Crime Wave Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Crime Wave Blu-ray Movie Review

Running from the past.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III August 12, 2026

Andre de Toth's rugged Crime Wave, based on the Saturday Evening Post short story "Criminal's Mark", is a highly influential and entertaining film noir about a group of ex-cons trying to pull one of their own back in. It clearly inspired future films such as Ulu Grosbard's outstanding 1978 neo-noir Straight Time and, though small parts of Crime Wave's script leave something to be desired, this remains a potent and engaging piece of filmmaking that quickly pulls you into its brisk 75-minute story. It's also got a solid leading performance from the prolific Sterling Hayden, who was already an established leading man in films like The Asphalt Jungle and would appear in Johnny Guitar later that year.

Crime Wave makes a big impression during the very first scene, which marks one of the first times -- if not the first -- where an upbeat pop song is paired with a violent act: three ex-cons rob a gas station at night and one of them knocks out poor attendant Gus Snider (Dub Taylor) while Doris Day's cover of "S'Wonderful" plays on the radio. A police officer arrives minutes later but is shot to death by one of the thugs, Gat Morgan (Ned Young), who's injured in the exchange and the group splits up. Fleeing by car and then on foot, Gat phones fellow ex-con Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson) for help… and though Steve's gone straight with the help of his new wife Ellen (Phyllis Kirk), Gat decides to pay them a late-night visit in person anyway. Soon enough, Steve and Ellen's apartment will be even more crowded.

Meanwhile, the authorities are searching for clues about the murder and robbery, and they've got a pretty good idea of who did it: Doc Penny (Ted de Corsia), Ben Hastings (Charles Bronson, credited in this early role as Charles Buchinsky), and of course Gat, who have been primary suspects in a recent string of small-amount robberies in the area. Steve was a known associate of all three men back in prison, so Detective Lieutenant Sims (Hayden) tries his number first, but he doesn't pick up. The police decide to pay their own visit to Steve and Ellen's place about an hour after the wounded Gat drops by... but he's already died from his injuries and yet another ex-con, Dr. Otto Hessler (Jay Novello), has come and gone with Gat's stolen money. Things obviously don't look very good for Steve, who only has two people in his corner right now: Ellen, of course, as well as his sympathetic parole officer Daniel O'Keefe (James Bell).

So sets the stage for Crime Wave, which continues to follow poor Steve and Ellen as they're both dragged further and further into his "old life" once Doc Penny and his men have them pinned down completely. This dense but quickly-paced film noir relies on a few plot conveniences and near-misses to keep things moving (and a handful of Gene Nelson's line deliveries land with a thud) but still manages to stay fully afloat, and much of the credit for this is due to its rock-solid performances and absolutely outstanding cinematography by the prolific DP Bert Glennon, who also lensed John Ford's Stagecoach and would soon transition to television with great work on shows like Lawman and 77 Sunset Strip. These memorable visuals are supported very well by Warner Archive's new Blu-ray edition, which also includes a handful of enjoyable DVD-era bonus features that add substantial value to this small but mighty package.

Crime Wave Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Enough can't be said about Warner Archive's new restoration of Crime Wave, which makes great use of a recent 4K scan of the original camera negative. The cinematography by Bert Glennon offers a visually engaging blend of stylish, perfectly lit sequences (see the nighttime crime scene up top) with a handful of darker and more naturalistic moments, including a few extremely dark exteriors that are much noisier and grainier in comparison. The good news is that it's all handled nicely by the boutique label, who as usual have delivered a very clean but still organic-looking restoration that doesn't attempt to smooth over any of its intentionally rough spots. Ideal conditions reveal high levels of fine detail and texture, black levels remain deep and inky in all but a few scenes, and contrast is likewise handled nicely. As usual, the film has been encoded on a dual-layered (50GB) disc at a consistently high bit rate, which keeps compression-related issues at bay and likewise contributes to another great-looking presentation of a classic catalog title.

Crime Wave Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Likewise, the DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix offers sonic support with another well-restored presentation of its original elements... which, as always, are served up as a split two-channel presentation of the original mono for wider playback. Dialogue remains clean and clear throughout, with nicely prioritized sound effects when needed and plenty of room left over for the original score by David Buttolph (which I honestly wasn't a fan of, but that's just personal preference). No age-related damage could be heard along the way aside for small amounts of hiss, which typically suggests that heavy amounts of noise reduction were not applied to better preserve Crime Wave's dynamic range.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, not the extras listed below.

Crime Wave Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork (dig that tagline!) and several extras carried over from the DVD edition, some of which add a terrific amount of support for the main feature.

• Audio Commentary - This excellent legacy track pairs up Film Noir Foundation president Eddie Muller and author James Ellroy, with both participants (who are clearly huge fans of the film) serving up an engaging and informative commentary that's largely scene-specific but also veers off into several interesting detours along the way. Among other facts, we learn that the film was originally shelved by more than a year after its completion (this explains the 1951 calendar dates and 1952 license plates) as well as several interesting insights about its cast, crew, and production during this occasionally profane and consistently entertaining track.

• Gadgets Galore (10:40) - This lightweight Vitaphone short offers a somewhat humorous look back at the history of the automobile in America during the last several decades. Oh, how times have changed.

• The Making of Crime Wave (5:58) - This too-short short DVD-era featurette, originally titled "Crime Wave: The City Is Dark", features then-recent comments about the film from historian Richard Schickel, filmmaker Oliver Stone, producer Alain Silver, filmmaker Christopher Coppola, and actor Elizabeth Ward, who all appear in interview clips. There's even an archival appearance by Crime Wave director André De Toth.

• Baby Bunny Buggy (7:07) - Didn't I just see this cartoon? Yep, it was also included on Warner Archive's recent Blu-ray edition of King Richard and the Crusaders, also from 1954. Ah well, I'll watch it again.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:36) - This Dragnet-style promotional piece can also be seen here.

Crime Wave Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Andre de Toth's Crime Wave is a pretty great little film noir, and not without a few minor flaws, but it shockingly almost didn't see the light of day: according to a legacy audio commentary carried over to Warner Archive's new Blu-ray, it was shelved by the studio for at least a year after completion. I'm happy it did because the performances, cinematography, and breezy pace make this an effective production that holds up more than seven full decades later. WAC's 4K-sourced restoration makes Crime Wave look and sound like new, and an assortment of great bonus features -- including that commentary, of course -- round out this exceptional package that's one of the month's best releases.