Detective Story
Encyclopedia
Detective Story is a film noir
which tells the story of one day in the lives of the various people who populate a police detective squad. It features Kirk Douglas
, Eleanor Parker
, William Bendix
, Cathy O'Donnell
, Lee Grant
, among others. The movie was adapted by Robert Wyler
and Philip Yordan
from the 1949 play of the same name
by Sidney Kingsley
. It was directed by William Wyler
.
An embittered cop, Det. Jim McLeod (Douglas), leads a precinct of characters in their grim daily battle with the city's lowlife. Little does he realize that his obsessive pursuit of an abortion
ist (Macready) is leading him to discover his wife had an abortion. The characters who pass through the precinct over the course of the day include a young petty embezzler, a pair of burglars, and a naive shoplifter.
in her first film role) and her booking at the 21st police precinct in New York City
. Outside, Det. Jim McLeod (Kirk Douglas
) is sharing a romantic moment with his wife Mary (Eleanor Parker
), and they discuss the children they are planning to have. He returns to the precinct to process a young embezzler named Arthur Kindred (Craig Hill
).
McLeod then encounters Endicott Sims (Warner Anderson), lawyer of Karl Schneider (George Macready
), a New Jersey
doctor who has had his license revoked and is now wanted on murder charges. Sims informs Lieutenant Monahan (Horace McMahon
) that Schneider wants to turn himself in to avoid the wrath of McLeod, who has apparently been conducting an ongoing hate campaign against the doctor, who is known to perform abortions. McLeod professes his hatred of Schneider, and in fact all criminals, lamenting that the law merely "coddles them."
Two burglars, Charley Gennini (Joseph Wiseman
, who played the title role in the first James Bond
film Dr. No
) and Lewis Abbott (Michael Strong
), are brought in. With his partner Brody's (William Bendix
, best known as Riley in the TV series, Life Of Riley) help, McLeod interrogates the men and manages to turn Abbott against Gennini. Further investigation proves that Gennini essentially makes a living out of thievery. When his record comes in it turns out that he has done far worse than stealing.
When Schneider arrives with Sims, McLeod informs him that his assistant, Miss Hatch (Gladys George
), has implicated him and will pick him out of a line-up. To McLeod's disgust, Schneider has bribed Hatch with a fur coat, and she fails to identify him. McLeod explodes and calls Hatch a liar before dismissing her. He admits to reporter Joe Feinson (Luis Van Rooten
) that his hatred for his father and "his criminal mind" (who drove his wife to a lunatic asylum) is what fuels his crusade against evil-doers.
McLeod then takes Schneider to Bellevue Hospital where a young victim of Schneider's work is being treated. However, McLeod learns that the woman has died, and without her identification, there is no case against Schneider. As they head back to the precinct, Schneider threatens McLeod with information he apparently has on the detective, taunting him that he has a lot of pull in high places. McLeod responds by slapping and punching Schneider until he suddenly collapses. As an ambulance is called Schneider mentions the name "Giacoppetti" and a woman to Monahan, which presumably has something to do with McLeod. When Sims comes by to berate McLeod and Monahan he inadvertently reveals - only in the presence of Monahan - that the woman is Mary McLeod.
Arthur's boss, Albert R. Pritchett (James Maloney), comes to the precinct to file charges against Arthur. His old family friend Susan (Cathy O'Donnell
) arrives and gives Pritchett $120 she scraped together hoping no charges are filed against her friend. McLeod calls Arthur a thief and tries to dissuade Susan, but she pleads with Pritchett, swearing that the funds will be repaid the next day. In truth, Arthur stole the money to pay for a dinner date with an old flame, in a vain attempt to rekindle her interest in him. Brody sympathizes with Arthur and talks Pritchett into accepting Susan's money. Angered by Brody's interference, McLeod essentially bullies Pritchett into filing charges, stating that a first offender always becomes a repeat offender (using Gennini as an example), and no mercy should be shown to them.
Mary McLeod arrives at the station and talks with Lt. Monahan about knowing Giacoppetti - a racketeer who used to date Mary - and Schneider. She denies knowing them, but when Giacoppetti walks in and greets her, she bursts into tears. Giacoppetti, pressured by Monahan, admits that Mary had gotten pregnant while they dated and gone to Dr. Schneider for an abortion.
