A witness against the mobster Benjamin Costain (Lorne Greene) is assassinated on the steps of the courthouse. Prosecutor Lloyd Hallett (Edward G. Robinson) needs inmate Sherry Conley (Ginger Rogers) to be the new witness as a last resort but she has a policy of not volunteering. Vince Striker (Brian Keith) leads her police protection.

Rogers has great sass attitude and a desperate lowlife sensibilities. It's very her especially with her short hair do. She's great. It's her best acting job. The high point is her reunion with her sister. It's a small little noir with great desperation. There is a modernity to this reality.

This is one of the best roles in the latter portion of Ginger Rogers' career. She is an incredibly earthy and entertaining bad girl--complete with a nice accent and a lot of sass. While a somewhat similar role was given to her a decade earlier with "Roxy Hart", this film was pretty awful and lacked any sense of believability. In "Tight Spot", however, she gives a first-rate performance in a film where I expected very little.

The film begins with Rogers being taken from her comfy prison cell and she's whisked away to a hotel room. This is because the prosecutor (Edward G. Robinson) is intent on convincing her to testify against a gangster (Lorne Greene). However, she has no intention on making a deal with anyone, as she knows if she testifies she's a dead woman.

Assisting Robinson in this is a matron (who you see very little of) and a detective (Brian Keith). Keith seems to have contempt for her and doesn't hide it. However, Robinson treats her like a lady and hopes this will loosen her resolve. A bit later in the film, however, there's an interesting twist, as Keith and Rogers seem to be developing some chemistry. Just at that interesting moment, an assassin is spotted at the window--many floors from the street below. The assassin begins shooting wildly--hitting the matron and Rogers. Rogers miraculously escapes but is even more determined not to testify. What happens next was really exciting and quite a twist. However, I'll say more, as I don't want to ruin the film for you.

Overall, this is a very well written noir-like film. Tough dialog and some nice surprises make this one worth seeing--with nice performances all around. A nice little surprise of a film.

Ginger Rogers, who was usually more glamorous in her movie roles, invades territory normally occupied by Claire Trevor or Veda Ann Borg. She's a good time gal who happens to be on a pleasure cruise with mob boss Lorne Greene and Greene has smuggled another gangster into the country. U.S. Attorney Edward G. Robinson is seeking to deport Greene.

Greene's enemies have a habit of ending up dead. And our story begins with conflicted cop Brian Keith assigned to protect Ginger as Robinson tries to convince her to testify.

Rogers's career was on the downside here, but she's still a dynamite presence on the screen. Robinson and Keith are solid here and who would have thunk of Ben Cartright as a mobster.

Nice film, tightly edited, not a wasted frame in it.