Chicago Syndicate

This is how you make the most of a tiny budget. Fred Sears’ Chicago Syndicate is an edgy, economical, and entertaining noir packed with intrigue and paced at just the right rhythm. Dennis O’Keefe stars as Barry Amsterdam, a former military accountant hired to infiltrate the vast Chicago mob syndicate led by Arnie Valent (Paul Stewart), who calls himself the “last of the old mob” and an Al Capone admirer, to gain access to the books of Valent’s dozens of questionable business enterprises. The mob’s previous accountant having been gunned down, Amsterdam’s survival depends on an airtight cover. Two women who start out as his enemies end up his strongest assets in the case: gambler Sue Morton (Allison Hayes) is revealed to have a personal connection to the dead accountant while Valent’s moll Connie Peters (Abbe Lane) is growing disillusioned with her man (“What have I got to be sober about?”). The film is gritty, the sets fairly bare, and the violence depraved (a sobbing woman takes a beating off screen, a thug is electrocuted), but the viewing experience is plenty of fun.