Decoy
Release date: 1946-09-14
Votes: 31
Genres: Crime, Thriller
A fatally shot female gangleader recounts her sordid life of crime to a police officer just before she dies.
Reviews
John Chard
Can you come down to my level? Decoy is directed by Jack Bernhard and adapted to screenplay by Nedrick Young from a story written by Stanley Rubin. It stars Jean Gillie, Robert Armstrong, Herbert Rudley, Sheldon Leonard and Edward Norris. Music is by Edward J. Kay and cinematography by L. William O’Connell. Margot Shelby (Gillie) is dying on the sofa, a “victim” of a gunshot wound. Sgt. Jo Portugal (Leonard) leans in to hear the story of how she came to be in this situation… Manic, delirious, bonkers, nasty, Decoy is all of those things, and more, wonderfully so. Running at under 80 minutes, this “B” noir out of Monogram spins a cruel tale of greed, fatalism and cold blooded homicide, all propelled by one of the coldest and wickedest femme fatales to have ever worn a pair of stilettos. Plot involves money of course, there’s a pot load of it buried somewhere and Margot Shelby wants it. The trouble is is that her criminal boyfriend, Frank Olins (Armstrong), is going to the gas chamber and he isn’t telling anyone where the loot is. No problem for Margot, she uses her cunning feminine wiles to ensnare a couple of male dupes into her web, and then the three of them resurrect Frank from the dead and put into action a plan that will reveal where the cash is. Easy Peasy! As the brilliant beginning has shown us, we know the fate of Margot, what you can’t be ready for is what she is prepared to do to achieve her aims, and her means and motives sock you right between the eyes. Even as death approaches she still has to have the last cruel laugh. The beautifully sensuous Gillie gives a thoroughly memorable performance, it’s a tragedy that she would die three years later of pneumonia, aged just 33. Elsewhere. Bernhard (who was married to Gillie at the time) is only competent in direction, but along with the performance he gets out of Gillie (which was a veer from the norm for her), he also gets a cracker turn out of Leonard. Kay’s music is inconsistent, even too breezy in the wrong areas, and O’Connell’s photography is standard stuff that doesn’t strive for any mood accentuation. Yes you have to kind of unscrew your brain and black out some of the more dafter elements here, and there’s some unintentionally cheese laden moments, but what an experience it is all told. 7.5/10
Movie Recommendation
Murder by Contract1958-12-18Claude is a ruthless and efficient contract killer. His next target, a woman, is the most difficult.More...
The Las Vegas Story1952-01-30When newlyweds visit Las Vegas, the wife's shady past comes to the surface.More...
The Ark of the Sun God1984-08-17A safecracker takes a job where he must go to Istanbul and steal a scepter that once belonged to the god Gilgamesh but is now in the temple of a secret cult.More...
Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell2001-10-23The evil Djinn is back at it again, this time wreaking havoc on the students of Illinois' Baxter University. His victim is a beautiful, innocent and studious teenage girl named Diana Collins who accidentally opened up the Djinn's tomb and released him.More...
An Ideal Father2024-04-21Michel, the jovial owner of the only café in a small Normandy town, sees his life turned upside down when his teenage daughter is murdered. The community has his back but soon rumor spreads and Michel is singled out. From the ideal father, he becomes the ideal culprit.More...
Becoming Led Zeppelin2025-02-05The individual journeys of the four members of the band, as they move through the music scene of the 1960s, playing small clubs throughout Britain and performing some of the biggest hits of the era, until their meeting in the summer of 1968 for a rehearsal that changes their lives forever.More...
The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice1952-10-01The arranged marriage between a capricious woman from Tokyo high society and a quiet and rustic man is tested by a marital crisis.More...
Dune2020-06-15Sounds as witnesses. They blurr into memories, half-dreams, it is undecided if they are real or not. A fluctuation between imagination and reality.More...
Eileen2023-12-01During a bitter 1964 Massachusetts winter, young secretary Eileen becomes enchanted by Rebecca, the glamorous new counselor at the prison where she works. Their budding friendship takes a twisted turn when Rebecca reveals a dark secret — throwing Eileen onto a sinister path.More...
