Half good -- the first half, in which George Raft and Humphrey Bogart play brothers who work as wildcat truckers, until they have an accident in which Bogart loses an arm. Raoul Walsh directs with gritty realism and the dialogue is fast and razor-sharp, especially with Ann Sheridan as a wised-up but still fresh waitress whom Raft falls for. In the second half, Raft gets a dispatching job, and Ida Lupino as the wife of the trucking company owner falls for him, to the point of murdering her husband and making Raft her partner. When he goes ahead with plans to marry Sheridan, Lupino tries to frame him for the murder, but then goes bonkers in the witness box. Until the over-the-top conclusion all the acting is very good, but it’s the on-the-job reality and not the would-be courtroom drama that has any substance. (1940, TCM/T, n.) *6*
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