Its basically the old story of some prisoners on the run but manages to rise above what you would expect. The leads, little known Paul Langton and beautiful smoky-voiced Cathy Downs, are terrific together and deliver quality performances. All of the acting is generally good and as the film progresses you will get interested in the characters and what happens to them.Much is said about the darkness of the film's available prints but it takes place mostly at night and to me the dark nature of the story is suitable for old faded dark film stock, but yes it does need a good restoration someday. The copy I bought was viewable and good enough.Somehow this film, rather than the usual claustrophobic look of many studio-bound cheaply made films of the era, has managed to convert the closeness and night into an intimacy and immediateness that uses the "smallness" to its advantage. Very few small films are able to achieve this.Taught and well-acted by an ensemble cast, "For You I Die" breaks out of the black and white cheapie mold and is far above being just another obscure second bill throwaway.

This surprisingly excellent film noir mixes every element of the classic noir, mixing a prison break, a reluctant participant forced at gunpoint to aid the escapee, a trashy vixen, an innocent young girl wrongly accused of being a robbery accomplice, a tough-talking restaurant owner obsessed with religion, and a confrontation between the two convicts, all in a rustic setting. There are also assorted locales, including two cops who frequent the restaurant and a married couple who live like gypsies, popping in and out to entertain the owner and staff of the roadside dive which has cabins where the misunderstood convict hides out. Other than Mischa Auer, who plays the traveling actor husband, the cast is filled with obscure unknowns who all deliver totally believable performances that are naturalistic and sharp.Paul Langton, a veteran T.V. actor, plays a prison trustee forced to aid another prisoner in his escape attempt. Knowing that his attempt to return to prison could mean his death, he decides to hide out in the tough Marian Kerby's roadside inn, doing odd jobs and ultimately becoming a part of Kerby's extended family. That clan includes two nieces as different as night and day (Cathy Downs as the noble one; Jane Weeks as the trampy one) and the alcoholic chef (Roman Bohnen) whose affection for Downs is based upon his own abandonment of his family and his realization that Downs would be the same age as his own daughter.Kerby's Aunt Maggie is a tough old broad, greeting her customers with home-spun friendliness, but harping at Bohnen for his drinking, Weeks for her floozy ways, and Langton for reading the Sunday paper instead of going with her to church. In short, she's a big-hearted doll who uses tough love on the people around her, although she definitely is tired of Weeks' philandering. In the scene where she finds out the reason behind Bohnen's dependency on alcohol, she shows what really lies behind all that sweet talk and harping. While she only made three films, Kerby's performance is that of a pro, and you will find yourself rooting for her, especially when she makes her feelings towards Langton known after discovering the truth.The performance of Jane Weeks as the slutty Georgie reminds me of Gloria Grahame. She is obviously no good, and any association with Langton would lead him to the same fate of the anti-hero in the low budget noir classic "Detour" where Ann Savage was just as sexually manipulative and twice as devious. Downs is feisty, if a lot more realistic and down to earth, yet not too sweet, as the ingénue who was briefly involved with the mastermind behind the prison escape (Rory Mallinson). Bohnen is excellent as Smitty, whether confiding his past to Kerby or drunkenly giving Downs a bowl filled with goldfish. Auer goes a bit too over the top and his character seems rather out of place.While the print of the available DVD is extremely grainy, the sound is good enough to listen to, and the film itself is extremely fast moving, so the print quality should not be a factor. The characters are all fascinating, even if a few of them (particularly Weeks and Auer) deserve a good slap down. The excellent screenplay builds up tension towards the exciting climax which ends on a promising note for one, but an untimely end for another.

"For You I Die" is a very low budget movie with mostly lesser-known actors. Apart from Mischa Auer, the cast is filled with talented but anonymous looking actors and actresses. However, this does NOT mean the film is poor in any way. And, apart from a lull during the unnecessary castanet scene, it's a dynamite little film.In an unusual break with conventional style, the film begins just after a prison break. All the things leading up to it you learn later in the film--such as how Johnny Coulter (Paul Langton) was forced into the escape even though he was nearing the time for his parole. And, with his 'pal' killing a guard in the process of their escape, Johnny is scared not only of being caught by the police but of his fellow ex-inmate, Gruber (Don Harvey). Johnny has been instructed to go to a certain small town and look up Hope Novak (Cathy Downs)--and to wait with her until Gruber returns. However, it turns out that Hope hates Gruber as much as Johnny--and both are scared to do anything. And, over the course of this week, they start to fall for each other--something that could easily get them killed.The film works well because of the Langton's nice but tough performance. Additionally, the supporting characters really did a nice job--mostly because the writing and dialog worked so well. Not a great film but an exceptional film considering its humble pedigree.

There used to be a secure niche in the movies for these inexpensive little B features in the 30s and 40s. The A feature would be some splashy, well-publicized show announced in overwhelming big red letters: "LEAVE HER TO LIMBO" or something, usually "based on the best selling novel" by F. Scott Bostwick. In between showings of the A feature, there would be a short black-and-white little movie, often about crime or cowboys. They frequently had titles like "Blondie Goes to Hollywood" but some of them were dandies They usually provided work for promising newcomers or old pros whose bones were beginning to creak. (Karl Freund, who was the photographer on Fritz Lang's "Metropolis", wound up shooting "I Love Lucy.") This one isn't a dandy but it's earnest enough. It's about a disillusioned inmate, Paul Langton, who escapes from prison and finds himself stuck in a road house run by the watchful and forbearing Marian Kerby, a Ma Joad for the common man. Her tiny family of guests and relatives is diverse and familiar. There is the blond hootchy-kootchy floozie, the hypomanic Russian that Mischa Auer always played, the drunken but affectionate old cook, and finally the girl of the fugitive's dreams, Cathy Downs.The performances aren't particularly bad. Langton will be a familiar face to movie buffs, though they may have a hard time placing him. He hooked into some conspicuous supporting parts in a handful of popular war movies. He was Ski in "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," the barber who tries to cut Alan Hale's hair in "Destination Tokyo," and one of the sailors in "They Were Expendable." Always a likable and reliable player, his career never went anywhere. He's the lead here, a kind of bitter everyman, but if he's not dynamic, he's not an insult to his art either.Cathy Downs, an ex model, was an attractive young woman with a deep and honest voice. She was the object of Wyatt Earp's affections in "My Darling Clementine" and here -- less distant and reserved, with her hair down -- looks a little like Ella Raines. One can imagine why Langton finds her attractive.In fact, one can imagine that this might have been a far better movie if it had had double the budget and a bit more talent behind the camera. It was shot by the expert William Clothier, but the director is John Reinhardt. His work is pedestrian. Whenever a group comes together, they stand as if staged for a tableau vivant. Let's see -- Langton, you stand there, and Marian over there, and Cathy, get close to Auer and stare at Langton. Good -- now, nobody move. The drunken cook is Roman Bohnen and he makes little impression although he's capable of doing a good job in the right part, as when he reads Dana Andrews' commendations aloud towards the end of "The Best Years of Our Lives." It was written by Robert Presnell in a strictly functional manner but one feels that he's repressing some of the zest he brought to movies like "Meet John Doe." In a dull comic scene, Auer pretends to be conducting a recording of some orchestral work by Brahms and Langton complains that you can't put ketchup on it. "My friend," says the ever exuberant Auer, "if you had a million bucks in the bank, Brahms' music would not be more beautiful!" It's not much but it's a palpable hit. There are a few other examples, including a dramatic conversational exchange that incorporates that silly sounding title.I could be wrong but I'm left with the feeling that someone brought out a script, said "Make this in ten days," and then threw it in the direction of the wrong man.