35 commentaires
Vice Squad takes a documentary style approach to a single day in a police captain's life and what he might encounter.
Of course the murder of a police officer doesn't ever qualify as an ordinary day, but even on those days when an entire force is mobilized looking for a cop killer, still more mundane matters intervene.
Edward G. Robinson was in his B film period which is roughly between All My Sons and The Ten Commandments. Still Robinson always brought a certain class to the films he was doing and Vice Squad is no exception.
Second billed in the cast is Paulette Goddard who is a madam at a bordello. She was on a blacklist of sorts herself at the time, not for politics, but because she had antagonized the powerful Cecil B. DeMille during the shooting of The Unconquered. Her career was winding down, but she would be marrying Erich Maria Remarque and be leaving the screen shortly for Switzerland.
Goddard and Robinson have a nice bond between them. It's obvious he lets her operate because she can be most valuable as a snitch in a pinch. In fact she does come through with some information that starts the case being cracked.
Funny though, ten years earlier Robinson and Goddard as co-stars would have commanded an A list budget, even five years earlier. Hollywood could be very fickle at times.
Still for a B police drama, Vice Squad has an impressive cast list of quality players. Best in the film is Porter Hall, a two timing funeral director who Robinson knows saw something, but won't crack because he was spending a night with his girlfriend instead of being out of town as he told his wife. How they manage to keep him 'in the system' so to speak is really quite ingenious much to the exasperation of his lawyer, Barry Kelley who runs a close second to Hall.
Mixed in with the hunt for a cop killer are more routine matters like exposing a phony Italian count, dealing with Percy Helton's imaginary crimes and a TV interview for publicity's sake. All in the life of a Vice Squad captain.
Fans of Edward G. Robinson and Paulette Goddard will like what they see and Vice Squad is a nice tightly scripted and edited police drama.
Of course the murder of a police officer doesn't ever qualify as an ordinary day, but even on those days when an entire force is mobilized looking for a cop killer, still more mundane matters intervene.
Edward G. Robinson was in his B film period which is roughly between All My Sons and The Ten Commandments. Still Robinson always brought a certain class to the films he was doing and Vice Squad is no exception.
Second billed in the cast is Paulette Goddard who is a madam at a bordello. She was on a blacklist of sorts herself at the time, not for politics, but because she had antagonized the powerful Cecil B. DeMille during the shooting of The Unconquered. Her career was winding down, but she would be marrying Erich Maria Remarque and be leaving the screen shortly for Switzerland.
Goddard and Robinson have a nice bond between them. It's obvious he lets her operate because she can be most valuable as a snitch in a pinch. In fact she does come through with some information that starts the case being cracked.
Funny though, ten years earlier Robinson and Goddard as co-stars would have commanded an A list budget, even five years earlier. Hollywood could be very fickle at times.
Still for a B police drama, Vice Squad has an impressive cast list of quality players. Best in the film is Porter Hall, a two timing funeral director who Robinson knows saw something, but won't crack because he was spending a night with his girlfriend instead of being out of town as he told his wife. How they manage to keep him 'in the system' so to speak is really quite ingenious much to the exasperation of his lawyer, Barry Kelley who runs a close second to Hall.
Mixed in with the hunt for a cop killer are more routine matters like exposing a phony Italian count, dealing with Percy Helton's imaginary crimes and a TV interview for publicity's sake. All in the life of a Vice Squad captain.
Fans of Edward G. Robinson and Paulette Goddard will like what they see and Vice Squad is a nice tightly scripted and edited police drama.
- bkoganbing
- 26 mars 2007
- Lien permanent
EDWARD G. ROBINSON viewed this period in the early '50s as his B-film era, but VICE SQUAD is an efficient, if low-budget product that gives him a chance to show his stuff in a story about the day to day activities of a police precinct in '50s L.A. PAULETTE GODDARD gets top female billing in what is essentially a cameo role as her career was obviously in decline at this point. She's sassy and brittle as the head of an escort club who agrees to cooperate with Robinson's police investigation.
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.
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.
