Bodyguard is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 semi-documentary crime

Crime

Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...

 film noir

Film noir

Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...

directed by Richard Fleischer

Richard Fleischer

-Early life:Fleischer was born in Brooklyn, the son of Essie and animator/producer Max Fleischer. He started in motion pictures as director of animated shorts produced by his father including entries in the Betty Boop, Popeye and Superman series.His live-action film career began in 1942 at the RKO...

 and written by Fred Niblo Jr.and Harry Essex, based on a story written by George W. George and Robert Altman

Robert Altman

Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...

, who would on to direct MASH

MASH (film)

MASH is a 1970 American satirical dark comedy film directed by Robert Altman and written by Ring Lardner, Jr., based on Richard Hooker's novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors. It is the only feature film in the M*A*S*H franchise...

and other notable films. The drama features Lawrence Tierney

Lawrence Tierney

Lawrence Tierney was an American actor, known for his many screen portrayals of mobsters and hardened criminals, which mirrored his own frequent brushes with the law....

 and Priscilla Lane, among others.

Plot

Mike Carter (Lawrence Tierney) is forced to resign from the Los Angeles Police Department after breaking some rules, and he becomes a bodyguard to wealthy Eugenia Dyson (Elisabeth Risdon

Elisabeth Risdon

Elisabeth Risdon was an English film actress. She appeared in over 140 films between 1913 and 1952. An attractive beauty in her youth she usually played in society parts...

). Before long, Carter has been accused of murder and is being hunted down by his former fellow officers.

His file clerk and fiancée Doris Brewster (Priscilla Lane) believes in his innocence, and she is instrumental in cornering the actual killer.

Cast

• Lawrence Tierney
  Lawrence Tierney
  Lawrence Tierney was an American actor, known for his many screen portrayals of mobsters and hardened criminals, which mirrored his own frequent brushes with the law....
  
   as Michael C. "Mike" Carter
• Priscilla Lane as Doris Brewster
• Phillip Reed as Freddie Dysen
• June Clayworth as Connie Fenton
• Elisabeth Risdon
  Elisabeth Risdon
  Elisabeth Risdon was an English film actress. She appeared in over 140 films between 1913 and 1952. An attractive beauty in her youth she usually played in society parts...
  
   as Gene Dysen
• Steve Brodie
  Steve Brodie (actor)
  Steve Brodie was an American movie and television actor.Born John Stevenson in El Dorado, Kansas, he took his screen name from the Steve Brodie who claimed that he jumped from the Brooklyn Bridge in 1886 and survived...
  
   as Fenton
• Frank Fenton as Lieutenant Borden
• Charles Cane as Capt. Wayne
• Pepe Hern
  Pepe Hern
  Pepe Hern was an American actor whose characters, usually Spanish and Latin , were always secondary.His real name was José Hernández Bethencourt and he was born June 6, 1927 in New Jersey. His parents were Spanish immigrants from Puerto de la Cruz on the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands...
  
   as Pachuco

Critical reception

Critic Dennis Schwartz wrote of the film, "A solid but routine action B-film crime drama that plays like a Mike Hammer episode."

External links

• Bodyguard trailer at You Tube