The Lineup

Tightly scripted, excitingly staged, and brilliantly acted by Eli Wallach, this is a real sleeper. It could have been just another slice of thick-ear on the order of the Dragnet movie (1954). But thanks to writer Stirling Silliphant, director Don Siegel, and actor Wallach, The Lineup stands as one of the best crime films of the decade.

Someone in production made a key decision to shoot the film entirely on location in San Francisco, and rarely have locations been used more imaginatively then here, from dockside to Nob Hill to the streets and freeways, plus lively entertainment spots. The producers of 1968's Bullit must have viewed this little back-and-whiter several times over, especially the car chase.

Colorless detectives Warner Anderson and Emile Meyer (standing in for Tom Tully of the TV series of the same name) are chasing down psychopathic hit-man Wallach and mentor Robert Keith, who in turn are chasing down bags of smuggled narcotics. Dancer (Wallach) is simply chilling. You never know when that dead-pan stare will turn homicidal, even with little kids. Good thing his sidekick, the literary-inclined Julian (Keith), is there as a restraining force, otherwise the city might be seriously de-populated.

Cult director Siegel keeps things moving without let-up, and even the forces of law and order are kept from stalling the action. My favorite scene is where Dancer goes slowly bonkers at the uncooperative Japanese doll. Watch his restrained courtship manners with the lonely mother (Mary La Roche) come unraveled as he reverts to psychopathic form, while mother and daughter huddle in mounting panic at the man they so trustingly brought home. It's a riveting scene in a film filled with them.

The Line Up is another of those unheralded, minor gems that has stood the test of time, unlike so many of the big-budget cadavers of that year or any year.

I was relaxing in my easy chair when I saw this film pop up on one of the mystery cable channels. I was very surprised and pleased at what I saw. First of all, the comments made about this film having great views of San Francisco are 100% true. I love "noir" films that set a city mood, and this was probably the best film that ever set a "San Francisco mood" with the possible exception of Dirty Harry. A friend of mine lived near the Cliff House and seeing Seal Rock Road and the Sutro Museum (used to be the Sutro Baths) was just incredible. Its just a hole in the ground now. Pier 39, now an over-sized shopping mall, was great to see as well when it was an actual shipping pier. And the movie itself was quite good. Eli Wallach played a sadistic, yet somewhat complex criminal who had no morals and yet showed flashes of compassion. Brian Keith's Father Robert played his mentor with excellence and style. This film was no high budget spectacular but more then made up for it with Siegel's excellent direction and great location scenes. I immediately went online to IMDb to try and buy the VHS or DVD but imagine my surprise when I saw it wasn't available! CMON, LETS SEE THIS ONE COME ONTO DVD!!!!

In the harbor of San Francisco, a porter throws the suitcase of a passenger that has just arrived from Asia into a taxi and the driver hits a truck and a police officer that kills him before dying. The owner Philip Dressler (Raymond Bailey) explains to the police Lieutenant Ben Guthrie (Warner Anderson) and Inspector Al Quine (Emile Meyer) that the content of the suitcase are antiques that he bought in Asia from a street vendor. However the police laboratory discover that one statuette has heroin hidden inside and the inspectors replace the drug per sugar and return the suitcase to Dressler, who is a citizen above suspicion. Meanwhile the gangster Dancer (Eli Wallach), who is a psychopath; his partner Julian (Robert Keith) and the alcoholic driver Sandy McLain (Richard Jaeckel) are hired by the kingpin The Man (Vaughn Taylor) to collect the heroin packages that have been smuggled hidden in the luggage of three other innocent tourists. They succeed to retrieve the two firsts, but the load of the third one vanishes and they panic. Meanwhile the police is hunting them under the command of Lt. Guthrie.

"The Lineup" is another great police story directed by Don Siegel. The story is original and the action scenes in San Francisco are impressive for a 1958 film. The dysfunctional criminals are peculiar and Eli Wallach performs a psychopath killer; Robert Keith takes notes of the last words of Dancer's victims in a notebook; and Richard Jaeckel is an alcoholic driver. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Sádico Selvagem" ("The Wild Sadist")

This was a breezy, fast-paced little piece of noir that crosses the time barrier pretty efficiently. Each of the three main villains, driving through the sun-lit streets of San Francisco, delivering violence and death, leave up with strongly etched character studies. The locations are wonderful, particularly the ice rink. It's a privilege to sit back, follow, a simple, well-woven plot and travel back in time to a place you never been, yet know pretty intimately anyways. Films that flow with such ease are becoming rare items

This would be a great double bill with Bullitt or Dirty Harry. Heck, it would be a great double bill with anything.

The late director, Don Siegel, never made a bad film: and many of them were classics of their kind. He directed "Flaming Star", one of Presley's better efforts. He directed Clint Eastwood in "Coogan's Bluff", "Two Mules For Sister Sara", and "The Beguiled". He made one of the best of John Wayne's later films: "The Shootist". He directed the original "Invasion of The Body Snatchers". He also directed now rarely seen films like "Baby Face Nelson", with Mickey Rooney.

"The Lineup" stands out even among this fine body of work. While "The Lineup" is a 'caper' film, it's anything but what passes these days for films of that genre. I was lucky that a film society I belonged to, managed to get hold of a 35mm print of this film, along with prints of "The Hanged Man", Riot In Cell Block 11", "The Verdict", "Baby Face Nelson", and others. Naturally, this and other early Don Siegel films are not on tape. Something I hope will be rectified one day, hopefully now, put out on DVD. Eli Wallach, as 'Dancer', is outstanding, as is Robert Keith as 'Julian'. If it turns up on TV, or cable, cancel everything and watch it. It has one of the best endings ever!