Overview
Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator, on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man.
Trailer
Crew
DirectorRobert Siodmak
WriterAnthony Veiller, John Huston, Richard Brooks
Cast
Edmond O'Brien
Jim Reardon
Burt Lancaster
'Swede' Andersen
Ava Gardner
Kitty Collins
Albert Dekker
Big Jim Colfax
Sam Levene
Lt. Sam Lubinsky
Vince Barnett
Charleston
Virginia Christine
Lilly Harmon Lubinsky
Jack Lambert
'Dum-Dum' Clarke
Charles D. Brown
Packy Robinson - Ole's Manager
Donald MacBride
R.S. Kenyon
Charles McGraw
Al
William Conrad
Max
Jeff Corey
Blinky Franklin (uncredited)
Gino Corrado
Restaurant Chef (uncredited)
Frank McLure
Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
Howard Freeman
Brentwood Police Chief (uncredited)
Charles Middleton
Farmer (uncredited)
Queenie Smith
Mary Ellen 'Queenie' Daugherty (uncredited)
Jack Cheatham
Police Driver (uncredited)
William Ruhl
Fran (uncredited)
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Keywords
small townnew jerseygas stationboxerheistfemme fatalefilm noirmurderblack and whiteattempted robberyinsurance investigatorhemingway
Details
TMDb Votes
435
Added May 14, 2026Updated Jun 3, 2026