A textbook how-to on the classic Hollywood thriller. Dick Powell's furrowed brow singlehandedly foils a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln while on a moving train, based on the supposed Baltimore Plot. It's not fiendishly difficult to figure out who are the conspirators aboard, but everything unfolds with dynamite tension, dry humor, and Mann's singular ability to make any brief physical scuffle hypnotic. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the film, formally, is the complete lack of music until the final credits. The opening titles, plus background information, scroll upwards in a direct predecessor of the Star Wars crawl. After recently seeing perhaps the most inanely, ludicrously plotted train movie ever (Source Code), this was a refreshing 80 minutes of sheer enjoyment. Highest possible recommendation.
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