Reite auf dem rosa Pferd

This oddly titled crime melodrama stars Montgomery as a rather moral blackmailer seeking revenge for the death of a friend. Montgomery arrives in a small New Mexico town during fiesta time looking for crime boss Fred Clark. Art Smith, an FBI agent who has been tracking Montgomery, confronts him, telling him he suspects that Montgomery has evidence that will incriminate Clark--a mobster he has long been trying to nail--and asks Montgomery to cooperate. Montgomery tells Smith he doesnt know what hes talking about, but he does have the evidence, a cancelled check that links Clark to vast illegal profits the mobster has pocketed. Montgomery goes to Clark and offers to sell the check to him, but his blackmail scheme backfires and he is beaten senseless by Clarks goons. After the beating, Montgomery retreats to the small carousel operated by Gomez (ergo the title of the film). There he is nursed by Hendrix, a naive but affectionate Mexican girl. Hendrix tries to talk Montgomery out of confronting mobster Clark again, but Montgomery is set on revenge, especially after discovering that Clark was responsible for the death of one of his friends. Montgomery does face Clark once more, tricking him into exposing his rackets, but Smith, who has been summoned by Hendrix, has to come to Montgomerys rescue. The plot of this offbeat film noir is convoluted and sometimes confusing, but the acting is above par and Montgomerys direction is always intriguing. At the time the film was made, he was determined to change his profession from actor to director, having recently done a bang-up job behind the camera in LADY IN THE LAKE. This entry, however, was so far off the beaten track that the film failed to make much impact upon audiences or critics. (Verleiher-Text)