Review: Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949)
Johnny Stool Pigeon sits alongside films such as T-Men and The House on 92nd Street as a noir that presents itself as being "ripped from the headlines" and inspired by the actions and bravery of real government officials. In this tale, a U.S. Treasury agent, played by Howard Duff (1950's Shakedown ) pulls a convict (the always-excellent Dan Duryea) out of Alcatraz to help him infiltrate a drug smuggling ring. As these two go deep undercover to earn the trust of the bad guys, they'll cross paths with both the crime boss's dame (Shelley Winters, The Raging Tide ) and a mute thug (Tony Curtis in one of his earliest film roles). Complicating things even further, career-criminal Duryea doesn't intend to play nice with Uncle Sam and vows to be nobody's stool pigeon. With the whole operation riding on his willingness to go legit and play along, things are about to get messy. Directed by exploitation king William Castle ( Hollywood Story, House on Haunted Hil...