Detective
Cats: Drama|
This 1951 film captures the life in a police station in post World War Two New York as best as a film from 1951 could. It captures the grittiness, the characters that populate a police station and even the post war sadness beautifully. Although shot in Hollywood, the star and director spent a good deal of time in a New York City police station, soaking up the local atmosphere and it shows. Based on Sidney Kingsley’s play and adapted by for the screen by Mr. Kingsley, we are given slightly toned down version of his play. I have seen the play and I have seen the movie (many times) and nothing gets too lost in adaptation.
Kirk Douglas stars as Detective Jim McLeod, a tough as nails, by the book veteran. He is happily married (or is he?) to his beautiful wife Mary (Eleanor Parker). Detective McLeod has been trying to pin a murder rap on a Doctor who performs a certain procedure. Some of his business has been steered his way from certain members of the organized crime community. One member in particular is on Detective McLeod’s list of people to be locked up. Complictions arise when there is a connection made alittle to close to Jim McLeod, closer than Jim McLeod can stand. A secret long kept revealed. All of this in just one shift. That is all I’m going to say about the main conflict of the story.
There are a couple of subplots which will all tie together in the end. The main subplot involves Detective Lou Brody. Played by master character actor William Bendix his performance is a lesson in great acting. Here is a man destroyed by the loss of his son during the war and in conflict with what is right, what is wrong, loyalty to his oath as a law enforcement officer and to his close friend Jim Mcleod. A young man is arrested on embezelment charges by Jim McLeod. This was, up to now a noce young man, a veteran with no criminal record. Detective Brody sees a resemblence to his lost son and when he asks where the young man served during the war, it turns out the two young men where in the same place. All of this with touches of humor that bring this character to level of realism that only an actor of Mr. Bendix’s caliber could achieve. See Hitchcock’s Life Boat to see further evidence of the skill and talent of William Bendix.
Also among the recently arrived guests of the City of New York include a pair of loud thieves and in a wonderful performance Lee Grant as a Brooklynesque shoplifter too embarrased to call her sister to come bail her out. Lee Grant had her career momentarily derailed by the HUAC. I know that if Miss Grant had not had this happen to her we would have seen a tremendous body of great work on film. All of the performances are worth the price of admission and time expended but Miss Grant and Mr. Bendix are standouts in their supporting roles.
I do not recomend this film for younger viewers given the suject matter (there will be some explaining to do). It is a good introduction into hardboiled melodrama and realism in films that we see more of later down the road. I am not forgetting Jules Dassin’s Naked City which was made 5 years earlier but that is in a class of it’s own for various reasons (which I will write about in the Naked City post). The film however, might be seen as talky by younger viewers, even with the nice touches of humor from the pair of thieves and Miss Grant. Although there is not a great deal of action and there is only one set the film does not feel claustrophobic.
This movie just became available on DVD. It was never available on VHS. I had a copy that I had taped off of TCM years ago. I kept it in the store and would loan it out to customers who asked. I loved this movie so much that once I got a DVD burner I made the “Free Section” in the store and put a couple of copies out there for loan (not rent - that is the difference between a felony and not a felony). Now it will be shown on Turner Classic Movies on August 26 at 9:00 AM. I guess it is still in the free section.
