Andre De Toth's most interesting films reveal an understanding of the instability and outright treachery of human relationships.
Andrew Sarris, The American Cinema, Dutton 1968
Springfield Rifle is a movie with a brutal edge and a certain amount of realpolitik.
J. Hoberman, An Army of Phantoms, The New Press, 2011
De Toth's treatment of betrayals and reversals of character of the ambiguously motivated Sims in Crime Wave is direct and free of moral posturing.
Blake Lucas, Film Noir, The Overlook Press 1979
Springfield Rifle was released in 1952 and Crime Wave in 1954, during the time the Rosenbergs were arrested, tried and executed for espionage. Both films deal with questions of loyalty and secrets. Springfield Rifle was shot on Colorado locations in intense blue and browns by Edwin DuPar and takes place during the Civil War. Gary Cooper is arrested and sentenced to death for espionage but it turns out he was actually acting for the Union, posing as a Confederate sympathizer to expose the real spy, a Union officer. De Toth's use of snow as a visual motif (as in his Day of the Outlaw, 1959) and a violent scene where Cooper slashes an opponent's buttocks to keep him from riding his horse are among the memorable elements of a film that emphasizes the importance of superior firepower (the new Springfield rifle) and counterespionage.
Crime Wave was beautifully photographed in stark black-and-white, mostly at night on Los Angeles locations, by Bert Glennon. It emphasizes the limits of loyalty and authority and the need to inform when necessary. Gene Nelson, a dancer who moves beautifully, plays the ex-con Steve Lacey who is harassed by detective Sims (Sterling Hayden), who says "once a crook, always a crook." Lacey is forced to help some old prison buddies rob a bank but manages to inform Sims in time for Sims to stock the bank with cops. Lacey's loyalty to his old friends is overcome by the need to lead a more normal married life.
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