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Cast: Pat O’Brien, Anne Jeffreys, Walter Slezak, Percy Kilbride, Jerome Cowan

Running Time: 80 min.

REVIEW: No relation to the 1935 Jean Harlow-Spencer Tracy vehicle of the same name, RKO Radio’s RIFF-RAFF is an action-packed vehicle for formidable actor Pat O’Brien. Set loose in Panama, American private eye Dan (O’Brien) hopes to get his mitts on a valuable map showing priceless oil concessions. He finds himself up against a motley gang of villains led by Molinar (Walter Slezak), who likewise want to get hold of the map and will stop at nothing to get it. Adding to the confusion is worldly nightclub singer Maxine (Anne Jeffreys), whose unsavory reputation makes O’Brien  skeptical of her motives – an attitude he finds reasons to reverse as the film progresses. Percy Kilbride provides comic relief as a sardonic Panamanian taxi driver. Considered a minor film noir entry more in the adventure genre, it was directed by Ted Tetzlaff, who also directed THE WINDOW (1949) and worked as a cinematographer for over 100 films, including another successful suspense film, Alfred Hitchcock‘s NOTORIOUS (1946). The music was composed by Roy Webb and Joan Whitney.