Marshmallow2025-04-11At a secluded summer camp, timid and introverted 12-year-old Morgan is thrust into a waking nightmare when a once-fabled campfire tale becomes real. As a mysterious figure descends upon the camp, Morgan and his newfound friends must embark on a treacherous journey and uncover a sinister reality buried beneath the surface.More...
The Curse of the Werewolf1961-05-01A child conceived by a mute servant girl transforms from an innocent youth to a killer beast at night with uncontrollable urges.More...
The Successor2023-11-07Happy and accomplished, Ellias becomes the new artistic director of a famous French Haute Couture house. When he learns that his father, whom he has not seen for many years, has just died of a heart attack, Ellias goes to Quebec to settle the estate. The young creator will discover that he has inherited much worse than his father's fragile heart.More...
Ivan the Terrible, Part I1944-11-11Set during the early part of his reign, Ivan faces betrayal from the aristocracy and even his closest friends as he seeks to unite the Russian people. Sergei Eisenstein's final film, this is the first part of a three-part biopic of Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, which was never completed due to the producer's dissatisfaction with Eisenstein's attempts to use forbidden experimental filming techniques and excessive cost overruns. The second part was completed but not released for a decade after Eisenstein's death and a change of heart in the USSR government toward his work; the third part was only in its earliest stage of filming when shooting was stopped altogether.More...
A2024-05-15In a close-knit community, imagine a teenager’s struggle with asexuality, where faith clashes with personal discovery.More...
Bangkok Breaking: Heaven and Hell2024-09-26When a dedicated rescue worker inadvertently gets caught up in the kidnapping plot of a mogul's tween daughter, he must save her from the clutches of rival gangs hunting them down with unpredictable dangers around every corner.More...
The Brattt2024-02-01A general's daughter lives in Tambov, in love with a street artist, whom her father disapproves of. The general has a twin brother who heads a criminal gang. Two unsuccessful robbers fail the task, which triggers a string of events that will change lives and destroy families.More...
The Summer House2018-09-01A large and beautiful property on the French Riviera. A place that seems out of time and sheltered from the rest of the world. Anna goes there with her daughter for a few days of vacation. Amidst her family, friends and the house staff, Anna has to handle her fresh break-up with her partner and the writing of her next film.More...
The Last Showgirl2024-12-13When the glittering Las Vegas revue she has headlined for decades announces it will soon close, a glamorous showgirl must reconcile with the decisions she’s made and the community she has built as she plans her next act.More...
Transmorphers: Mech Beasts2023-06-0920 years after the events of Transmorphers, a newer, more advanced species of alien robot descends on a rebuilt Earth, threatening once again to destroy the planet.More...
Similar Movies
The 3rd Voice
1960-03-05Marian Forbes has been having an affair with her boss and when he drops her for another woman. In an act of jealousy and greed she convinces an acquaintance to murder her former lover and then impersonate him just long enough to get their hands on a large sum of money.While the City Sleeps...
1956-04-19Newspaper men compete against each other to find a serial killer dubbed "The Lipstick Killer".The Phantom Speaks
1945-04-13The spirit of an executed murderer enters the body of a physician, and forces him to do its bidding--namely, murder.Among the Living
1941-12-12A mentally unstable man, who has been kept in isolation for years, escapes and causes trouble for his identical twin brother.711 Ocean Drive
1950-07-01A telephone repairman in Los Angeles uses his knowledge of electronics to help a bookie set up a betting operation. After the bookie is murdered, the greedy technician takes over his business. He ruthlessly climbs his way to the top of the local crime syndicate, but then gangsters from a big East Coast mob show up wanting a piece of his action.Aileen: Life and Deat...
