They Made Me a Killer

 (1946)
Directed by William C. Thomas
Written by Daniel Mainwaring, Winston Miller, Kae Salkow
Starring Robert Lowery, Barbara Britton, Lola Lane, Elisabeth Risdon
IMDB Entry

The title of They Made Me a Killer is clearly influenced by They Made me a Criminal of a few years earlier. While it certainly doesn't rise to the level of that classic, it is a pretty good programmer with a Hitchcockian theme of a man on the run because he's unjustly accused of a crime.

Tom Durling (Robert Lowrey) quits his job as an auto mechanic after his brother is killed in an accident. Driving west, he ends up in a small town and meets Betty Ford (Lola Lane), who asks for a ride in his car. They stop at a bank, and Durling realizes he's been forced into being the getaway driver for a bank robbery. One man, Steve Reynolds, is killed, but Durling is caught. Reynold's sister June (Barbara Britton) wants revenge on the criminals, so they join forces to track them down. A matchbook in Ford's belongings leads them to a diner. June gets a job, while Durling infiltrates the gang with an eye to bringing them to justice.

The movie creates as lot of suspense as we see the gang become suspicious of Durling and June and may discover they're both out to turn them in and clear their names. Also of interest is Ma Conley (Elisabeth Risdon), the diner owner who is the mastermind of the gang. 

The movie was produced by Pine-Thomas, which did B movies for Paramount. Most of the actors did little of note. Barbara Britton had a successful career in the 50s and missed out on being a TV icon when she was replaced in Head of the Family by Mary Tyler Moore when the show was revamped into The Dick Van Dyke Show. Robert Lowery was a success and worked regularly; his most famous role was the lead in the 1949 Batman and Robin serial. He also was a regular on the Circus Boy TV show.