Above average, often underrated low budget film noir of a somewhat pleasantly restrained Rooney who finds himself in escalating hot water stemming from his "borrowing" $20 from his employers cash register. (He's a mechanic at a car dealership)
Instead of a comedy of errors, the film is rather a thriller of errors with Rooney making honest and dishonest mistakes/decisions that build on each other from scene to scene to a point that Rooney is desperate to get out of the hot water he finds himself in at every turn. He's in trouble with his nasty boss, his money hungry girlfriend (Jeanne Cagney), the police, a sleazy (Peter Lorre)amusement park gameroom owner, etc...
He's caught in a whirlpool of lies, deceit, and lust (for a snobish/vampish girlfriend who is never satisfied) and a hunger for the money that he feels will get him out of all his trouble. He doesn't appreciate and is callous toward the wholesome girl (ex-girlfriend ??) who seems to want him despite his faults. He's a lot more interested in the allure of the bombshell Jeanne Cagney instead and is bored by Ms. Wholesome.
Rooney biographies claim that Mickey didn't think much of this film since it didn't do much to revive his sagging career in the early 1950's. Still, there's a lot to recommend it...with solid acting, atmospheric black and white photography and staging, especially of the amusement park and oceanside locale.
