The tough, jaded heroine who gets the “raw deal” in this iconic California noir, Pat (Claire Trevor), tells it straight in her searingly vulnerable, bitter voice-over when faced with losing the man she loves (and has single-handedly broken out of jail) to his goody-two-shoes social worker Ann (Marsha Hunt). Looking over at Ann, ostensibly taken as a hostage, but now sitting in the getaway car next to Joe (where Pat should be), Pat muses, with startling empathy, “She too is just a dame in love with Joe.” Why either of these intelligent women should want Joe (Dennis O' Keefe) is not entirely clear, but because of our access to Pat's deepest thoughts and feelings, we know he's a fool to prefer the one with the prettier face. With classic set pieces like “Grimshaw's Taxidermy” in Crescent City and a bleak climax on a foggy San Francisco pier, this cult film also cuts across stock cynicism to the tender insides of the noir femme.