Riff-Raff (Region 2)

This was a present and the person is very happy with it

I can't vouch for this item, I'm afraid, but as a film it has some style. Pat is pretty broad across the beam for action-lead at this stage in his career but gives a class act in fast-talking wise-cracks in this Panamanian pseudo-noir with one or two fine touches. The opening for instance has no dialogue but skilfully sets the whole thing up. Walter Slezak makes a convincing villain and Anne Jeffreys does what she can with a bland role. There's a cute dog - another reason why its not proper noir. And also a funny joshing relationship with his friend 'Pop', the taxi-driver with the car that won't start.

This was a truly interesting and engaging film, and proved to be about two or three clicks better than I had expected. Pat O'Brien does a neat job of filling the shoes of a slick private detective and all-round "fixer", by the name of Dan Hammer, way down in the tropical heat of Panama. He throws a mean punch, but he certainly can take a licking as well. He does plenty of both when he becomes involved with a bevy of crooks, crumbs, and dirtballs -- all of them willing to cut more than a few throats in the search for a missing treasure map. This may go a long way toward explaining the title, "Riff Raff". Anyway, it's hard to know who to trust or who to believe in a feverish search for a classic "MacGuffin": the map showing the location of millions of dollars worth of hidden oil wells and vast, lost reservoirs of black gold. O'Brien effortlessly commands the screen, and shows off a lot of rakish charm and devil-may-care brashness. He's like a rough, tough, fast talking Dick Powell, but without quite so much of Powell's disdain, and sardonic disillusionment with the human race. Anne Jeffreys, playing a sultry nightclub performer with potentially mixed motives, and mixed emotions, is an effective foil for tough guy O'Brien. She also just happens to be strikingly beautiful and, man oh man, quite quite sexy. In fact, there is an extended scene where the camera swings from O'Brien and Jeffreys -- in an embrace -- to an open window, where we see the languid landscape of Panama City shift from sunny daytime to steamy and glimmering night. Hours have gone by. Then we switch back to our gentleman and lady -- and their clothes have altered quite a bit. What have they been doing during all those hot and humid hours?! Take a guess. All around, this is a damned exciting and provocative movie. It clips right along, with equally effective doses of romance and action. The supporting cast is solid and colorful. Walter Slezak, as always, makes a slimy and conniving villain, but he's also a lot of fun to watch. He's perfect in this role. And Percy Kilbride is a hoot as a wise-cracking taxi driver, who also just happens to be O'Brien's wily back-up man, and endlessly resourceful sidekick. Martin Rackin's screenplay is taut and solid; and the noir cinematography is skillfully done. Noir veteran Ted Tetzlaff directs the film with a sure, deft, and witty hand. As is often the case, RKO studios knows how to handle the dynamics and rhythms of film noir. I wish they had made this film into a feature series -- like the 1940s Sherlock Holmes films -- with Pat O'Brien as a recurring protagonist in the role of Dan Hammer. Oh well, at least we have this one highly entertaining and sinuously seductive noir cocktail.

Typical old pseudo-film noir. But I love these old films. I try to collect all the [post war film noir.The players and setting were watchable..

Riffraff dvds

After I ordered this DVD form the seller--Silver Ocean--for their asking price of $3, paid for it and was notified that it had shipped, Silver Ocean canceled my order and hiked the price 600% to $18.Amazon gives me no recourse to report this kind of bait-and-switch, so beware this seller!

Great movie! I am very happy with it.