A Dangerous Profession (bail bondsman) has many of the important elements of film noir without being totally successful as one. The plot is convoluted enough, the visuals are impressively dark and seedy, but there is not enough of the moody fatalism that makes an outstanding film noir. George Raft is minimally acceptable; though he doesn't project much emotion he shows it, to a certain extent, with his eyes. Raft is a partner with Pat O'Brien in a bail bond business and is hired to bail out the husband (Bill Williams) of his former lover, the estimable femme fatale Ella Raines; when they first go looking for Williams there is the smell of Raines's perfume that Raft instantly recognizes. Williams ends up dead when he is bailed out and Raines and Raft end up together in a rather sappy ending. Director Tetzlaff (who started out as a cinematographer) and director of photography Robert de Grasse (who shot Hitchcock's Notorious in 1946) effectively capture the dour atmosphere of jails and bail bond offices and use location shots on the streets of Los Angeles effectively; the script, by Martin Rackin and Warren Duff, is direct ("lay off that sentiment stuff.")
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