711 Ocean Drive (1950)

Director: Joseph M. Newman

Writers: Richard English, Francis Swann

Composer: Sol Kaplan

Starring: Edmond O'Brien, Joanne Dr, Otto Kruger, Barry Kelley, Dorothy Patrick, Don Porter, Howard St. John, Robert Osterloh, Sammy White

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Expose of the $8,000,000,000 gambling syndicate and its hoodlum empire!

Plot: An electronics expert creates a huge bookie broadcast system for his crime boss, and takes over operations when his boss is murdered. His greed leads him on a deadly destructive path.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

While Edmond O'Brien does a fine job, his transition from a regular phone company guy to running the numbers racket in L.A. is thin.  There's not even a transition in his performance.  He goes from regular guy to crime boss (acting-wise).  The story is pretty good, too.  It's a long film for what it is (an hour and forty minutes) but there's barely any wasted time.  Once Mal (O'Brien) is running the show, it's a matter of time before someone tries to knock him down.  That's the final act when all hell breaks loose for him.  It doesn't help that he gets the fuzz snooping around after he kills a guy.  The finale at the Hoover Dam makes for a great location and an interesting chase.  I've been there a couple of times since I was a kid and it's neat seeing it again and in this way.  There's enough action and crime stuff to keep fans of the genre entertained.  I'd be willing to see it again if there weren't hundreds of other crime pictures from this time that I haven't seen.