Mary confesses to her husband, and once alone with him she asks his forgiveness, but he brutally responds that he'd rather die than find out his wife is "a tramp," and asks if her infertility was caused by Schneider's abortion. Stunned and severely hurt by Jim's reaction, Mary leaves in tears.
Later, she comes to the station to say goodbye to McLeod and he pleads with her to stay. Mary relents, but after a snide comment made by Sims about Mary's love life, McLeod falls back on his anger and asks how many men there were before he met her, admitting he cannot wash away the "dirty pictures" in his mind. Calling him cruel and vengeful, she leaves McLeod for good, not wanting be "driven to a lunatic asylum." She vows never to see him again.
Gennini, taking advantage of the commotion started when a victim runs into the station yelling she's been robbed, grabs a gun from a policeman's holster and shoots McLeod several times. McLeod, in his dying words, asks for his wife's forgiveness and requests that his colleagues go easy on Arthur Kindred. McLeod then begins an Act of Contrition
, which Brody finishes after McLeod dies. A distressed Brody then releases Arthur while admonishing him "not to make a monkey out of me." Arthur and Susan (who earlier professed her love for him) leave as Monahan calls for a priest and Joe calls his newspaper to inform them of McLeod's death.
During production, the film had some trouble with the Production Code Authority. The Production Code
did not allow the killing of police officers or references to abortion. Joseph Breen suggested that explicit references to abortion would be altered to "baby farming". Ironically, when the film was released, film critics still interpreted Dr. Schneider as an illicit abortionist. Breen and William Wyler suggested to the MPAA Production Code Committee that the code be amended to allow the killing of police officers if it was absolutely necessary for the plot. They agreed and the code was amended, lifting the previous ban on cop killing.
, film critic for The New York Times
, lauded the film and the casting, writing, "Sidney Kingsley's play, Detective Story, has been made into a brisk, absorbing film by Producer-Director William Wyler, with the help of a fine, responsive cast. Long on graphic demonstration of the sort of raffish traffic that flows through a squad-room of plainclothes detectives in a New York police station-house and considerably short on penetration into the lives of anyone on display...In the performance of this business, every member of the cast rates a hand, with the possible exception of Eleanor Parker as the hero's wife, and she is really not to blame. Kirk Douglas is so forceful and aggressive as the detective with a kink in his brain that the sweet and conventional distractions of Miss Parker as his wife appear quite tame. In the role of the mate of such a tiger—and of a woman who has had the troubled past that is harshly revealed in this picture—Mr. Wyler might have cast a sharper dame."
Critic James Steffen appreciated the direction of the film and the cinematography of Lee Garmes, writing "While Detective Story remains essentially a filmed play, Wyler manages to use the inherent constraints of such an approach as an artistic advantage. The confined set of the police precinct is not simply a space where various characters observe each other and interact; it also contributes to the underlying thematic thrust and ultimately to the film’s emotional power. The staging of the individual scenes, which often plays on foreground-background relationships, is also augmented by Lee Garmes’ deep focus photography. (Wyler, of course, used deep focus photography extensively in the films he shot with Gregg Toland
.)"
Time
felt the film adaption was better than the original play.
In a DVD review of the film, technology critic Gary W. Tooze, wrote, "Absolutely stunning image. One of the best I have seen for a black and white film this year. Superb sharpness, shadow details and contrast. Standard Paramount bare bones release with no extras and a price tag for the frugal minded. The image and price make it a must own for Noir fans and everyone else too. Wyler direction sends the film to upper tier to join the DVD."
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...
which tells the story of one day in the lives of the various people who populate a police detective squad. It features Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
, Eleanor Parker
Eleanor Parker
Eleanor Jean Parker is an American screen actress. Her versatility led to her being dubbed Woman of a Thousand Faces, the title of her biography by Doug McClelland.- Early life :...
, William Bendix
William Bendix
William Bendix was an American film, radio, and television actor, best remembered in movies for the title role in the movie The Babe Ruth Story and for portraying clumsily earnest aircraft plant worker Chester A. Riley in radio and television's The Life of Riley...
, Cathy O'Donnell
Cathy O'Donnell
Cathy O'Donnell was an American actress, best known for her many roles in film-noir movies.-Early life:She was born Ann Steely in Siluria, Alabama...
