Behind Green Lights

William Gargan is police lieutenant Sam Carson. He admits he would like to be chief but he's not about to compromise his principles. He makes that fact pretty clear to tabloid magnate Max Calvert (Roy Roberts), who is looking to stir up the approaching election by pushing a murder story possibly involving a politician's daughter.

Carole Landis is dignified and tight-lipped as Janet Bradley, that daughter. Yes, she visited the victim, a sleazy private detective, earlier that evening. No, she does not care to explain her business with him.

Besides these main characters, a shady police doctor (Don Beddoe) sneaks information to reporters and generally delights in scandal. Mabel Paige has a key role as a flower lady who just wants her six bits. John Ireland is quite convincing in a too small role as a police detective. A roomful of news reporters crack wise and rush to their phones, a la The Front Page.

A couple of nice plot twists, especially one involving an escapee from his jail cell, keep the viewing interesting. Gargan and Landis are strong as the leads—a couple of realists holding out for a breakthrough that may or may not come.

Well done—a very entertaining if modest production.

It's the graveyard shift, with night commander William Gargan holding down the fort. A car rolls up right in front of the station. Someone opens the car and a corpse falls out. It's Bernard Nedell with a bullet hole in him. He was a P.I. and blackmailer by trade, and one of the suspects is Carole Landis, whose father is up for election, so there's pressure to put her behind bars. Soon the case becomes ever more tangled....

It's an okay little flick, directed for speed by Otto Brower. Brower bounced between directing B pictures -- his westerns are lively affairs -- and being an assistant director on some pretty classy As, one of the highly competent craftsmen who never got the breaks, but was obviously known in the industry for his good work. Writer Scott Darling ekes out the short running time with eccentric characters: the guy who breaks out of jail so he can wrestle at an Elks smoker, the reporter who wears his grandfather's buffalo-skin coat, a kid whose head is trapped in a goldfish bowl (his mother wants it removed without breaking it), Mabel Paige as the flower seller who wants her $1.75 from the corpse, and iold-timer Tom Moore and J. Farrell MacDonald.

It's more a procedural that film noir, barring some eccentrically lit shots on an apartment stairs, and there are no early clues; everything breaks at once, with the motive revealed after the audience can figure out whodunnit. However, it's an example of the lively B movie that Fox could still turn out on a short budget, given the superfluity of talent available.

A police-procedural mystery that's about halfway to film noir but comes up short, Behind Green Lights takes place entirely during a single night in a midwestern city (stockyards are mentioned; Kansas City? Chicago?). A car rolls up to the green globes of a police station, holding the murdered body of a private investigator who dabbled in blackmail. Asked in for questioning is Carole Landis, daughter of a mayoral candidate, who had been in the extortionist's apartment earlier that evening. Though other suspects emerge, the ink-stained wretches on the police beat smell a scoop: If Landis is convicted in the press, it will swing the election that's just a few days off.

Its view of the press as partisan, corrupt and unprincipled is the most unusual aspect of Behind Green Lights. It assumes (in this case rightly) that the newspapers have mercenary minions stowed throughout the city government. The medical officer (Don Beddoe) clearly takes his orders not from night-shift boss William Gargan but from a sleazy tabloid's editor-in-chief (Roy Roberts). On his instructions, he substitutes victim's body for a John Doe's after he discovers that the murder weapon was poisoned Bourbon, not the gunshot that would implicate Landis. (This switching around of corpses introduces an antic element of slapstick from which the movie never quite recovers.)

But the pervasive corruption of big-town politics remains oddly matter-of-fact, never developed into an indictment or accepted as a grim given of mid-twentieth-century American life; it's just a plot point. (The movie also has to work around the central presence of the charisma-free Gargan, while John Ireland is wasted as his assistant.) It wraps up neatly, leaving little atmosphere behind (Mabel Paige as a flower vendor stays the most memorable character). Still, it has a brisk pace and professional look - both indoor and outdoor scenes have a dark, noirish shine, thanks to director of photography Joe MacDonald, who would go on to light many worthy noirs - and leaves one wishing that it had been just a little bit longer and a little bit better.

This noir B thriller from 20th Century Fox shows the temptations that the police are under. William Gargan stars and plays a doggedly honest cop who has a homicide literally dropped on his doorstep at the precinct headquarters. It's almost like someone was taunting the cops to solve this one.

The victim in Behind Green Lights was a seedy private detective who had a nice sideline in blackmail and no one really is going to mourn his passing. But the case is loaded with political implications because Carole Landis, daughter of the reform candidate for mayor was seen leaving the victim's apartment.

The largest newspaper in town is supporting the current administration and Roy Roberts says that the easiest thing in the world for Gargan to do to advance his career is pick up Landis and book her. At least until the election is over which will be in a few days. Something about Roberts sticks in Gargan's craw. He could easily justify holding Landis and helping his career, but he won't do it.

There's a nice array of suspects and by definition performances. There are two keys here, a very sleazy medical examiner played by Don Beddoe and a bag lady played by Mabel Paige. Between the two of them the real story comes out.

Behind Green Lights bears no small resemblance to Detective Story in structure. Most of the action takes place in the police station. This film is nicely paced with a few good comic touches. I can't mention them because they are within the plot structure and not just added on. This noir film is a good one to check out.

Plot—a shady character turns up dead in front of a police station. Looks like the cops have their man, oops, woman, but then the corpse disappears and fingers begin to point in different directions.

Okay time-passer from TCF. The format suggests a transition period between the comedic who-dun-its of the 1930's and the noirish police procedures of the late 40's. The two blend awkwardly here with an obstreperous group of crime reporters and antic characters providing the humor, and a no-nonsense police Lt. (Gargan) the procedure. Unfortunately, the moods contrast rather than complement, a tricky combo, at best. As other reviewers point out, the movie's standout aspect is influence peddling among city officials and police that suggests deals can be made without much regard for guilt or innocence. Perhaps the humorous side was intended to soften this harder message.

Rather disturbing to see promising actress Landis just two years before her tragic suicide, one of Hollywood's more lamentable. Too bad her sparkling personality remains subdued in a rather dour role. Still, she remains a distinctive presence and not just for us guys. Unfortunately, tough guy Ireland is wasted in a supporting role. But with his distinctive looks, he's clearly on his way up.

Anyway, the mystery's surprise solution is told in multiple flashbacks, so be prepared for the cut-aways. All in all, the movie's a journeyman piece of work, perhaps reflecting a coming change in post-war mood.

(In passing—Like reviewer arfdawg, I was puzzled by the clumsily edited opening scene of Janet {Landis} holding a gun on Bard, which doesn't appear to fit with what follows. However, the scene is picked up later in flashback. My guess is the idea was meant to be a teaser. Unfortunately, it looks like dull scissors were used to cut it.)