- Doylenf
- 26 mars 2007
- Lien permanent
While this isn't a great Edward G. Robinson film, it is a very good one and a rather realistic view of police work--complete with a 1950s-style ignorance of the Bill of Rights! Like the movie DRAGNET, police harassment and ignoring of some basic rights are okay provided it results in a conviction! But, unlike DRAGNET, this film isn't nearly as dark in tone nor are there any of the wonderful Jack Webb comments, such as "the first shot tore him in half,...the second one made him a crowd". Instead, Robinson plays a police captain that is quieter and less "Noir" but nonetheless still pretty sneaky in order to catch a cop killer and foil a bank robbery. Because the film tends to be more realistic than many cop dramas and avoids the trademark camera-work and snappy dialog of Noir, it is more a police film than an example of Film Noir. Still, it's awfully good and watchable--with good writing and pacing. Not great, but you could do a lot worse!
- planktonrules
- 2 mai 2007
- Lien permanent
Excellent cast. Paulette Goddard, basic minor role but still has the oomph. E.G. Robinson never ceases to amaze me, he is always the main force in all the movies he is in, I never tire of seeing him on film. The film did a very good job of developing the day to day business of a major city police station without making the police to appear as super human beings.
- basketballpete
- 15 mai 2002
- Lien permanent
Arnold Laven's VICE SQUAD is a 1953 "police procedural" B that follows LA police chief Edward G. Robinson around for a day and he sees it all: a patrolman shot, a marriage bunco, pickpockets, an "escort service", a bank heist, police snitches, and other flotsam and jetsam with some harmless insanity and adultery thrown in for good measure. It's all in a day's work for the chief, a no-nonsense man with a kind side (reminiscent of Robinson's "Asa Keyes" only less verbose) who gives everything from misdemeanors to murder raps the attention they merit and even manages to squeeze in an appearance on a TV talk show (cut short, of course, when he finds out the cop died). He's got time for everyone and always gets his man but the methods the police use would cause rioting in the streets today. Oh well, the ends justify the means and it's all for a good cause at the end of this day.
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.
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.
- melvelvit-1
- 6 sept. 2015
- Lien permanent
Vice Squad starts off like a sip of espresso: dark, strong, with a scorched aftertaste. But soon it grows lukewarm. It had the makings of a solid 50s crime drama but dilutes them with quirky human-interest vignettes that bear no relation to the central story. Less film noir than a dutiful police procedural, it looks like an attempt to reprise the more intense Detective Story of two years earlier.
Still, it's not a bad movie, if humdrum, centering on the killing of a cop by two members (Ed Binns, Lee Van Cleef) of a gang planning a bank job. All the plot strands lead to Chief of Detectives Edward G. Robinson (did anyone ever enunciate English more precisely?). Among them are witness Porter Hall, reluctant to get involved because he was seeing his mistress (Joan Vohs); his big-shot, big-mouthed attorney, Barry Kelley; ritzy madam Paulette Goddard, deputized to pick up information from clients she and her girls `escort;' reluctant stoolie Jay Adler; and gang member Adam Williams, who's losing the nerve to go through with the heist. Populating the more remote subplots are Percy Helton, who thinks he's pursued by `television shadows' and a phony Italian `Count' pulled in for marriage bunco. The bank job comes off, but not quite as planned, as plainclothes police are planted on the scene. But Binns and Van Cleef manage to nab a hostage....
The busy plot advances clearly enough (despite some lapses in continuity: The mistress' name is `Vicki' in an address book but `Vickie' on her mailbox). The most arresting part of Vice Squad are the scams, subterfuges and outright blackmail the police use to pressure witnesses to talk. They're presented not as expedient short-cuts to find a policeman's murderers but as routine business as usual. In that regard it reflects the super-patriotic climate of America during the Red-Scare years, though there's not a Communist in the movie, let alone any suggestion that officers of the law may be overstepping their bounds.