, Lee Grant
Lee Grant
Lee Grant is an American stage, film and television actress, and film director. She was blacklisted for 12 years from film work beginning in the mid-1950s, but worked in the theatre, and would eventually win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Felicia Carp in the...
, among others. The movie was adapted by Robert Wyler
Robert Wyler
Robert Wyler was an American film producer and associate producer. He was the older brother of the more illustrious William Wyler and a nephew of Universal Studios head, Carl Laemmle....
and Philip Yordan
Philip Yordan
Philip Yordan was an American screenwriter of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s who also produced several films.He was also known as a highly regarded script doctor...
from the 1949 play of the same name
Detective Story (play)
Detective Story is a 1949 play in three acts by American playwright Sidney Kingsley. The play opened on Broadway at the Hudson Theatre on March 23, 1949 where it played until the production moved to the Broadhurst Theatre on July 3, 1950. The production closed on August 12, 1950 after 581 ...
by Sidney Kingsley
Sidney Kingsley
Sidney Kingsley was an American dramatist. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Men in White in 1934.- Biography :...
. It was directed by William Wyler
William Wyler
William Wyler was a leading American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.Notable works included Ben-Hur , The Best Years of Our Lives , and Mrs. Miniver , all of which won Wyler Academy Awards for Best Director, and also won Best Picture...
.
An embittered cop, Det. Jim McLeod (Douglas), leads a precinct of characters in their grim daily battle with the city's lowlife. Little does he realize that his obsessive pursuit of an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
ist (Macready) is leading him to discover his wife had an abortion. The characters who pass through the precinct over the course of the day include a young petty embezzler, a pair of burglars, and a naive shoplifter.
Plot
The film begins with the arrest of a shoplifter (Lee GrantLee Grant
Lee Grant is an American stage, film and television actress, and film director. She was blacklisted for 12 years from film work beginning in the mid-1950s, but worked in the theatre, and would eventually win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Felicia Carp in the...
in her first film role) and her booking at the 21st police precinct in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Outside, Det. Jim McLeod (Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
) is sharing a romantic moment with his wife Mary (Eleanor Parker
Eleanor Parker
Eleanor Jean Parker is an American screen actress. Her versatility led to her being dubbed Woman of a Thousand Faces, the title of her biography by Doug McClelland.- Early life :...
), and they discuss the children they are planning to have. He returns to the precinct to process a young embezzler named Arthur Kindred (Craig Hill
Craig Hill (actor)
Craig Hill is an American film actor.Craig Hill was a co-star in the Desilu TV production "Whirleybirds" from 1957-1959 as the character "P.T."He was also starred in the movie "The Blsck Shield of Falsworth" as Francis Gascoyne in 1954....
).
McLeod then encounters Endicott Sims (Warner Anderson), lawyer of Karl Schneider (George Macready
George Macready
George Peabody Macready, Jr. , was an American stage, film, and television actor often cast in roles as polished villains.-Background:...
), a New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
doctor who has had his license revoked and is now wanted on murder charges. Sims informs Lieutenant Monahan (Horace McMahon
Horace McMahon
Horace McMahon was an American actor.- Biography :In his early career he mostly played thugs or jailbirds, but in 1949 he starred in his most acclaimed role, as Lieutenant Monaghan in the drama play Detective Story and in 1951 he reprised his character in Paramount Pictures' film version Detective...
) that Schneider wants to turn himself in to avoid the wrath of McLeod, who has apparently been conducting an ongoing hate campaign against the doctor, who is known to perform abortions. McLeod professes his hatred of Schneider, and in fact all criminals, lamenting that the law merely "coddles them."
Two burglars, Charley Gennini (Joseph Wiseman
Joseph Wiseman
Joseph Wiseman was a Canadian theater and film actor, best known for starring as the titular antagonist of the first James Bond film, Dr. No, his role as Manny Weisbord on Crime Story, and his career on Broadway...
, who played the title role in the first James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film Dr. No
Dr. No (film)
Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
) and Lewis Abbott (Michael Strong
Michael Strong
Michael Strong was an American stage, film and television actor.He was born Cecil Natapoff in New York City and had extensive stage experience. He was a member of the Actors Studio. Among his film credits are Point Blank, Patton, and The Great Santini...
