Behind Green Lights

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.

Other than guessing the murderer the minute I saw him, I thought "Behind Green Lights" from 1946 was pretty good.

The first thing we see is a young woman (Carole Landis) entering an apartment and telling the man inside that she hasn't raised enough money. Then she pulls a gun on him.

Later, a body is dumped in front of a police precinct. It turns out to be that of a detective turned blackmailer, and we learn that none other than a mayoral candidate's daughter had visited him before he died. She is brought in for questioning.

The editor of a newspaper doesn't want that candidate to win and pressures Lt. Carson (Gargan) to formally arrest the mayor's daughter, at least until after the election. Not happening.

At first it appears that the blackmailer was shot to death; he was shot, but the cause of death was poisoning. The coroner is actually taking orders from the editor, and he's told to get the body out of the police station before anyone realizes that the man was poisoned.

Some nice bits concerning the body, an escaped prisoner, and a closet.

Okay film, with nice performances by Gargan, Richard Crane, John Ireland, Mary Anderson, and Charles Russell. This is down a few notches for the beautiful Landis, whose career sadly declined after Darryl Zanuck dumped her. She committed suicide two years later at the age of 29. A very sad life.

I think it's worth seeing even if it is an uneven mix of noir and comedy - I liked some of the characters.

A solid, unsung noir murder mystery that unfolds over the course of one long night. After the bullet-ridden body of a detective rolls up to the steps of a police precinct in a car, the cops inside scramble to unravel the mystery of their stiff colleague. It's not long before local newsboys get a whiff of the action and buzz on down to the station frothing at the mouth for an exclusive on the story. A dead detective, a politician's daughter, and a savage media frenzy are the foundation of this quick-paced, engaging whodunnit.

Noir lovers won't be disappointed; it's got murder, betrayal, dames with questionable motives, and moody b&w photography that evokes late night atmosphere. There's no shortage of fast-talking characters, smoky rooms, shadowy night scenes, scheming reporters, and a few halfhearted attempts at humor.

Overall it's an entertaining little mystery, with lots of moving parts, that takes a critical look at the shady relationships between the law, politics, and the media. For being confined to a 64 minute run time, a few locations, and one night, it's a testament to the skill of the writers and director that the film gets its thematic points across so effectively. Writers Scott Darling and Charles Booth cleverly conceal the killer's identify until the dramatic reveal, and toss in some comedic plot points like a corpse stashed in a storage closet and a kooky old lady with a tray of baked goods who holds the key to the mystery. This lean, low budget slice of Golden Era noir clocks in at just over an hour and is efficiently directed by Otto Brower. This would be the director's final film; he died January 15, 1946, twenty days before this film's release.

The version i watched on "Moonlight Movies" channel was a TERRIBLE editing job... all chopped to hell. Directed by Otto Brower, who only directed one more after this, and that one was uncredited! A private eye is murdered, and dumped on the steps of the police station. and of course, the mayor's daughter (or something) is involved. Carole Landis is "Janet", who admits to being at the scene, but says she didn't kill him. William Gargan is the police lieutenant, as usual. All kinds of shenanigans, and corruption, since there is an upcoming election. Both sides are trying to influence the election results by altering the facts, and they keep saying it's bad news for "the administration"... without naming anyone specific. It's very okay. a 64 minute short from 20th Century Fox. John Ireland is in here as "Oppenheimer"... this was almost the first role he had in hollywood. he went on to be a real bigshot. Mabel Paige (Flossie the Flowergirl) has a part.. she was in silents from 1912 -- 1918, disappeared for twenty years, then came back and acted in talkies for another 15 years ! That story would be more interesting than this film. (and what are the green lights in the title ?? this is a black and white film)

A dead body is dumped outside a police station one night. This leads to a mystery involving a femme fatale and corruption.

This was an entertaining mystery in my book. While it was set almost totally in two locations - the police station and the flat where the murder took place - it has a fairly polished feel and holds the interest throughout. The mystery is involving enough and there are some moments of noirish atmosphere and style towards the end. There were some elements of humour introduced which, while not being strictly necessary, weren't too distracting either. Behind Green Lights isn't a poverty row effort, it was made by one of the big studios so that may account for it's relatively impressive overall presentation. It's hardly a film that breaks the mould but it's a fairly effective little mystery that is worth watching if you like these kinds of flicks.