Still, it's not a bad movie, if humdrum, centering on the killing of a cop by two members (Ed Binns, Lee Van Cleef) of a gang planning a bank job. All the plot strands lead to Chief of Detectives Edward G. Robinson (did anyone ever enunciate English more precisely?). Among them are witness Porter Hall, reluctant to get involved because he was seeing his mistress (Joan Vohs); his big-shot, big-mouthed attorney, Barry Kelley; ritzy madam Paulette Goddard, deputized to pick up information from clients she and her girls `escort;' reluctant stoolie Jay Adler; and gang member Adam Williams, who's losing the nerve to go through with the heist. Populating the more remote subplots are Percy Helton, who thinks he's pursued by `television shadows' and a phony Italian `Count' pulled in for marriage bunco. The bank job comes off, but not quite as planned, as plainclothes police are planted on the scene. But Binns and Van Cleef manage to nab a hostage....
The busy plot advances clearly enough (despite some lapses in continuity: The mistress' name is `Vicki' in an address book but `Vickie' on her mailbox). The most arresting part of Vice Squad are the scams, subterfuges and outright blackmail the police use to pressure witnesses to talk. They're presented not as expedient short-cuts to find a policeman's murderers but as routine business as usual. In that regard it reflects the super-patriotic climate of America during the Red-Scare years, though there's not a Communist in the movie, let alone any suggestion that officers of the law may be overstepping their bounds.
- bmacv
- 22 juill. 2003
- Lien permanent
- Gavno
- 1 sept. 2011
- Lien permanent
I totally enjoyed this movie! I especially liked that EGR played his character cool, calm and collected. You don't see him yelling at his men and gesticulating all over the place! He portrayed his character as an adept psychologist, an independent thinker, who exhibits grace under fire. He uses compassion and sensitivity in a reassuring way. He sees all of the pieces to a puzzle and knows exactly where to place them in order to make a full picture.
The locations, cars and clothes just blew me away. I grew up in Los Angeles during the early 50's, and I remember riding in a 1949 Ford and 1953 Buick that my father owned.
The way the men looked in their full dress suits and sky highs (slang term for hats); and the women in their quiet elegance (never without gloves); is one of the reasons I love movies from the 40's and 50's.
Even to this day, if I pass through an old part of Los Angeles that is somewhat still intact (which is rare) from that time; it brings back old sweet memories, and I want to stay in that time warp and never come out. If you like EGR, cars, great locations, clothes, coolness and justice....Then you need to see this movie. All I need is for this movie to be released on DVD.
The locations, cars and clothes just blew me away. I grew up in Los Angeles during the early 50's, and I remember riding in a 1949 Ford and 1953 Buick that my father owned.
The way the men looked in their full dress suits and sky highs (slang term for hats); and the women in their quiet elegance (never without gloves); is one of the reasons I love movies from the 40's and 50's.
Even to this day, if I pass through an old part of Los Angeles that is somewhat still intact (which is rare) from that time; it brings back old sweet memories, and I want to stay in that time warp and never come out. If you like EGR, cars, great locations, clothes, coolness and justice....Then you need to see this movie. All I need is for this movie to be released on DVD.
- HillieBoliday
- 26 mars 2007
- Lien permanent
Vice Squad, tapping the affordable Edward G. Robinson and Paulette Goddard for marquee appeal.
Unjustly graylisted by the pamphlet Red Channels. The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television( Issued by the right-wing journal Counterattack on June 22, 1950, the pamphlet-style book names 151 actors, writers, musicians, broadcast journalists, and others until they cleared their names, the customary requirement being that they testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and name names, which the vast majority refused to do. )
Robinson no longer commanded a top salary. Ironically, the movie was a property he had purchased six years earlier, before the HUAC debacle crippled his career. Ms. Goddard had been out of circulation for a while, and traded a reasonable paycheck for what looks like a few day's work. The team came up with a serviceable script about a police captain trying to get a handle on a gang of murderous bank robbers.
All credit to Edward G. Robinson, who makes all these shenanigans look like noble social work!
This isn't a big show for Paulette Goddard, but she does give Mona Ross an appropriately flirtatious quality - and looks cute in furs entering and leaving the captain's office, as if it was a second home.
A reasonably exciting crime tale put together with modest resources, Vice Squad achieves an interesting vibe somewhere between Dragnet and L. A. Confidential. The action is restricted to a couple of sequences, but it's certainly good enough; the bank robbery actually takes place in the Beverly Hills, and locals will easily recognize the streets. 7/10.
Unjustly graylisted by the pamphlet Red Channels. The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television( Issued by the right-wing journal Counterattack on June 22, 1950, the pamphlet-style book names 151 actors, writers, musicians, broadcast journalists, and others until they cleared their names, the customary requirement being that they testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and name names, which the vast majority refused to do. )
Robinson no longer commanded a top salary. Ironically, the movie was a property he had purchased six years earlier, before the HUAC debacle crippled his career. Ms. Goddard had been out of circulation for a while, and traded a reasonable paycheck for what looks like a few day's work. The team came up with a serviceable script about a police captain trying to get a handle on a gang of murderous bank robbers.
All credit to Edward G. Robinson, who makes all these shenanigans look like noble social work!
This isn't a big show for Paulette Goddard, but she does give Mona Ross an appropriately flirtatious quality - and looks cute in furs entering and leaving the captain's office, as if it was a second home.
A reasonably exciting crime tale put together with modest resources, Vice Squad achieves an interesting vibe somewhere between Dragnet and L. A. Confidential. The action is restricted to a couple of sequences, but it's certainly good enough; the bank robbery actually takes place in the Beverly Hills, and locals will easily recognize the streets. 7/10.
- robfollower
- 20 avr. 2024
- Lien permanent
- fwdixon
- 25 juin 2010
- Lien permanent
This is one of those excellent programmers that studios used to churn out as fillers (second or third features) when a day at the movies was really a day at the movies. Not 90 minutes to two and a half hours, but five hours, followed by a late dinner with your girl friend, boy friend, spouse, or kids. Robinson knocked this film (and several other excellent ones) he did in the early 1950s because his days of movie stardom seemed over (due to blacklisting, as well as a messy divorce). It was a bitter time, and his memories were colored by that bitterness. Yet in this period he did films with Paulette Goddard, Ginger Rogers, Alan Ladd, John Forsythe, and Barbara Stanwyck (the last a western). He even did a second film with his old film co-star (and nemesis) George Raft. Not bad for a barren period. Considering the number of films he did appear in, and comparing his situation to that of ... John Garfield, Robinson did not do too badly.
This film was made shortly after "Detective Story" with Kirk Douglas, William Bendix, and George Macready. While that was a good film too, it was based on a successful stage play. This is based on a script from Hollywood originally. But it is one of those "day in the work life of a police officer". Robinson is shown trying to find the two goons (Edward Binns and Lee Van Cleef) who killed one of his men in a robbery. He is also handling problems with a fake-Italian fortune hunter, a scared little man (Percy Helton), and even a television news spot he has to give. He handles everything with considerable professionalism and aplomb.
"Detective Story" may have initiated this period of films like this, but in actuality "Detective Story" centered on the emotional problems of "good" cop Kirk Douglas, and how he resolves them by sacrificing himself to catch an armed criminal (Joseph Wiseman). A better film to compare it with is "Gideon's Day", an odd film made a few years later by John Ford. Unlike most of Ford's films it was shot in England, and starred Jack Hawkins. The "Gideon" novels were popular detective stories at the time, and "Gideon's Day" dealt with Chief Inspector Gideon tracking down the thieves who fatally injured a policeman who tried to stop them. Ford's film dealt with other incidents in the officer's day, including meeting a new constable who is something of a stumble-bum, who ends up being re-introduced to him as his daughter's new boy friend. Although minor John Ford, it has some good moments (such as Hawkins talking to the dying police officer in the hospital, which is shown from the point of view of the officer going in and out of consciousness). Except that it takes place in London, not L.A., it is a match for "Vice Squad".
But somehow "Vice Squad" works better. Except for the comedy about Gideon's daughter and her new boy-friend, most of "Gideon's Day" is definitely set in England, and yet Ford can't get his Irish-Americanism totally out of himself. At one point an angry Gideon has to restrain himself from taking a poke at an arrested perpetrator. That would not have been normal in England, where that type of reaction is usually not met with. It would have happened in the 1950s (or even the 2000s) in any American city, but that seems to be expected.
"Vice Squad" has some good performances holding it up. Binns and Van Cleef do their normally professional jobs as the killers. Percy Helton plays a timid rabbit of a man, who has seen Robinson before (the scene humanizes both men, for Robinson knows Helton's fears are based on psychological problems and has been trying to get him to see a doctor). Porter Hall plays possibly the funniest schlemiel type he ever had the luck to play, as a man who was out on a private toot but is paying for it again and again because he was at the scene of the crime, so he is possibly a witness. Ironically Hall never saw anything, but Robinson still manages to use him effectively against somebody who can unlock the mystery. Even Hall finally realizes that it's to his advantage not to deny anything, but to play along with Robinson's hunch. The two did well together in "Double Indemnity", and it pleasant to see they still well together here. Paulette Goddard's performance is smaller than one would have wanted, but she makes the most of the role of the head of the "escort" services. If the rule twisting here seems out of date, please remember this is from 1953. The Warren Court had not started changing the open door policy for police investigations yet.
This film was made shortly after "Detective Story" with Kirk Douglas, William Bendix, and George Macready. While that was a good film too, it was based on a successful stage play. This is based on a script from Hollywood originally. But it is one of those "day in the work life of a police officer". Robinson is shown trying to find the two goons (Edward Binns and Lee Van Cleef) who killed one of his men in a robbery. He is also handling problems with a fake-Italian fortune hunter, a scared little man (Percy Helton), and even a television news spot he has to give. He handles everything with considerable professionalism and aplomb.
"Detective Story" may have initiated this period of films like this, but in actuality "Detective Story" centered on the emotional problems of "good" cop Kirk Douglas, and how he resolves them by sacrificing himself to catch an armed criminal (Joseph Wiseman). A better film to compare it with is "Gideon's Day", an odd film made a few years later by John Ford. Unlike most of Ford's films it was shot in England, and starred Jack Hawkins. The "Gideon" novels were popular detective stories at the time, and "Gideon's Day" dealt with Chief Inspector Gideon tracking down the thieves who fatally injured a policeman who tried to stop them. Ford's film dealt with other incidents in the officer's day, including meeting a new constable who is something of a stumble-bum, who ends up being re-introduced to him as his daughter's new boy friend. Although minor John Ford, it has some good moments (such as Hawkins talking to the dying police officer in the hospital, which is shown from the point of view of the officer going in and out of consciousness). Except that it takes place in London, not L.A., it is a match for "Vice Squad".
But somehow "Vice Squad" works better. Except for the comedy about Gideon's daughter and her new boy-friend, most of "Gideon's Day" is definitely set in England, and yet Ford can't get his Irish-Americanism totally out of himself. At one point an angry Gideon has to restrain himself from taking a poke at an arrested perpetrator. That would not have been normal in England, where that type of reaction is usually not met with. It would have happened in the 1950s (or even the 2000s) in any American city, but that seems to be expected.
"Vice Squad" has some good performances holding it up. Binns and Van Cleef do their normally professional jobs as the killers. Percy Helton plays a timid rabbit of a man, who has seen Robinson before (the scene humanizes both men, for Robinson knows Helton's fears are based on psychological problems and has been trying to get him to see a doctor). Porter Hall plays possibly the funniest schlemiel type he ever had the luck to play, as a man who was out on a private toot but is paying for it again and again because he was at the scene of the crime, so he is possibly a witness. Ironically Hall never saw anything, but Robinson still manages to use him effectively against somebody who can unlock the mystery. Even Hall finally realizes that it's to his advantage not to deny anything, but to play along with Robinson's hunch. The two did well together in "Double Indemnity", and it pleasant to see they still well together here. Paulette Goddard's performance is smaller than one would have wanted, but she makes the most of the role of the head of the "escort" services. If the rule twisting here seems out of date, please remember this is from 1953. The Warren Court had not started changing the open door policy for police investigations yet.
- theowinthrop
- 25 févr. 2005
- Lien permanent
- jotix100
- 2 août 2012
- Lien permanent
A ridiculously careless plot celebrating a police station that ignores everybody's civil rights while trying to get the audience to believe we are watching intelligent detectives hard at work solving crimes and bringing the bad guys to justice.
Probably the only time Edward G Robinson wasn't worth watching.
There's an incredibly pointless subplot involving a witness that is never explained and only a child could accept as story telling. In the words of Ignatius J Reilly, "Whoever wrote this abortion should be flogged."
The best part was when I thought I heard the voice of Winnie the Pooh coming out of weird character that didn't seem to have anything to do with the film, but happily shows to save the film from becoming an insulting waste of time. If the film were about him it would have gotten all ten stars.
Probably the only time Edward G Robinson wasn't worth watching.
There's an incredibly pointless subplot involving a witness that is never explained and only a child could accept as story telling. In the words of Ignatius J Reilly, "Whoever wrote this abortion should be flogged."
The best part was when I thought I heard the voice of Winnie the Pooh coming out of weird character that didn't seem to have anything to do with the film, but happily shows to save the film from becoming an insulting waste of time. If the film were about him it would have gotten all ten stars.
- RupertPumpkinTM
- 7 déc. 2024
- Lien permanent
This is not one of Edward G's best films. In fact it may be his worst but it is still watchable. It's pretty much a run of the mill 50's crime story which centers around the activities in one day of a detective's life. Good black and white photography with excellent location shots.....not much use of studio sets. This adds to the realism and if you like old cars, the street scenes are for you! Edward G. is, as usual, top notch and for once gets to be a good guy. An aging Paulette Goddard, whose star was really on the wane, is adequate as the madame of an "escort service"....a thinly disguised brothel....her wordplay with Edward G. is sharp and ever so sexy. The supporting cast is familiar to all......and Lee VanCleef pops up as a killer (what else?) in one of his early films before he became an icon in Italian westerns. This is an enjoyable, throw-away film that is worth catching on some late night weekend. Anything with Edward G. is always one to watch.
- Bucs1960
- 16 mai 2002
- Lien permanent
- bsmith5552
- 20 mai 2017
- Lien permanent
More than capably directed by Arnold Laven on a tight budget and in a semi-documentary style, this has been adapted from 'Harness Bull'(slang term for an uniformed police officer) by Leslie T. White who had spent many years working in various types of Law Enforcement. One cannot help but wonder whether the leading character of Capt. Barnaby is based upon one person or is an amalgam. Barnaby's methods are decidedly 'unorthodox', that is to say unethical, illegal and downright immoral but in the war against crime one is obliged to be just as resourceful, for want of a better word, as the enemy.
Although cinematographer Joseph F. Biroc has provided some 'noirish' touches, this is essentially a police procedural and for this viewer at any rate, a surprisingly good one. The editing by Arthur Nadel maintains the momentum and is especially effective in the bank heist sequence whilst the score by Herschel Burke Gilbert is suitably 'urgent', if a trifle over-orchestrated.
Colourful characters abound with Edward Binns a menacing villain. Comedy relief is provided by Barry Kelley as a shyster lawyer and the inimitable Porter Hall as his hapless client. As a hoodlum, Lee van Cleef's career is on the way up whilst that of Paulette Goddard as a Madam is alas on the way down.
Although by all accounts Edward G. Robinson was reluctant to play the role of Barnaby, this is one of a number of 'Poverty Row' films he made in order to survive his 'Greylisting' by the delightful HUAC. The light at the end of the tunnel appeared for this magnificent artiste when cast by de Mille in 'The Ten Commandments'. There is some justice after all.
Although cinematographer Joseph F. Biroc has provided some 'noirish' touches, this is essentially a police procedural and for this viewer at any rate, a surprisingly good one. The editing by Arthur Nadel maintains the momentum and is especially effective in the bank heist sequence whilst the score by Herschel Burke Gilbert is suitably 'urgent', if a trifle over-orchestrated.
Colourful characters abound with Edward Binns a menacing villain. Comedy relief is provided by Barry Kelley as a shyster lawyer and the inimitable Porter Hall as his hapless client. As a hoodlum, Lee van Cleef's career is on the way up whilst that of Paulette Goddard as a Madam is alas on the way down.
Although by all accounts Edward G. Robinson was reluctant to play the role of Barnaby, this is one of a number of 'Poverty Row' films he made in order to survive his 'Greylisting' by the delightful HUAC. The light at the end of the tunnel appeared for this magnificent artiste when cast by de Mille in 'The Ten Commandments'. There is some justice after all.
- brogmiller
- 3 juill. 2025
- Lien permanent
- sol1218
- 4 juin 2010
- Lien permanent
- classicsoncall
- 18 déc. 2024
- Lien permanent
I heard that Edward G Robinson referred to this as his "B" period. After seeing this movie, I'm really sorry he felt that way. Vice Squad is the story of a Chief of Detectives in LA dealing with a half dozen related problems, but primarily with a cop killing that is tied in with a bank robbery. There will be comparisons to Detective Story - and there are similarities - but despite it's puny budget, over the hill or unknown stars, and poor production values I think this is a better movie. In fact for the reasons above, it seems to have a more realistic feel. The action sequences and dialogue are, for the most part, really believable.
EGR was under suspicion by HUAC when this was made and I think it was reflected in his underplayed performance, which I think was an improvement. Paulette Goddard was totally irrelevant. Her part could have been played better by somebody like Isabel Jewell. Porter Hall and Jay Adler were never better.
I am sorry this film never got the attention it deserved. I'm sorry that Eddie G thought so little of it. But most of all, I am sorry that most people will never get to see it. I am an avid movie buff and it took me almost 50 years before I ever knew it existed. Please, see it if you can.
EGR was under suspicion by HUAC when this was made and I think it was reflected in his underplayed performance, which I think was an improvement. Paulette Goddard was totally irrelevant. Her part could have been played better by somebody like Isabel Jewell. Porter Hall and Jay Adler were never better.
I am sorry this film never got the attention it deserved. I'm sorry that Eddie G thought so little of it. But most of all, I am sorry that most people will never get to see it. I am an avid movie buff and it took me almost 50 years before I ever knew it existed. Please, see it if you can.
- howdymax
- 17 mai 2002
- Lien permanent
Pretty good cop story with Eddy G in fine form as the Captain of the vice squad. It took me awhile to realize it was the vice squad since the first half hour is dominated by men. Paulette Goddard gives a brief but fun appearance as the Madam with the heart of gold and old friend of Robinsons. The rest is well directed and a confusing but intense heist keeps the movie flowing. A little one note but enteraining.
- nelsonhodgie
- 22 févr. 2021
- Lien permanent
The film follows a day in the life of policeman Captain Barnaby (Edward G Robinson). The main story deals with the shooting of a policeman and a bank robbery that are linked in that the same people are involved in both incidents, ie, Al (Edward Binns) and Pete (Lee Van Cleef). Jack (Porter Hall) witnesses the shooting and is continuously released and re-arrested throughout the film in order to make him talk. He doesn't want to say anything as it may mean that his wife will find out that he was visiting another woman.
The title is a bit misleading as it suggests that there are brothels and prostitutes involved in the bulk of the film. In fact, Mona (Paulette Goddard) as the owner of a call girl service has a relatively small part to play in the story. I don't know why the film is called "Vice Squad". It has a few other story lines running simultaneously but the whole effect is rather weak and a bit haphazard as we keep breaking from one story to follow another - Jack of all stories but master of none. The film feels a bit empty while you are watching it.
The title is a bit misleading as it suggests that there are brothels and prostitutes involved in the bulk of the film. In fact, Mona (Paulette Goddard) as the owner of a call girl service has a relatively small part to play in the story. I don't know why the film is called "Vice Squad". It has a few other story lines running simultaneously but the whole effect is rather weak and a bit haphazard as we keep breaking from one story to follow another - Jack of all stories but master of none. The film feels a bit empty while you are watching it.
- AAdaSC
- 11 juill. 2009
- Lien permanent
- mark.waltz
- 25 sept. 2014
- Lien permanent
Kinda funny no one above mentions the lousy procedures these guys follow. Endanger public at bank. Extort a civilian to be a false witness. Frustrate individual rights, lie and self deal with low life. This could be a sanctimonious Ramparts.
Funny that EGR would take on this poop since he held very liberal views but McCarthy.... On the other hand tightly constructed, day in the life, location shooting, Lee Van cleef and top character actors make it a good watch for buffs. That 1 score from the boring guy deserves derision.
No narration and using an immersive viewpoint helps it work better than others of this era. Don't call it noir. Its a police procedural that features colorless, competent cops and villainous criminals. Coulda been written in crayon. Its got EGR and a distinctive vibe. To think this director went on to charactarless tv work for so many lousy shows but also 3 Hill Streets.
Funny that EGR would take on this poop since he held very liberal views but McCarthy.... On the other hand tightly constructed, day in the life, location shooting, Lee Van cleef and top character actors make it a good watch for buffs. That 1 score from the boring guy deserves derision.
No narration and using an immersive viewpoint helps it work better than others of this era. Don't call it noir. Its a police procedural that features colorless, competent cops and villainous criminals. Coulda been written in crayon. Its got EGR and a distinctive vibe. To think this director went on to charactarless tv work for so many lousy shows but also 3 Hill Streets.
- phlbrq58
- 5 janv. 2021
- Lien permanent
If you're old enough to remember L.A. in the early fifties, this is particularly fun. Lot's of location stuff, downtown, Long Beach or San Pedro. And the bank robbery takes place in Beverly Hills on Camden or Roxbury Drive, just below Little Santa Monica Blvd. Edgar G. Robinson is great as always. It's a cousin to Noir, lots of great faces and character acting. They couldn't afford a lot of sets, or any star beyond E.G.R., which is part of the charm of the movie. And if you like Detroit when it still had character, you'll love the great early fifties cars.
- ChanRobt
- 15 mai 2002
- Lien permanent
A year before Edward G. Robinson starred in a film noir basically playing his KEY LARGO character but as a prison escaping, kidnapping psychopath in BLACK TUESDAY, he was on the other side of the law...
As he'd done several times including DOUBLE INDEMNITY, and here as a police chief in VICE SQUAD that, despite the title, has little to do with busting prostitutes, mostly since the 1950's didn't have that kind of freedom...
The only connection to anything VICE-related is resilient escort-madame Paulette Goddard, who turns up in Robinson's headquarters with flirtatious help in what's a murder investigation instilled from the opening concerning lethal Lee Van Cleef, leader Edward Binns and weak-link Adam Williams...
Which leads to a bank robbery that Robinson and sidekick Dan Riss (who's really the star, frequently going outside for the real detective work) are trying to bust before it happens... in what really epitomizes the day-long police procedural sub-genre that, with Jay Adler as a scene-stealing weasel/informant, not only needed a far more suitable title, but would have fared better as a TV-pilot than feature.
As he'd done several times including DOUBLE INDEMNITY, and here as a police chief in VICE SQUAD that, despite the title, has little to do with busting prostitutes, mostly since the 1950's didn't have that kind of freedom...
The only connection to anything VICE-related is resilient escort-madame Paulette Goddard, who turns up in Robinson's headquarters with flirtatious help in what's a murder investigation instilled from the opening concerning lethal Lee Van Cleef, leader Edward Binns and weak-link Adam Williams...
Which leads to a bank robbery that Robinson and sidekick Dan Riss (who's really the star, frequently going outside for the real detective work) are trying to bust before it happens... in what really epitomizes the day-long police procedural sub-genre that, with Jay Adler as a scene-stealing weasel/informant, not only needed a far more suitable title, but would have fared better as a TV-pilot than feature.
- TheFearmakers
- 9 juin 2025
- Lien permanent