), are brought in. With his partner Brody's (William Bendix
William Bendix
William Bendix was an American film, radio, and television actor, best remembered in movies for the title role in the movie The Babe Ruth Story and for portraying clumsily earnest aircraft plant worker Chester A. Riley in radio and television's The Life of Riley...
, best known as Riley in the TV series, Life Of Riley) help, McLeod interrogates the men and manages to turn Abbott against Gennini. Further investigation proves that Gennini essentially makes a living out of thievery. When his record comes in it turns out that he has done far worse than stealing.
When Schneider arrives with Sims, McLeod informs him that his assistant, Miss Hatch (Gladys George
Gladys George
Gladys George was an American actress.-Early life:She was born as Gladys Clare Evans on September 13, 1904 in Patten, Maine to English parents.-Career:...
), has implicated him and will pick him out of a line-up. To McLeod's disgust, Schneider has bribed Hatch with a fur coat, and she fails to identify him. McLeod explodes and calls Hatch a liar before dismissing her. He admits to reporter Joe Feinson (Luis Van Rooten
Luis van Rooten
Luis van Rooten, was an American film actor. He was christened Luis d'Antin van Rooten.Van Rooten earned his BA at the University of Pennsylvania and worked as an architect before deciding to pursue film work in Hollywood during World War II...
) that his hatred for his father and "his criminal mind" (who drove his wife to a lunatic asylum) is what fuels his crusade against evil-doers.
McLeod then takes Schneider to Bellevue Hospital where a young victim of Schneider's work is being treated. However, McLeod learns that the woman has died, and without her identification, there is no case against Schneider. As they head back to the precinct, Schneider threatens McLeod with information he apparently has on the detective, taunting him that he has a lot of pull in high places. McLeod responds by slapping and punching Schneider until he suddenly collapses. As an ambulance is called Schneider mentions the name "Giacoppetti" and a woman to Monahan, which presumably has something to do with McLeod. When Sims comes by to berate McLeod and Monahan he inadvertently reveals - only in the presence of Monahan - that the woman is Mary McLeod.
Arthur's boss, Albert R. Pritchett (James Maloney), comes to the precinct to file charges against Arthur. His old family friend Susan (Cathy O'Donnell
Cathy O'Donnell
Cathy O'Donnell was an American actress, best known for her many roles in film-noir movies.-Early life:She was born Ann Steely in Siluria, Alabama...
) arrives and gives Pritchett $120 she scraped together hoping no charges are filed against her friend. McLeod calls Arthur a thief and tries to dissuade Susan, but she pleads with Pritchett, swearing that the funds will be repaid the next day. In truth, Arthur stole the money to pay for a dinner date with an old flame, in a vain attempt to rekindle her interest in him. Brody sympathizes with Arthur and talks Pritchett into accepting Susan's money. Angered by Brody's interference, McLeod essentially bullies Pritchett into filing charges, stating that a first offender always becomes a repeat offender (using Gennini as an example), and no mercy should be shown to them.
Mary McLeod arrives at the station and talks with Lt. Monahan about knowing Giacoppetti - a racketeer who used to date Mary - and Schneider. She denies knowing them, but when Giacoppetti walks in and greets her, she bursts into tears. Giacoppetti, pressured by Monahan, admits that Mary had gotten pregnant while they dated and gone to Dr. Schneider for an abortion.
Mary confesses to her husband, and once alone with him she asks his forgiveness, but he brutally responds that he'd rather die than find out his wife is "a tramp," and asks if her infertility was caused by Schneider's abortion. Stunned and severely hurt by Jim's reaction, Mary leaves in tears.
Later, she comes to the station to say goodbye to McLeod and he pleads with her to stay. Mary relents, but after a snide comment made by Sims about Mary's love life, McLeod falls back on his anger and asks how many men there were before he met her, admitting he cannot wash away the "dirty pictures" in his mind. Calling him cruel and vengeful, she leaves McLeod for good, not wanting be "driven to a lunatic asylum." She vows never to see him again.
Gennini, taking advantage of the commotion started when a victim runs into the station yelling she's been robbed, grabs a gun from a policeman's holster and shoots McLeod several times. McLeod, in his dying words, asks for his wife's forgiveness and requests that his colleagues go easy on Arthur Kindred. McLeod then begins an Act of Contrition
Act of Contrition
An act of contrition is a Catholic prayer that expresses sorrow for sins. It may be used in a liturgical service or be used privately, especially in connection with an examination of conscience....
