitive, but Dan promises to be waiting when she gets out of jail.

Tags: murder

Review:
A dangerous operation. A gang steal a load of money and the insurance company send an insurance investigator to the boarding house which is run by the chief suspect's girlfriend to find out what is going on. Gene Raymond (Dan) carries out the visit to Noreen Nash (Bonnie). As it happens, this gang is extremely dumb and head for the most obvious place to hide. That's right, they go to the boarding house that is run by the chief suspect's girlfriend. This is obviously because the police would never think to go there! Surprisingly, they don't! It's up to the insurance investigator who is posing as a doctor to sort things out. Uh-oh, the gang leader Robert Bice (Frankie) is wounded and needs medical attention. Step forward Mr Raymond to operate. Will his cover be blown?There is a story here but it drags and the film becomes boring. By the end, you are expecting a formulaic shoot-out with the involvement of Gene Evans (Joey) as the good-guy brother of Nash. Unfortunately, there are no surprises and the film is not fast-paced enough to keep the audience's attention.. An early Budd Boetticher gem.. A rather good film noir. Short, accurate, sharp and well acted. Eagle Lion production and written by Robert Kent, later screen writer - or producer, I don't remember - for Edward L Cahn. Gene Raymond plays here an assurance investigator, impersonating a doctor, who has to find the gangsters who pulled a 80000$ heist in which a hood was killed. The sister of the gangster slain is the owner of a hotel, where the whole gang is hidden after the robbery. The lead - the "doctor" - comes to the hotel for a rewarded "rest", and you can guess the following...The topic is rather predictable but the movie is an effective yarn. Budd Boetticher made other little gems of this kind, such as BEHIND LOCKED DOORS, MISSING JUROR, WOLF HUNTERS, ESCAPE IN THE FOG...All interesting, even if they are B movies.