Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

PimpinAinttEasy Great noir crime thriller with supernatural (?) sci-fi elements. A femme fatale who cannot wait for her man to come out of jail and retrieve the $0.4 million that he has stashed somewhere, gets to know about an antidote that could bring him back from the dead, if he was put to death in the gas chamber.The tall Jean Gillie was very beautiful and acted reasonably well. She tears through one man after the other without even delivering a kiss. Majorie Woodworth who played the doctor's nurse was also easy on the eyes. Jim Vincent plays the street smart detective with ease. Except for a few instances, the film is not that big on noir cinematography. Some of the scenes have a play like quality about them like when Jean Gillie's explains the motivations for her actions to the idealistic doctor. The ending was superb - the note left by the person who buries the money is very cynical - "to you who double crossed me, I leave this dollar for your troubles. the rest of the dough, I leave to the worms."Some of these low budget noir flicks like DECOY and DETOUR would put a lot of so called classics to shame. The film deserves a remake for sure.(8/10)

dougdoepke A criminal gang conspires to steal a big sum from one of its members through an elaborate plan to return him from the dead.Margot (Gillie) doesn't explode until the end when we find out what a psychopath she really is. No doubt about it, she's in the same vicious league as Annie Laurie Starr of Gun Crazy (1949). The storyline here is about as unrelenting as a windstorm in Chicago. No, there's no redemption for any of this crew. Credit screenwriter-actor Nedrick Young for the unregenerate character concepts. I suspect no studio of the time would touch such uncompromising material. Likely, the lurid content also kept the crime drama off Late Shows, as was apparently the case.Margot is one heckuva spider woman, with the car keys or without them. If she isn't playing games with her dead husband (Armstrong), she's ruining the life of Dr. Craig (Rudley, in a fine performance). Then too, the doc really should be ignoring her well-turned ankle instead of lusting after it. Too bad he realizes this too late. The movie's not a complete success. Some plot developments, like returning from the dead through better chemistry, are a stretch, while director Bernhard adds little to the styling. At the same time, supposed gang leader Edward Norris makes little impression. But maybe that was supposed to be since he's not really the leader. Anyhow, the noir's a sleeper, with something of a wacked-out screenplay, but definitely worth catching up with.(In passing—good to see the Runyonesque Sheldon Leonard playing it straight and picking up a payday, even as a cop, no less.)

Spikeopath 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

GManfred Really enjoyed this dark-horse noir picture from Monogram. Had never heard of Jean Gillie before and the website says she died 3 years later after making just one more picture. She was perfect as the gun moll from hell in "Decoy", and raises a crummy gangster picture into the 'must-see'category.The main premise of the story defies belief, but as with countless others that have some intrinsic value you just have to go with it - and it's only 75 minutes long. I thought the overall production values were quite good for a Monogram cheapie. Sheldon Leonard as the Police Sgt. was over-the-top but Robt. Armstrong was better than usual.And I wanted to start a new paragraph to tell you that Marjorie Woodworth, of whom I had never heard, wins the Hand-Painted Mustache Cup as the Most Beautiful Actress Who Can't Act A Lick - she was the receptionist/nurse for the criminal doctor, played by Herbert Rudley. Breathtaking to look at and a breathtakingly bad actress."Decoy" is not really a good movie but it has a cachet about it that you will like. It is well worth your time if you can find it.