Johnny Stool Pigeon

It’s a noir story that’s been told many times — law enforcement goes undercover to infiltrate a crime syndicate — but William Castle’s Johnny Stool Pigeon is lifted up by its exceptional cast and a brisk pace that keeps the action moving from San Francisco to Canada to an Arizona dude ranch to the Mexican border. In an opening sequence that makes the most of the noir palette, Treasury agent George Morton (Howard Duff) interrupts a deadly drug deal in a dark, foggy dockyard, but one of the dealers escapes, which launches Morton on an elaborate investigation in partnership with Johnny Evans (Dan Duryea), a gangster who Morton sent to Alcatraz years earlier and who agrees to use his knowledge and contacts to help Morton infiltrate a drug smuggling syndicate, which they track down to an Arizona dude ranch owned by ringleader Nick Avery (John McIntire). Shelley Winters plays gangster moll Terry Stewart, who’s looking for an escape from the criminal life, and a baby-faced Tony Curtis plays mute hit man Joey Hyatt. Director Castle, who would become better known for his later psychological thrillers and horror b-movies, crafts an entertaining yarn with quite a few set pieces, culminating in a plane crash stunt a la James Bond.