Twentieth
Century Fox agreed to distribute this tidy sixty-seven-minute noir with a lead cast of temporary popularity. Giving the viewer some common ground is a supporting cast
of more familiar faces whose careers were gaining momentum, Jeff
Chandler, James Aurness (Arness), Joe Sawyer, and Charles McGraw. The
title refers to a murder case where the victim is found with a single
rose in her hand. It does not make up the crux of the film, however.
Sawyer is first seen smelling the rose at the crime scene. He sniffs
up the aroma with great nostalgia as he recalls, as a child, his
mother's rose garden. Lovely.
The ridiculous premise of identical twins from different mothers is the most confusing element. I am spending more time on the storyline to perhaps help with this. Don
Castle, at times looking like a cross between Rory Calhoun and Robert
Taylor, plays the dual role of the latest D.A. and a criminal with the
exact same appearance. Establishing both characters with matching
mustaches, hair color, and style makes for one gullible audience.
If that is not confusing enough, pretty Peggy Knudsen and Patricia
Knight play, respectively, the good guy's fiance and the bad guy's wife.
Of similar height, hairstyle, clothes, and hooked up—in
reality—with the
same guy, it may take a few minutes to sort things out. Knudsen, a
crack newspaper reporter, appears to be wearing wax lips when not
talking. The
ladies have no trouble identifying their man, however, as each has a
kiss that is more distinct than fingerprints.
A
wheelchair-bound mob boss is filled in about the new D.A. by the crooked
cop and rose-smeller, Sawyer. He informs him that the new D.A. will
not “cooperate” like the last D.A., who was apparently voted out
for that very reason. After bad Castle is released from prison, he
spots a photo of the new D.A. in the newspaper and recognizes
himself. Posing as the real D.A., he visits the mob boss in the hope
of convincing him he could play the new D.A. since he is the same
person. However, the boss is not fooled. He recognizes bad Castle
from a program cover for his performance in Othello by The
Prison Players with a talented supporting cast! Obviously, bad Castle
has the acting chops to pull it off. They initiate a prison revolving
door plan and manipulate the judicial system.
A
mob goon, Chandler, abducts the real D.A., taking him to a secluded
location for a few days until the fake D.A. is ready to roll. Good and
bad Castle finally meet, typically with a blank wall or door jamb between them in the
background. When the opportunity arises, good Castle jumps corrupt Castle, knocks him out, and places him in an upright
position as Chandler's automobile pulls into the drive. The D.A.
exchanges clothes with the unconscious twin. How timely. How
ridiculous, dressing a limp body in less than a minute. It is called "Suspension of Disbelief." Through his own initiative and maybe just for fun, the goon unknowingly shoots the corrupt Castle. After
pushing the real D.A.'s car over a roadside embankment, Chandler knocks good Castle down the embankment to make it all appear as though he was thrown clear of his car. While recovering in the hospital
the real D.A. keeps his kidnapping and bad driving skills vague to
the authorities and his girl while a smug Sawyer looks on.
Knudsen,
however, smells something rotten in this Castle. Later at gunpoint, he reminds her of their first kiss. As they kiss again, she knows he is the real
deal. Well, he is at least alive. The real D.A. assumes the persona
of the dead D.A. for Sawyer's sake. Oh, brother! Knight
unexpectedly drops by his office and expects a familiar kiss from her husband. Upon leaving, she lets Sawyer in on what a kiss means to her
as they motor away. A little too personal for Sawyer. His face turns
red as a rose. I imagine. The real D.A. is now her fake husband. Or
something. She disappears from the film for a while. The audience is not
too concerned since they are way ahead of the script.
The
jailbird accused of the murder agrees to turn state’s evidence on
his crime family. Meanwhile, the mob boss will pay Sawyer to get out
of the country but he turns the table and threatens the boss at
gunpoint in his own plan to come out smelling like a rose. With an
armed wheelchair Ernst Blofeld would envy, the mob boss mortally
wounds Sawyer. Police arrive to haul off the dead and charge one with
the illegal use of a wheelchair. Knight is called in to sign papers
and divest herself from her dead husband. As she goes out the door,
she reminds Knudsen that Castle's kissing needs some practice.
Well, of all the nerve!
