SMART GIRLS DON'T TALK (1948)

One night at the Club Bermuda, a group of men led by Johnny Warjack barge in and rob the casino tables and the patrons. Club boss Marty (Bruce Bennett) lets them escape because getting the cops involved would threaten his illegal gambling endeavor. Instead, he offers to make good all the patron losses, then sends his goons after Warjack who is found dead hours later. A guy named Clark tries to claim a loss of $10,000 but Marty calls his bluff and demands that he pay off his gambling debts within a week. A woman named Linda (Virginia Mayo) tries to make a claim for thousands of dollars of stolen jewelry, but Marty also sees through her, knowing that her gems were paste, and when the club’s valet parkers claim her car is blocks away, Marty drives her home and spends the night. The next morning, it turns out that Linda’s car was used in the hit on Warjack, and Lt. McReady questions her but believes her alibi. Linda's brother Doc (yes, he's actually a doctor) shows up and warns her away from Marty, but he winds up getting equally involved when he falls for Toni, singer at the Club Bermuda. When Marty carries out a hit on Clark, he's wounded and Doc treats him, but when Marty's underlings worry that Doc will rat them out to the police, they kill him. Doc's death convinces Linda to help the cops get Marty. This B-melodrama doesn't quite have the feel of a film noir, though noir themes are present, including the mix of goodness and villainy in Marty, and to some degree, Linda. Bennett makes for a weak leading man; I think he was going for taciturn and a little mysterious but he mostly comes off as wooden. Richard Roeber as the cop who also serves as a mild romantic interest for Mayo is bland and has no chemistry with Mayo. The best performance comes from Virginia Mayo who serves as the conflicted noir central figure. A strong supporting cast includes Robert Hutton as Doc, and Richard Benedict and Tom D'Andrea as two of Marty's thugs. A standard, "The Very Thought of You" is usedThe movie does an interesting turn of mood, with the first half feeling rather light and things getting heavy near the end, but I'd only recommend this for B-movie fans. Pictured are Bennett, Mayo, and Richard Benedict. [TCM]