, which Brody finishes after McLeod dies. A distressed Brody then releases Arthur while admonishing him "not to make a monkey out of me." Arthur and Susan (who earlier professed her love for him) leave as Monahan calls for a priest and Joe calls his newspaper to inform them of McLeod's death.
Cast
- Kirk DouglasKirk DouglasKirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
as Detective Jim McLeod - Eleanor ParkerEleanor ParkerEleanor Jean Parker is an American screen actress. Her versatility led to her being dubbed Woman of a Thousand Faces, the title of her biography by Doug McClelland.- Early life :...
as Mary McLeod - William BendixWilliam BendixWilliam Bendix was an American film, radio, and television actor, best remembered in movies for the title role in the movie The Babe Ruth Story and for portraying clumsily earnest aircraft plant worker Chester A. Riley in radio and television's The Life of Riley...
as Detective Lou Brody - Cathy O'DonnellCathy O'DonnellCathy O'Donnell was an American actress, best known for her many roles in film-noir movies.-Early life:She was born Ann Steely in Siluria, Alabama...
as Susan Carmichael - George MacreadyGeorge MacreadyGeorge Peabody Macready, Jr. , was an American stage, film, and television actor often cast in roles as polished villains.-Background:...
as Dr. Karl Schneider - Horace McMahonHorace McMahonHorace McMahon was an American actor.- Biography :In his early career he mostly played thugs or jailbirds, but in 1949 he starred in his most acclaimed role, as Lieutenant Monaghan in the drama play Detective Story and in 1951 he reprised his character in Paramount Pictures' film version Detective...
as Lt. Monaghan - Gladys GeorgeGladys GeorgeGladys George was an American actress.-Early life:She was born as Gladys Clare Evans on September 13, 1904 in Patten, Maine to English parents.-Career:...
as Miss Hatch - Joseph WisemanJoseph WisemanJoseph Wiseman was a Canadian theater and film actor, best known for starring as the titular antagonist of the first James Bond film, Dr. No, his role as Manny Weisbord on Crime Story, and his career on Broadway...
as Charley Gennini, a burglar - Lee GrantLee GrantLee Grant is an American stage, film and television actress, and film director. She was blacklisted for 12 years from film work beginning in the mid-1950s, but worked in the theatre, and would eventually win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Felicia Carp in the...
as Shoplifter - Gerald MohrGerald MohrGerald Mohr was an American radio, film and television character actor who appeared in over 4,000 radio plays, 73 films and over 100 television shows....
as Tami Giacoppetti - Frank FaylenFrank FaylenFrank Faylen was an American movie and television actor.Born Frank Ruf in St. Louis, Missouri, he began his acting career as an infant appearing with his vaudeville performing parents on stage...
as Detective Gallagher - Craig HillCraig Hill (actor)Craig Hill is an American film actor.Craig Hill was a co-star in the Desilu TV production "Whirleybirds" from 1957-1959 as the character "P.T."He was also starred in the movie "The Blsck Shield of Falsworth" as Francis Gascoyne in 1954....
as Arthur Kindred - Michael StrongMichael StrongMichael Strong was an American stage, film and television actor.He was born Cecil Natapoff in New York City and had extensive stage experience. He was a member of the Actors Studio. Among his film credits are Point Blank, Patton, and The Great Santini...
as Lewis Abbott - Luis Van RootenLuis van RootenLuis van Rooten, was an American film actor. He was christened Luis d'Antin van Rooten.Van Rooten earned his BA at the University of Pennsylvania and worked as an architect before deciding to pursue film work in Hollywood during World War II...
as Joe Feinson - Bert FreedBert FreedBert Freed was a prolific American character actor, voice over actor, and the first actor to portray "Detective Columbo" on television.-Life and career:...
as Det. Dakis - Warner Anderson as Endicott Sims
- Grandon Rhodes as Det. O'Brien
- Russell Evans as Patrolman Barnes
- James Maloney as Albert R. Pritchett
Production
The film version omits details from the play pertaining to the criminal underworld and the dangers of a police state.During production, the film had some trouble with the Production Code Authority. The Production Code
Production Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was the set of industry moral censorship guidelines that governed the production of the vast majority of United States motion pictures released by major studios from 1930 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the Hays Code, after Hollywood's chief censor of the...
did not allow the killing of police officers or references to abortion. Joseph Breen suggested that explicit references to abortion would be altered to "baby farming". Ironically, when the film was released, film critics still interpreted Dr. Schneider as an illicit abortionist. Breen and William Wyler suggested to the MPAA Production Code Committee that the code be amended to allow the killing of police officers if it was absolutely necessary for the plot. They agreed and the code was amended, lifting the previous ban on cop killing.
