Rent No Questions Asked (1951)
3.4 of 5 from 50 ratings
1h 21min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- A get-rich-quick scheme leads to a killing in this hard-hitting noir starring Barry Sullivan, Arlene Dahl, George Murphy and Jean Hagen. When Ellen Sayburn (Dahl) trades him in for a husband who can keep her in mink, embittered insurance company attorney Steve Keiver (Sullivan) cooks up a racket that soon has him rolling in dough. Offering criminals a payoff in return for stolen goods, Keiver's deal saves on claims and earns him large commissions. Things go awry, however, when Ellen's decision to cut herself in ends in a double-cross, and Keiver finds himself a wanted man on the run for murder.
- Actors:
- Barry Sullivan, Arlene Dahl, George Murphy, Jean Hagen, Richard Anderson, Moroni Olsen, Danny Dayton, Dick Simmons, Howard Petrie, William Phipps, William Reynolds, Mauritz Hugo, Mari Blanchard, Robert Sheppard, Michael Dugan, Howland Chamberlain, Richard Bartlett, Robert Osterloh, Jimmy Ames, Monya Andre
- Directors:
- Harold F. Kress
- Producers:
- Nicholas Nayfack
- Writers:
- Sidney Sheldon, Berne Giler
- Studio:
- Warner
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Romance, Thrillers
- Collections:
- inema Paradiso's 2023 Centenary Club: Part 2, A Brief History of Film...
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Reviews (1) of No Questions Asked
A GLOSS ADJUSTER - No Questions Asked review by CH
"Shall we put a tail on him?"
"No, I think he looks pretty cute as he is."
With a fast-paced nighttime opening somewhere in Manhattan, and some snappy dialogue, No Questions Asked (1951) is certainly not in the ruck of noir offerings. Written by Sidney Sheldon and directed by Harold Kress (perhaps better known as an editor), its events spring from an insurance agent (Barry Sullivan) being dumped by his fiancée (a splendidly self-seeking Arlene Dahl). To increase his financial standing, he becomes a middleman between the mob and insurance companies who are willing to pay less for the return of goods - no questions asked - than they would in payouts to aggrieved clients.
Such a set-up, did any of them but realise, can only have a limited life, and the death throes kick in swiftly enough during these eighty minutes, the killer being an audacious raid the likes of which has never been seen before or since. Say no more other than that there is no opening night on Broadway to match it.
To the usual bars, smart drawing tooms and down-at-heels offices is added a swimming pool with a malevolent aspect all its own.
The film offers a final moral. It was made by MGM, which had the funds for glossy production. Although it does not go overboard here, a squeeze on the budget could have made it that much punchier.
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