- Cornered is a revenge tale arranged around a Canadian pilot named Laurence Gerard (Dick Powell), whose wife was murdered by Vichy collaborators during the French Resistance. Everyone agrees that a slippery fellow named Jarnac was behind the murder, but nobody seems to know where he is or even if he is still alive. After rifling through the rubble in France, Gerard's investigations lead him to Buenos Aires, where he encounters a steady stream of colorful characters (Walter Slezak, Nina Vale, Morris Carnovsky, Edgar Barrier, Steven Geray, Jack La Rue, Gregory Gaye), few of whom are of much help in tracking down Jarnac. It's not even clear that Jarnac's widow (Micheline Cheirel) knows where he is, an issue complicated by the revelation that Mrs. Jarnac never even met her husband in the first place.
- Cornered represents the second pairing of director Edward Dmytryk and leading man Dick Powell, following the previous year's immensely entertaining Murder, My Sweet. Admittedly, Cornered is not quite as good as that film (which is probably the best Philip Marlowe movie ever made), but it is a memorable enough story of an utterly world-weary and single-minded man who definitely didn't escape the war unscathed. In the starring role, the perpetually sweat-soaked Powell is surprisingly convincing, keeping the usual wisecracks to a minimum in favor of intense stares and intimidating threats. Fans of location filming will enjoy multiple glimpses of Buenos Aires while fans of Murder, My Sweet will appreciate how often Powell finds himself concussed.