Critical response
When the film was released, Bosley CrowtherBosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
, film critic for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, lauded the film and the casting, writing, "Sidney Kingsley's play, Detective Story, has been made into a brisk, absorbing film by Producer-Director William Wyler, with the help of a fine, responsive cast. Long on graphic demonstration of the sort of raffish traffic that flows through a squad-room of plainclothes detectives in a New York police station-house and considerably short on penetration into the lives of anyone on display...In the performance of this business, every member of the cast rates a hand, with the possible exception of Eleanor Parker as the hero's wife, and she is really not to blame. Kirk Douglas is so forceful and aggressive as the detective with a kink in his brain that the sweet and conventional distractions of Miss Parker as his wife appear quite tame. In the role of the mate of such a tiger—and of a woman who has had the troubled past that is harshly revealed in this picture—Mr. Wyler might have cast a sharper dame."
Critic James Steffen appreciated the direction of the film and the cinematography of Lee Garmes, writing "While Detective Story remains essentially a filmed play, Wyler manages to use the inherent constraints of such an approach as an artistic advantage. The confined set of the police precinct is not simply a space where various characters observe each other and interact; it also contributes to the underlying thematic thrust and ultimately to the film’s emotional power. The staging of the individual scenes, which often plays on foreground-background relationships, is also augmented by Lee Garmes’ deep focus photography. (Wyler, of course, used deep focus photography extensively in the films he shot with Gregg Toland
Gregg Toland
Gregg Toland, A.S.C. was an American cinematographer noted for his innovative use of lighting and techniques such as deep focus, an example of which can be found in his work on Orson Welles' Citizen Kane.-Career:...
.)"
Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
felt the film adaption was better than the original play.
Awards
| Year | Award/Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards Academy Awards An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers... |
|||
| 1951 | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Eleanor Parker | Nominated |
| 1951 | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Lee Grant | Nominated |
| 1951 | Best Director | William Wyler | Nominated |
| 1951 | Best Writing, Screenplay | Philip Yordan, Robert Wyler | Nominated |
| British Academy of Film and Television Arts British Academy of Film and Television Arts The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:... |
|||
| 1952 | BAFTA Film Award | Best Film from any Source USA | Nominated |
| 1952 Cannes Film Festival 1952 Cannes Film Festival -Jury:The jury at this festival was all French.*Maurice Genevoix *Tony Aubin*Mme. Georges Bidault*Pierre Billon*Chapelain-Midy *Louis Chauvet *A... |
|||
| 1952 | Best Actress Best Actress Award (Cannes Film Festival) The Best Actress Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of films at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946.-Award Winners:-External links:* * .... |
Lee Grant | Won |
| 1952 | Grand Prize of the Festival Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du... |
William Wyler | Nominated |
| Directors Guild of America Directors Guild of America Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry... |
|||
| 1952 | DGA Award | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures - William Wyler | Nominated |
| Edgar Award Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America... |
|||
| 1952 | Best Motion Picture Screenplay | Sidney Kingsley, Robert Wyler, Philip Yordan | Won |
| Golden Globes | |||
| 1952 | Best Motion Picture - Drama | Nominated | |
| 1952 | Best Motion Picture Actor - Drama | Kirk Douglas | Nominated |
| 1952 | Best Supporting Actress | Lee Grant | Nominated |
| Writers Guild of America Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi.... |
|||
| 1952 | WGA Award (Screen) Best Written American Drama | Philip Yordan, Robert Wyler | Nominated |
Distribution
Video and DVDIn a DVD review of the film, technology critic Gary W. Tooze, wrote, "Absolutely stunning image. One of the best I have seen for a black and white film this year. Superb sharpness, shadow details and contrast. Standard Paramount bare bones release with no extras and a price tag for the frugal minded. The image and price make it a must own for Noir fans and everyone else too. Wyler direction sends the film to upper tier to join the DVD."