DEAD RECKONING (1947)

Director: John Cromwell
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Lizabeth Scott

An earlier Bogart this time.

"Rip" Murdock (Humphrey Bogart) is on the run.  He confides in a priest the story of how his friend, Johnny Drake and himself are ordered to travel to DC.  He goes missing and Murdock goes AWOL.  He tries to search for his friend, but ends up finding him dead in the southern US.

Murdock goes to a bar and meets Coral Chandler (Scott), Johnny's girlfriend.  When she loses at roulette, he helps her win.  Aww.  My brother used to do that with video games.

When the two go for a nightcap, Murdock's drink is drugged.  He wakes up on the phone with the girl, but discovers the butler's, Ord's, dead body on the bed beside him.  He dumps the body in a laundry chute, but the cops arrive soon after.  They search his room and find nothing.

Murdock teams up with Coral.  The two are pulled over, but Murdock convinces the cop that they are to be married, and lets them go.

Murdock finds the safe in Martinelli's office, but it's open.  He's knocked out by an unknown attacker. 

(rest of plot from Wikipedia)

When Murdock awakens, Martinelli has him roughed up by his thug, Krause (Marvin Miller), to try to find out what is in the coded letter. However, Murdock manages to trick his captors and escape. The flashback ends, and Murdock slips away.

Now suspicious of Coral, he goes to her apartment to confront her. She claims to be innocent, but finally admits that she shot her husband in self-defense. She went to Martinelli for advice and gave him the murder weapon to dispose of, but he has been blackmailing her ever since. In love with her himself, Murdock agrees to leave town with her, but insists on retrieving the incriminating weapon first, despite Coral's objections. He threatens Martinelli with a gun, eliciting some startling revelations. The club owner reveals that Coral is his wife. He killed Chandler (having learned the man had lied about having only six months to live) and framed Drake so that Coral could inherit the estate. Murdock gets what he came for and forces Martinelli to precede him out of the building. As he opens the door, Martinelli is shot and killed.

Murdock jumps into the waiting car and drives off with Coral. As they are speeding away, he accuses her of having just tried to kill him. When she shoots him, the car crashes. He survives, but she suffers fatal injuries. In the hospital, Murdock comforts her in her final moments.
    

REVIEW:  too confusing, and Lizabeth Scott pouts way too much when she sings.  Very draggy, but good cinematography and acting.