Abandoned

Starkly photographed in semi-documentary style by William Daniels, this thinly budgeted film packs plenty of action and provides startlingly snappy dialog from first to last. Storm appears in a damp, grim Los Angeles looking for her missing sister and enlisting the aid of newsman O'Keefe, who discovers the vanished girl in the morgue, listed as an "unidentified suicide." Believing the girl has been murdered, O'Keefe launches a harrowing investigation. He turns up a baby-stealing ring fronted by calculating Rambeau and abetted by sleazy private detective Burr, who gives a marvelous performance as does the gang's chief goon, Mike Mazurki. A fast-paced film noir gem. (official distributor synopsis)