Vice Raid

Vice Raid (1960)

A sensational topic, some steamy jazz, and the gritty big city. Could be good, I think. And it starts with a bang and a twist.

But it does not keep its high level of surprise and suspense, and it never quite forms a convincing plot The center of it is a vice squad, which is a police unit that investigates what are moral crimes like prostitution and, in the old days, things like homosexuality. The units are much revised (luckily) from the days in the mid-Twentieth Century when they would do raids on gay bars and suspicious clubs with back rooms, you get the idea.

I watched this very B-movie look at a vice squad in an unnamed city (let's say it's Cleveland) partly for the photographer, Stanley Cortez, who has some classics to his credit, yet even the photography is routine. The actors, and the acting, isn't bad, and they generally are fitting for the plot, which does keep interesting if a bit stiff all along.

It starts with a well used omniscient voice-over that makes it a pseudo-documentary. And the first part of the movie is a straight up story of a cop going after prostitution in town. And then things go wrong. And then, in a fun shift, the prostitute becomes a main character and her sweet little sister comes to town. This gives things another dimension, and if not exactly any more convincing, it's a welcome layer.

Eventually the tables turn again, and we see law enforcement do a clever job breaking up a syndicate. I don't think this makes for great watching--and for 1960 it feels very old, as if the director hasn't noticed the times both in the movies and in television have changed.

"Vice Raid" is a very good cop film with mostly little-known actors--apart from Mamie Van Doren. It's the story about an unnamed city's vice squad--one in which much of the force is on the take to the mob. However, one cop isn't on the take and isn't afraid of the crooks--and because of that, Mr. Big has decided to ruin him. So, using some help he imported from another city, he uses Carol Hupdson (Van Doren) and the cop's own partner to lie about his to internal affairs. Next thing you know, he's off the force--and itching for revenge. And what finally helps the now ex-cop in his crusade against the gangs? Carol's little sister is the key. How exactly it all works out is for you to see for yourself.

While this film lacks a huge budget and big-name stars, it makes up for it with tough dialog and a nice little story. The bottom line is that for an inexpensive noir film, it delivers the goods and is worth your time.

Syndicate crime boss Malone (Brad Dexter) wants to get do-gooder vice cop Whitey Brandon (Richard Coogan) out of his hair so he sets up a rather intricate plot of framing him. Malone gets "model" Carol Hudson (Mamie Van Doren) to come into town and lie that Brandon tried to extort her during a bust. Thankfully, the department is prone to believing the testimony of floozies over their most decorated cop and Brandon is fired. So he sets out to get his revenge and receives an unlikely ally in Carol after her teenage sister is raped by one of Malone's hoods. This was actually my first Van Doren film and I enjoyed it. She is definitely a looker and you can bet the soundtrack fills with swooning jazz when she enters the picture. She is also pretty decent as an actress. Also of note is Juli Reding, who has one scene early on as a "model" who is more than proud to show her magazine work to Brandon ("Close it up or you might catch cold.") Coogan, looking a bit like Robert Stack, is good in the lead, if a little stiff. Director Edward L. Cahn definitely won't be accused of doing anything inventive during the proceedings, although there is a nice dummy fall during the final shootout.

A vice detective goes up against a call girl (Mamie VanDoren) and loses in court. But once unemployed, the cop starts handling investigations his own way.

I really liked this film. As a historian who focuses on organized crime, I liked the idea of the "octopus" and "syndicate" without the film having to say Mafia or resorting to Italian-American stereotypes. While the Mafia probably was the dominant force at this time (the 1960s), they were hardly alone.

The subject matter was also handled really well. Although the story centers on prostitution, it was done in a clean manner -- no sex, no nudity, no vulgar language. There were some slinky outfits, but nothing racy. Today, I doubt they could make this film without plenty of sex in it, and I much prefer this version. I liked it even more because of the narration.

The film begins in New York City with two vice cops named "Whitey Brandon" (Richard Coogan) and "Ben Dunton" (Frank Gerstle) intercepting a mobster by the name of "Muggsy" (Shepherd Sanders) and a young female model he is escorting from Dallas named "Gertie" (Juli Reding). As it turns out, Muggsy works for a mob boss named "Vince Malone" (Brad Dexter) who has made a fortune operating a high-class prostitution ring which he fills with women coming from various cities to include Detroit, St. Louis and Chicago. In this particular case, Whitey has gotten wise to Malone's activities and all he needs is some inside information from Muggsy to help clarify a few things. What Whitey doesn't realize, however, is that his partner is also working for Malone and, rather than jeopardize his position, kills Muggsy the first chance he gets him alone. Needless to say, this creates a problem for Whitey's investigation. Conversely, it also creates a problem for Malone who decides to get rid of Whitey by framing him for a crime he did not commit. And to do this he calls Detroit and has them send a special call girl named "Carol Hudson" (Mamie Van Doren) who is as smart as she is beautiful. Unfortunately, what nobody counts on is Carol's younger sister "Louise Hudson" (Carol Nugent) arriving a few days later which severely complicates matters for all concerned. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an okay crime-drama which, for all intents and purposes, relies more heavily upon the presence of Mamie Van Doren than anything else, as she totally dominated every scene. Yet even though she definitely adds a certain amount of pizzaz to what would otherwise be a rather drab picture, her presence alone wasn't quite enough for me to rate this movie any higher than I have. Average.