2003-09-09British documentarian Nick Broomfield creates a follow-up piece to his 1992 documentary of the serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a highway prostitute who was convicted of killing six men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Interviewing an increasingly mentally unstable Wuornos, Broomfield captures the distorted mind of a murderer whom the state of Florida deems of sound mind -- and therefore fit to execute. Throughout the film, Broomfield includes footage of his testimony at Wuornos' trial.99 River Street
1953-08-21A former boxer turned taxi driver earns the scorn of his nagging wife and gets mixed up with jewel thieves.Blue Tiger
1994-04-03Gena is a sweet and dedicated mother to her little son. One day, whilst shopping with him for a halloween mask, her son is accidently shot through the chest by a Japanese Gunman, trying to kill an opposing gang of bus operators. Gena notices that the gunman has a picture of a blue tiger on his chest. She is turned into an obsessed person and has an identical red tiger etched into her skin. She then tracks down the killer and plots his death. This leads her into the world of the Japanese MafiaThe Human Jungle
1954-10-03Danforth is assigned to take over the police department in a section of a large city saddled with juvenile delinquency, petty crimes, graft and also a recent unsolved murder of a strip-tease dancer. Recognizing the laxity of the department he implements many changes and soon finds himself under fire by the newspapers, the attorney of a racket leader and the denizens of this human jungle.The Glass Web
1953-11-11A manipulative diva blackmails a married man and insults her secret lover, leading to her murder. As the husband tries to cover his tracks, the lover sabotages him and suggests turning the case into a TV show episode.I, the Jury
1953-08-14After his best friend and war buddy is mysteriously gunned down, Mike Hammer will stop at nothing to settle the score for the man who sacrificed a limb to save his own life during combat. Along the way, Hammer rides a fine line between gumshoe and a one-man jury, staying two-steps ahead of the law—and trying not to get bumped off in the process.The Long Wait
1954-05-26Soon after thumbing a ride from a truck driver, Johnny McBride is badly burned and suffers from complete amnesia when the vehicle he’s riding in blows a tire and goes over an embankment in a fiery blaze. McBride later receives a tip from an acquaintance that a photo of him was placed prominently in the window of a photography studio in a town called Lyncastle, so Johnny immediately leaves for the burg in the hopes that something there will jog his memory.Parole Girl
1933-03-04A woman convicted of fraud aims to take her revenge on the man who put her inside after being released on parole.C(r)ook
2004-11-11A killer for the Russian Mafia in Vienna wants to retire and write a book about his passion - cooking. The mafia godfather suspects treason.The Ice Harvest
2005-11-23A shady lawyer attempts a Christmas Eve crime, hoping to swindle the local mob out of some money. But his partner, a strip club owner, might have different plans for the cash.The Death and Life of...
2007-07-23A DEA agent provides former Marine Tim Kearney with a way out of his prison sentence: impersonate Bobby Z, a recently deceased drug dealer, in a hostage switch with a crime lord. When the negotiations go awry, Kearney flees, with Z's son in tow.No Escape
1994-04-29In the year 2022, a ruthless prison warden has created the ultimate solution for his most troublesome and violent inmates: Absolom, a secret jungle island where prisoners are abandoned and left to die. But Marine Captain John Robbins, convicted of murdering a commanding officer, is determined to escape the island in order to reveal the truth behind his murderous actions and clear his name.Death Race
2008-08-22Terminal Island, New York: 2020. Overcrowding in the US penal system has reached a breaking point. Prisons have been turned over to a monolithic Weyland Corporation, which sees jails full of thugs as an opportunity for televised sport. Adrenalized inmates, a global audience hungry for violence and a spectacular, enclosed arena come together to form the 'Death Race', the biggest, most brutal event.Death and the Maiden
1994-05-04A political activist is convinced that her guest is a man who once tortured her for the government.The Italian Job
1969-06-02Charlie's got a 'job' to do. Having just left prison he finds one of his friends has attempted a high-risk job in Torino, Italy, right under the nose of the mafia. Charlie's friend doesn't get very far, so Charlie takes over the 'job'. Using three Mini Coopers, a couple of Jaguars, and a bus, he hopes to bring Torino to a standstill, steal a fortune in gold and escape in the chaos.