Bullet Scars (1942)

 

Whether it was an A-film with Bogie, Cagney or Edward G.--or a B-movie with solid character actors who knew how to give life to a role--... well, if it was from Warner Brothers, it was likely to be good.

1942's Bullet Scars is a fine example. Made on a small budget, it has a nifty story backed up by two actors expertly playing off each other.

Howard da Silva is bank robber Frank Dillon (the similarity in last name to Dillinger is probably on purpose). When a robbery turns violent, one of Frank's men is badly wounded. The wounded man (named Joe) is Frank's best friend, so he'll do whatever is necessary to keep Joe alive.

A clever pre-prepared trick gets Frank and his men past a police roadblock and they soon arrive at their ranch hide-out. Frank then hires a doctor named Steven Bishop (Regis Toomey) to care for Joe, telling the doctor that the gunshot wounds were from a hunting accident. He also drafts Joe's sister Nora, a nurse, into the set-up. Nora knows Frank and her brother are crooks, but family loyalty motivates her to come along.

Much of the movie at this point is Frank trying to keep the Bishop from tumbling to the truth. The two actors do indeed play well against each other. Frank is often subtly threatening, while Bishop is slowly putting two and two together. 

When the situation comes to a head, Bishop uses a clever trick of his own to get a message to the police. This leads to him and Nora beseiged in a room in the ranch, though fortunately Bishop proves to be as adept with a pistol as he is with a scapel. When the police show up, the scale of the gun battle widens to include tear gas bombs and lots of stuff catching fire. It's a fun, well-directed action scene that brings the movie to a satisfying conclusion.

The movie is in the public domain. Here it is on YouTube: