Un capitán de policía investiga el tiroteo de un oficial durante un arresto. Mientras busca a los responsables, descubre un plan para robar un banco. Con métodos cuestionables obtiene inform... Leer todoUn capitán de policía investiga el tiroteo de un oficial durante un arresto. Mientras busca a los responsables, descubre un plan para robar un banco. Con métodos cuestionables obtiene información y resuelve otros casos simultáneamente.Un capitán de policía investiga el tiroteo de un oficial durante un arresto. Mientras busca a los responsables, descubre un plan para robar un banco. Con métodos cuestionables obtiene información y resuelve otros casos simultáneamente.
- Dirección
- Guionistas
- Elenco
- Cop
- (sin créditos)
- Officer Kellogg
- (sin créditos)
- Fred
- (sin créditos)
- Lt. Cade
- (sin créditos)
- Dirección
- Guionistas
- Todo el elenco y el equipo
- Producción, taquilla y más en IMDbPro
Opiniones destacadas
Robinson is seen adroitly handling a number of sticky situations, including the death of a policeman and the reluctance of a witness to talk; the discovery that a bank heist is about to take place; and the effect of the cop killing on a gang of car thieves. It's interesting to catch an early glimpse of LEE VAN CLEEF as one of the car thieves.
There's a film noir look to Joseph Biroc's first rate B&W photography with excellent use of light and shadows and it's directed in brisk style by Arnold Laven. All of the intertwined stories are smoothly coordinated but the tension doesn't start building until about forty-five minutes into the bank heist sequence.
Actually the police tactics shown are pretty underhanded, so it's not exactly a flattering portrait of police procedures--but they do seem credible.
Packs just as much suspense as another crime melodrama with a New York locale--THE NAKED CITY. The shots of L.A. in the early '50s establish atmosphere from the start. Well worth viewing.
Actors like Eddie G., Barbara Stanwyck, and a host of others always did their professional best in these kinds of '50s B's which makes them a pleasure to watch even if the movies themselves aren't so hot. This one's not bad with the LA locations and unsung character actors (milquetoast Porter Hall, sinister Lee Van Cleef, sweaty Adam Williams, and an uncredited Percy Helton) all helping to raise it a notch above the routine. The billed-above-the-title co-star Paulette Goddard didn't hurt, either, and makes the most of her brief scenes. She's a sassy "escort operator" in sunglasses and mink that was probably based on "Hollywood Madam" Brenda Allen, in the news at the time for testifying before a Senate subcommittee hearing on police corruption in LA. Those hearings became the basis for William McGiver's THE BIG HEAT, which was made the same year and, in fact, VICE SQUAD seems like a "good cop/bad cop" counterpoint to Fritz Lang's brutal noir.
I really like seeing Barry Kelley's shyster lawyer get the run-around, getting all huffy and dyspeptic while the cops squeeze his client (Hall). Kelley was so good at smug, high- powered lawyer types that it's fun seeing him flustered for a change. The movie's almost a rogue's gallery of shady characters from the 50's, including that great little gnome Percy Helton whose deluded character apparently has "tv images" following him around! I'm just sorry we don't see more of the coquettish Goddard and her "escort" service (now what was that phone number again?).
Nothing exceptional here, just a really well-paced look at a police precinct in action. So look quickly because the characters-- excepting Robinson's police captain-- move in and out briskly, as do the many LA-area locations, circa 1953. At the same time, many of the cameo characters are well- etched. Note, for example, how the mortuary's secretary tries to pull a "bait and switch" on a customer, using an advertised $650 service as bait and then switching to a much more expensive one. That's the sort of incidental touch that really adds color, especially to a B- movie like this.
Speaking of touches, note the questionable tactics the cops use in chasing down the killers. Getting wimpy undertaker Hall to lie about his eye-witness identification is perhaps the most legally questionable, but not the only one. There's a clear effort at portraying police methods more realistically than usual, especially for the politically chilled 1950's. Anyway, in my little book, this is Hollywood thick ear at its slickest and most watchable.
¿Sabías que…?
- TriviaFirst film produced by the newly formed Sequoia Productions.
- ErroresWhen Mona is in Barnaby's office smoking a cigarette, the orientation of how she positions the hand holding it changes from cut to cut.
- Citas
[Two people can be seen in an apartment. One of them is a man named Jack Hartrampf. The other is a woman named Vickie Webb. As some music plays, Vickie looks outside the door for a few seconds. After that, she closes the door starts to approach Jack]
Vickie Webb: All clear.
Jack Hartrampf: Are you sure?
Vickie Webb: I'm sure, I didn't see nobody.
Jack Hartrampf: I'd better go now, Vickie.
Vickie Webb: Will you call me?
Jack Hartrampf: First chance I can.
[the two of them share a quick embrace before Jack heads to the door. He opens it, and after looking around for a few seconds, closes the door and begins to descend the stairs]
- ConexionesRemade as Lux Video Theatre: Vice Squad (1957)
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Detalles
- Fecha de lanzamiento
- País de origen
- Sitios oficiales
- Idiomas
- También se conoce como
- Girl in Room 13
- Locaciones de filmación
- N Bedford Drive & S Santa Monica Blvd Beverly Hills, California, Estados Unidos(Al Barkis smoking under the street clock)
- Productoras
- Ver más créditos de la compañía en IMDbPro
- Tiempo de ejecución1 hora 28 minutos
- Color
- Relación de aspecto
- 1.37 : 1