Director Otto Preminger reunited with his stars Dana Andrews
and Gene Tierney for this film noir classic involving a good cop gone bad.
Andrews stars as Det. Mark Dixon, a cop who’s willing to toss down with any
criminal in an attempt to insure he doesn’t turn out like his criminal father.
When a routine interrogation of suspect Ken Paine ends in his accidental murder
at Mark’s hands, he tries to cover it up and put the blame on top criminal
Tommy Scalise (Gary Merrill).
Things go wrong when Mark meets the soon to be ex-wife of
the victim, Morgan Taylor (Tierney). It turns out that the pair had parted ways
but she was with him the night of a questionable murder occurred, the one Mark
was investigating. As they spend time together he begins to fall for the widow,
wishing that he could go back and change his actions.
It gets more complicated than that when the lead suspect in
the murder of Paine becomes Morgan’s father. A cab driver and all around good
egg, he had gone to Paine’s apartment to give him a beating for slapping his
daughter only to find no one home. Only Mark knows he’s innocent having seen
this happen from around the corner while holding onto Paine’s body.
Dixon finds himself falling more and more in love with
Taylor but still in pursuit of Scalise. At the same time he does all he can to
insure that Taylor’s father isn’t convicted for a crime he committed. As he
does his best to find a solution time is running out and so is Scalise. Can all
threads be tied up and a happy ending follow?
As with most noir films there is a distinct line crossed
here with a good guy drawn into a web of deceit and low key romance. Dixon
starts out a true cynic at heart for some reason, one that isn’t revealed until
near the end of the film, but whose cynicism begins to melt at the affection he
feels for Taylor. The difficulty he faces between trying to distance himself
from the life his father led into something better is always at odds with the
methods he uses to exact justice.
The movie offers a straight forward plot that has tones of
melodrama in the mix of crime story. Andrews gives a fairly one note
performance, in my opinion not one of his best, but still brings a hardness to
the character that I’ve not seen him display in other films he made. Tierney is
gorgeous and believable in her role of wounded widow desperate to save her
father. Karl Malden in an early performance (IMDB only list 7 films prior to
this one) does a fine job in a supporting role as the new lieutenant in the
squad room Dixon works out of and the main officer who believes Taylor’s father
is the killer.
Twilight Time has once more brought a classic to life with a
great looking transfer to blu-ray. All the aspects of the film are on display
here with some moody cinematography that sets the mood just right. Extras are
limited but well done including an isolated score track, audio commentary with
film historian Eddie Muller and an original theatrical trailer. If you’re a
collector of the film noire genre this is one to add to your collection. If not
it’s definitely worth a watch.
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