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.

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.

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.

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)