"Detective Story" is a film noir which tells the story of a day in the life of a New York police station. There are a number of strands to the plot, dealing not only with the detectives who live there but also with various people who are arrested on suspicion of crime, including an abortionist, a young embezzler, a pair of burglars and a female shoplifter.
The main character is Detective Jim McLeod. He has been described as an embittered cynic, but that is probably inaccurate. He is a man with strongly held moral principles- he is a devout Catholic- who holds criminals in contempt and will do anything to obtain a conviction, including using the sort of strong-arm methods to force a confession which even in the fifties would have been frowned upon by his superiors. We learn that Jim McLeod's attitude towards criminals derives from his own troubled past and his hatred of his father, himself a criminal who habitually abused McLeod's mother.
An important strand in the plot involves the embezzler, Arthur Kindred. Arthur is a young man of previous good character who was tempted to steal from his employer in order to impress his girlfriend, a successful model used to leading the high life. We never see this girlfriend in the film but her younger sister Susan, who seems to be in love with Arthur herself, arrives at the precinct with $120, hoping that if she can repay the stolen money the employer will agree to drop charges. The man is willing to do so, until he is bullied into pressing charges by McLeod, who believes that if you show mercy to a first offender he will go on to commit further crimes. (We learn that Arthur has a distinguished war record, but in 1951 anyone with five years wartime military service would have had to have been rather older than the 24-year-old Craig Hill. Perhaps the action is supposed to take place at an earlier date, shortly after the end of the war).
An even more important plot strand involves the abortionist, Dr Karl Schneider. The film, in fact, never actually uses the words "abortion" or "abortionist", which at the time would have been forbidden by the Production Code, and instead makes vague reference to "baby farming". Reading between the lines, however, there can be little doubt that Schneider has in fact been carrying out illegal abortions. Although McLeod despises all criminals, he has a particular hatred for abortionists, especially Schneider, whom he sees as a butcher and killer of young women, and has no compunction about subjecting the doctor to physical violence. It is suggested that McLeod's passionate loathing of Schneider must be rooted in some episode in his past.
In some ways McLeod can be seen as the spiritual ancestor of Dirty Harry, Popeye Doyle, Frank Bullitt and the other "tough guy cops" of the late sixties and seventies who took a similarly robust attitude towards law enforcement. "Detective Story", however, is not simply a "tough guy cop" film made a decade and a half before they became fashionable. It was based upon a successful Broadway play and betrays its theatrical origins; for the most part it is set in a single building, the precinct itself, and there is little physical action apart from the final denouement. Perhaps more importantly, it takes a different attitude towards crime and punishment to that taken by the average "tough guy cop" thriller. Whereas the scriptwriters of the seventies generally took an admiring view of the likes of Harry Callahan, in "Detective Story" McLeod's uncompromising stance towards criminals is criticised- even by his own wife- as harsh, unforgiving and at odds with his professed Christian faith.
The film was nominated for four Oscars, including "Best Director" for William Wyler, but did not win in any category. The "Best Actress" nomination for Eleanor Parker as McLeod's wife Mary was well-deserved, although I thought that Lee Grant was rather fortunate to be nominated for "Best Supporting Actress" in a very minor role. Surprisingly, there was to be no "Best Actor" nomination for Kirk Douglas's performance as McLeod, one of a number of characters he played during this part of his career who were forceful, aggressive and often to some degree unsympathetic. (Others include Midge Kelly in "Champion" and Jonathan Shields in "The Bad and the Beautiful"). Douglas was to be unlucky in his relationship with the Academy, receiving only three Oscar nominations in his distinguished career and never winning.
"Detective Story" has its faults; it is at times too melodramatic and it is over-reliant on coincidence. (I won't give away the rather implausible set of circumstances on which the ending depends, as I don't want to write a spoiler). Overall, however, it is a decent film with some good acting, especially from Douglas, some powerful dialogue and something worthwhile to say about issues of wrongdoing, guilt and forgiveness. 7/10
The main character is Detective Jim McLeod. He has been described as an embittered cynic, but that is probably inaccurate. He is a man with strongly held moral principles- he is a devout Catholic- who holds criminals in contempt and will do anything to obtain a conviction, including using the sort of strong-arm methods to force a confession which even in the fifties would have been frowned upon by his superiors. We learn that Jim McLeod's attitude towards criminals derives from his own troubled past and his hatred of his father, himself a criminal who habitually abused McLeod's mother.
An important strand in the plot involves the embezzler, Arthur Kindred. Arthur is a young man of previous good character who was tempted to steal from his employer in order to impress his girlfriend, a successful model used to leading the high life. We never see this girlfriend in the film but her younger sister Susan, who seems to be in love with Arthur herself, arrives at the precinct with $120, hoping that if she can repay the stolen money the employer will agree to drop charges. The man is willing to do so, until he is bullied into pressing charges by McLeod, who believes that if you show mercy to a first offender he will go on to commit further crimes. (We learn that Arthur has a distinguished war record, but in 1951 anyone with five years wartime military service would have had to have been rather older than the 24-year-old Craig Hill. Perhaps the action is supposed to take place at an earlier date, shortly after the end of the war).
An even more important plot strand involves the abortionist, Dr Karl Schneider. The film, in fact, never actually uses the words "abortion" or "abortionist", which at the time would have been forbidden by the Production Code, and instead makes vague reference to "baby farming". Reading between the lines, however, there can be little doubt that Schneider has in fact been carrying out illegal abortions. Although McLeod despises all criminals, he has a particular hatred for abortionists, especially Schneider, whom he sees as a butcher and killer of young women, and has no compunction about subjecting the doctor to physical violence. It is suggested that McLeod's passionate loathing of Schneider must be rooted in some episode in his past.
In some ways McLeod can be seen as the spiritual ancestor of Dirty Harry, Popeye Doyle, Frank Bullitt and the other "tough guy cops" of the late sixties and seventies who took a similarly robust attitude towards law enforcement. "Detective Story", however, is not simply a "tough guy cop" film made a decade and a half before they became fashionable. It was based upon a successful Broadway play and betrays its theatrical origins; for the most part it is set in a single building, the precinct itself, and there is little physical action apart from the final denouement. Perhaps more importantly, it takes a different attitude towards crime and punishment to that taken by the average "tough guy cop" thriller. Whereas the scriptwriters of the seventies generally took an admiring view of the likes of Harry Callahan, in "Detective Story" McLeod's uncompromising stance towards criminals is criticised- even by his own wife- as harsh, unforgiving and at odds with his professed Christian faith.
The film was nominated for four Oscars, including "Best Director" for William Wyler, but did not win in any category. The "Best Actress" nomination for Eleanor Parker as McLeod's wife Mary was well-deserved, although I thought that Lee Grant was rather fortunate to be nominated for "Best Supporting Actress" in a very minor role. Surprisingly, there was to be no "Best Actor" nomination for Kirk Douglas's performance as McLeod, one of a number of characters he played during this part of his career who were forceful, aggressive and often to some degree unsympathetic. (Others include Midge Kelly in "Champion" and Jonathan Shields in "The Bad and the Beautiful"). Douglas was to be unlucky in his relationship with the Academy, receiving only three Oscar nominations in his distinguished career and never winning.
"Detective Story" has its faults; it is at times too melodramatic and it is over-reliant on coincidence. (I won't give away the rather implausible set of circumstances on which the ending depends, as I don't want to write a spoiler). Overall, however, it is a decent film with some good acting, especially from Douglas, some powerful dialogue and something worthwhile to say about issues of wrongdoing, guilt and forgiveness. 7/10