Rent The Undercover Man (1949)

Documentary Noir. - The Undercover Man review by Steve

By the end of the 1940s, the documentary style crime picture was dominated by poverty row, and low budget productions from bigger studios. This is a class above that and crucially hasn't dropped out of copyright. There's a significant star in Glenn Ford, and Burnett Guffey's photography is a standout.

And it boasts (arguably) the best director of B films in the studio era- Joe Lewis. Not only does this look great, but he also tells the story well and with realism. There is a very palpable sense of threat. It's adapted from a bestselling memoir by the US treasury agent who got notorious gangster Al Capone sent down for tax evasion.

Though the names are changed, and the period updated to (then) present day Chicago. In 1949, this may have been the most violent and homicidal criminal mob ever seen in pictures. Any witness who testifies is automatically murdered while the guilty live in fabulous wealth. We observe the strategies and dedication that put Scarface inside.

There's an ensemble cast of convincingly harassed T-Men led by Ford. And there is an impression of how the public is thoughtlessly complicit in the crime which then makes their lives hell. Which is still relevant. It's a decent gangster film from a decade when they went mostly out of fashion.