There were a number of things to like in this movie such as the camera-work, the strange characters and some unique dialog.

To me, the best of the lines were said by the "old" crook, "Julian," played by Robert Keith. To give you idea, "Julian" was writing a book on people's last words after his partner "Dancer" ( Eli Walllach) killed them!! Keith was really interesting to listen to, and did a great job on this role. Actually, Wallach was great, too, playing a clean-shaven whacked-out villain in this story. (Eli would grow a beard and become famous two years after this movie, playing the Mexican villain in "The Magnificent Seven.")

On the other side of the ledger, Warner Anderson (Lt. Ben Guthrie") is perfect for the ultra-straight-laced-looking cop. His partner, "Inspector Al Quine," was played by Emile Meyer. He should be a familiar face to you older folks as Meyer usually played a sadistic bad guy on his numerous TV roles and had a face you couldn't forget! It was odd seeing him as a low-key cop instead of some sadist.

Richard Jaekel as the driver of the two criminals also was different, and had good lines, too, I thought.....so I definitely enjoyed watching this cast.

I enjoyed the story. I wish more late 1950s film noir movies were made because they are a little different. The only surprise I had was that I expected a faster-paced film knowing it was a Don Siegel movie. But, it was still the '50s and not the days yet of "Dirty Harry" so the films will be slower, I suppose, even with an "action" director like Siegel. The story started off with a bang but then started slowing down, almost to standstill after 30-40 minutes but began picking up when Wallach entered the scene, and then got more intense as it went on. The ending is really wild with a couple of shocking scenes.

In San Francisco, two men are dead over a seemingly unimportant bag and the police are baffled. The bag's owner claims that it holds his cheap souvenir statutes from Hong Kong. The cops find heroin hidden in one statute. It turns out that a drug smuggling ring has been planting its heroin with unsuspecting American travelers. The movie follows Lt. Ben Guthrie and Inspector Al Quine as they track down the murderers, Dancer (Eli Wallach) and Julian.

There is one thing the cops should have done in their investigation. They should have offered to buy the statute from Dressler to see if he's involved in the drug smuggling. If he agrees to sell, then he's not actually involved. If he resists hard, then he should be a suspect. I like the start until after the lineup. I thought the point was to sit on Dressler until the crooks come looking for their drugs. The movie gets a bit lost in the tick tock of the smuggling although it's always great to see Eli Wallach. This would work much better as the desperate criminals trying to retrieve their heroin from Dressler. In a way, the movie works back to that point as they desperately try to retrieve their heroin from the little girl. The kidnapping suddenly amps up the intensity of this movie. For me, the most notable aspect is the relatively early work in Eli Wallach's career and that amazing final car chase. It has one great stunt on a highway's edge. It's great because it's real. There's no net underneath them. There's no camera tricks. It's up there with many other greats.

In San Francisco, two men are dead over a seemingly unimportant bag and the police are baffled. The bag's owner claims that it holds his cheap souvenir statutes from Hong Kong. The cops find heroin hidden in one statute. It turns out that a drug smuggling ring has been planting its heroin with unsuspecting American travelers. The movie follows Lt. Ben Guthrie and Inspector Al Quine as they track down the murderers, Dancer (Eli Wallach) and Julian.

There is one thing the cops should have done in their investigation. They should have offered to buy the statute from Dressler to see if he's involved. If he agrees to sell, then he's not actually involved. If he resists hard, then he could be a suspect. I really like the start until after the lineup. I thought the point was to sit on Dressler until the crooks come looking for their drugs. The movie gets a bit lost in the tick tock of the crime. This would work much better as the desperate criminals try to retrieve their heroin from Dressler. For me, the most notable aspect is the relatively early work in Eli Wallach's career. Besides that, this is a functional crime procedural.