There are a lot of crime movies about bank heists, jewel thefts, kidnappings and murders, but not many that are about inheritance fraud. So, here comes this little dust mite of a film to fill that important niche.
So, here you have a wealthy couple in the winter of their years whose son disappeared when he was a very young child well over three decades previous. Only a major creep would think to send in a guy who pretends to be their son, now all grown-up, to scam them out of their millions, but that’s what happens here.
Creep #1 is scheming lady Lizbeth Scott, who’s enthusiastic about the plan and does the leg work to find a suitable candidate to stand in for the missing son.
Creep #2 is the victims’ weasel lawyer, Alexander Knox, working with Scott on the sly, providing information and smokescreens.
Creep #3 is our little actor himself, Edmond O’Brien. He’s a regular guy, military vet, blustery, a talker, always up for a drink and a beautiful woman. He’s not a total criminal, but he has a past that’s checkered enough for him to be amenable to the plan. Those sweet millions even coax him to willingly accept a hand injury in which he loses the tip of a finger (because the missing son had a fucked-up fingertip, of course).
Funny thing is that we still like him, especially when Scott and Knox treat him like an idiot. They underestimate his charm when it comes to ingratiating himself into the family. How dare they? This is Edmond O’Brien. He usually played good guys and, even when playing a cook, still came off like someone you wouldn’t mind sitting on the bar stool next to you.
O’Brien does his best in this minor film that, at a mere seventy-five minutes long, doesn’t have the time to run very far with its offbeat story. It’s entertaining, but my memory of what happened in it slips even as I type this.