Simply Perfect

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The film begins with a gang robbing a bank and shooting a teller. In the process, however, one of the gang members was shot. They take him to a doctor...who realizes they are crooks and tries to tell the police...and he's killed. Soon, they approach Dr. Steven Bishop* (Regis Toomey) and convince him to help. However, over time the doctor starts to realize that these men are no goodnicks. The acting was very solid in this one thanks to Toomey and Howard Da Silva (who always was excellent as a heavy) and fortunately the script and direction were nice as well. Despite a stereotype that B-movies are bad movies, this one is well made and enjoyable...and well worth your time. It also didn't hurt that the finale was so tough and exciting.*Not to be confused with the pop singer who sang the themes to "Tootsie" and "Animal House"!

Ultra-Short but Long on Entertainment, this is Another Quickie from Director Lederman that Delivers a Sombre, Violent Story with a Shootout at the End that is just Bullet Crazy and Anticipated a Style that would Not Become Prevalent Until the Late Sixties and Continue to this Day. Howard Da Silva is a Gangster that is a Psycho, but Loves His Bullet Scarred Pal that is On Life Support, Kept Alive by County Doctor Regis Toomey. Except for a Bit of Comedy Relief from a Pill Popping Goon, this is a Downbeat and Edgy B-Movie that is Exceptional.The Climax is a Frenzied Free for All that Ends in a Blaze of Glory. Chalk Another One Up for the Prolific Director that Made Close to 300 Movies from the Early Days of Hollywood Silents and Ended with a Stint in TV. An Unknown Talent that Seemed to have an Unlimited Supply of Energy. The Same could be Said about Most of His Movies.

Regis Toomey and Howard da Silva star in "Bullet Scars," a 1942 B movie that's pretty good, thanks to the nice performance by Toomey.The Dillon gang, led by Frank Dillon (Da Silva) pulls off a robbery, but one of them, Joe, is badly wounded. They can't risk going to a hospital, so they corral a doctor, Steven Bishop (Toomey) to help them, claiming the shooting was accidental and saying nothing about the fact that they're all crooks. Meanwhile, Joe's sister Nora (Adele Longmire), a nurse, is asked to come and take care of her brother. Dillon offers the doctor a fortune and his own laboratory if he will stay and take care of Joe, who is Dillon's best friend. Dillon is also in love with Nora, who wants nothing to do with him.It doesn't take Bishop long to realize that he's pretty much a captive of these men, but while picking up supplies at the drugstore, with one of the men standing nearby, he does find out about the recent bank robbery and puts 2 + 2 together. He also knows he won't live if Joe dies while under his care. He and Nora have to figure out how to get out of there.There's nothing special about this movie, but it is entertaining, and the end is clever. Regis Toomey was a solid actor with a kindly presence who was prolific in both television and film into his eighties. He was a regular on many TV series over the years. Howard da Silva, turned in as a Communist by Robert Taylor, was blacklisted for 8 years but acted in theater and returned to television in 1959. He starred as Ben Franklin on Broadway and screen in "1776." However, the most interesting person in this film was the elderly doctor in the beginning of the film, Hobart Bosworth. Bosworth was a direct descendant of John and Priscilla Alden on his father's side, and on his mother's side, a descendant of the first Dutch settlers to land in the U.S. He was an actor, director, writer, and producer going back to 1908.

Though there's not much original in this flick, it's a fun light gangster show. There's nothing too heavy here (but there's a couple deaths - that was the spoiler).The good character-actor cast are all better known for other work, but they do an admirable job here, and seem to be having a good time with it. They are not taking themselves or the film too seriously, but they are playing it strictly straight.Howard Da Silva plays the heavy, and while he can be very menacing in some of his roles, he uses a very light touch here (he's almost affable).I can heartily recommend it as an entertaining hour's worth.