Every character in "Shield for Murder," even minor ones, seems worn down by life. The whole film has a bleak, hopeless tone, personified by the principal character, played by Edmond O'Brien, a crooked cop who murders someone for money and then spends the rest of the film dodging both the crime boss who the money was meant for and the police who want to see justice done. The hugely ironic finale finds O'Brien being gunned down on the front lawn of his suburban dream home, which he was going to use the money to buy. The 1950s suburban American dream is not to be had for this prototypical noir protagonist (or should we say antagonist).
O'Brien appeared frequently in films like this, but rarely did he play such an unapologetic bad guy. Usually his characters, if not necessarily nice guys, at least had one foot on the side of what's right and decent. This character is bad through and through, which is a bit of a misstep for the movie, since we're not at all conflicted about seeing him brought down. In so many noirs, the suspense comes from seeing essentially good men wrongfully accused, or watching them land in bad situations because of tricks of fate or wrong place wrong time dumb luck. But in this one, we just want to see O'Brien get caught, and since we're pretty sure he will be given the conventions of the time and genre, there's not much suspense in seeing it all play out.
The film's biggest asset is probably the brief appearance of Carolyn Jones decked out as a bleach blonde. For the time she's on camera, her exotic face was the only thing I could look at.
Grade: B+
O'Brien appeared frequently in films like this, but rarely did he play such an unapologetic bad guy. Usually his characters, if not necessarily nice guys, at least had one foot on the side of what's right and decent. This character is bad through and through, which is a bit of a misstep for the movie, since we're not at all conflicted about seeing him brought down. In so many noirs, the suspense comes from seeing essentially good men wrongfully accused, or watching them land in bad situations because of tricks of fate or wrong place wrong time dumb luck. But in this one, we just want to see O'Brien get caught, and since we're pretty sure he will be given the conventions of the time and genre, there's not much suspense in seeing it all play out.
The film's biggest asset is probably the brief appearance of Carolyn Jones decked out as a bleach blonde. For the time she's on camera, her exotic face was the only thing I could look at.
Grade: B+