Down Three Dark Streets

As a kid in the late 60's I remember The Highway Patrol TV show which was played on re-runs. There was something compelling about the authority that Broderick Crawford commanded. He kind of molded a kid's belief that the police were relentless pursurers of criminals and our protectors. Crawford brings that same no-nonsense power to the FBI in this flick. It may be a low-budget B-movie, but it works with Crawford doing what he does best. It shows that at any given time the FBI is working on multiple cases that may or may not be related. With dogged pursuit ans some science of the time it comes together even though not all the cases have links. I think it gave a little realism and a good portrayal of both the downsides and the successes the agency faces. It is a little slow starting and keeps getting better as it goes keeping the viewer invested in the outcome.

Broderick Crawford made quite a career for himself as a character actor following in the footsteps of his mother, Helen Broderick, the frequent pal or aunt to Ginger Rogers in her Fred Astaire films. Crawford effectively used his not-handsome looks to project everday-guy existence and excelled in strong, arrogant and powerful roles such as in "All the King's Men."Ruth Roman, coming from a super-poor background in Boston, made this film about three years after her career-building turn in Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train." With appropriate intensity, she seems able to prove what many believe, that brunettes have better chances than blondes of obtaining good, meaty roles in Hollywood.Both leads are very effective, he as a tough detective and she as a frightened woman threatened with harm to her and/or her child. In a supporting role Martha Hyer, generally a good actress, seems to stumble into the frequent pitfall of the time: approaching the role of a sexy, forward woman by using an obvious imitation of Marilyn Monroe's voice and mannerisms as her cornerstone tools.This 1954 movie is very well realized and worth the investment in viewing time.

When an FBI agent (Kenneth Tobey, THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD) is killed while investigating a case, the fellow agent (Broderick Crawford) who is assigned the three cases the murdered agent was working on attempts to discover which of the three cases involves his killer. All three cases involve three women: single mother Ruth Roman is being extorted for her late husband's insurance money, good time gal Martha Hyer is protecting the whereabouts of her homicidal lover (Joe Bassett), blind Marisa Pavan's husband (Gene Reynolds) is sent to prison for refusing to talk about a car theft ring. This is a modest but very well made gripping noir-ish thriller shot faux documentary style (by Joseph Biroc, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE) on the streets of L.A. The screenplay is by Mildred and Gordon Gordon (sic) based on their novel CASE FILE: FBI and the similarities to their later screenplay for EXPERIMENT IN TERROR are quite evident. While perhaps not as stylish as the later Blake Edwards film, this is a solid recommended effort. Directed by Arnold Laven. With Claude Akins, Jay Adler, Casey Adams and William Schallert.The MGM MOD DVD is very nice looking B&W full frame transfer.

A 1954 cops and robbers film starring Broderick Crawford. What’s not to like? It is a product of the times when the G-Men were actually on your side, as the Hollywood story goes. Even though it is B movie quality, it was a fun watch, and not a bad way to spend a little time on a day of self-quarantine.

Found out about this little 50's gem while watching an interview with one of the actors who, at that time was just getting established in the film and TV business. The atransfer is crisp as is the sound. Looks like it might have been cleaned up, considering so many films of that era were loaded with imperfections. If you're into crime and police dramas you might want to take a peek at this. The case jacket is OK, but somewhat scarce on information, and there are no embellishments. This is a film you get because you want to see the film and don't really care about the lack of extras, It's not as sophisticated as current dramas, but it's still a good flick and MGM did a good job on bringing it to DVD.

A unique post-World War II crime movie with the cops and FBI as the heroes fighting the mob. The "good guys" always win. Crawford delivers a command, if not, formulaic performance as the top cop. The film utilizes three different motifs with some interweaving themes and characters...a style that has been re-played of recent in numerous dramatic films that show disparate lives can mingle and relate to one another in unusual ways. The movie is worth viewing if you love seeing on-location shots of urban America of the early '50s and seeing how cops had a lot more leeway in catching and interrogating suspects.

First class Police Procedural.Plus top actors of the time...Plus... those of us who know... first cars in scenes are all obsolete brands whichonly we old-folks know; Nash Ambassador, Nash Metropolitan, Studebaker anda Packard sedan.

A good suspenseful drama with squeaky clean FBI men after a killer. Added to the mix are two beautiful women, Ruth Roman and Martha Hyer to make it very nice eye candy. Try it, you'll like it.

Sometime in the 1950's, Hollywood changed the way it made crime movies. Coinciding with a resurgent american patriotism which found ugly expression in the HUAC hearings, movies that dared to feature criminals in sympathetic roles or blur the lines between hero & villain were replaced with so called police procedurals. This movies are easy to spot as they often feature the voice of a reassuring narrator providing bridging narration for stories that feature hero cops or (as in this movie) FBI officers. Family men & decent public servants all.But scratch a little further or better yet wait for the narration to recede and what you're left with is often re-assuringly noir leaning or noir tinged.In this flick, Broderick Crawford (so often a great heavy) plays the hero Fed, chasing the killer of his partner Kenneth Tobey by investigating 3 different possibly unrelated cases, one of which features Noir stalwart Ruth Roman.All 3 cases are interesting but the strand involving Roman for my money is the most fully fleshed. Her descent into panic following the advances of a creepy blackmailer is well shown, with a lot of memorable scenes.One brief scene in particular featuring a late night lecherous kerb crawler (in a cemetery!) is just weird. Also memorable is the chase finale and big reveal under the shadow of the Hollywood sign.Definitely worth checking out.

1954 documentary-style black and white Film Noir, starring Broderick Crawford as an FBI agent trying to track down the killer of his friend and colleague. This leads him to follow-up on three separate cases his colleague was investigating, the most interesting of which concerns Kate, played by Ruth Roman, who is being extorted by a man threatening to kill her young daughter. Roman looks beautiful and elegant, and gives an outstanding performance as the tortured mother. Crawford is also totally believable as the hard-bitten but compassionate Fed, and Martha Hyer is very entertaining, playing against type, as a gorgeous but dim gangster's moll. A good DVD transfer shows off the excellent cinematography to perfection, and there are some breath-taking panoramic shots of LA and its surrounds, culminating in a nail biting chase up the steep and winding roads of the Hollywood Hills. Good sound quality, but no subtitles.

Terrific film noir, with the ever reliable Broderick Crawford and the gorgeous Ruth Roman. My review is for this, the Spanish dvd release. Picture and sound quality is really very good for a dvd, especially the original English language version! However, the castellanno soundtrack is pretty dire. Might be better to listen to the English soundtrack and put the castellanno subtitles on. 5 stars for the English version, but only 3 stars for the castellanno version.

Underproduced, but not under thought or written. Dammned entertaining.