CONTAINS SPOILERS
HELL ON FRISCO BAY 1955
This 1955 film was made by Alan Ladd's production company, Jaguar, and released by Warner Brothers. The film stars, Ladd, E.G. Robinson, Joanne Dru, Paul Stewart, William Demarest, Fay Wray, Stanley Adams and an early bit by Rod Taylor.
Former San Francisco Police Detective, Alan Ladd has just been released from San Quentin Prison. He just finished a 5 year stretch on a manslaughter beef over the death of a suspect. Ladd is not in the least amused and swears the whole thing had been a frame job. He blames a waterfront rackets boss, E.G. Robinson.
Also in the mix here are Ladd's wife, Joanne Dru and his ex partner, William Demarest. Ladd is upset with Dru because she had stepped out on him while he was in the joint. Demarest just wants to help but Ladd will have none of it. He intends to prove that he was set up for the prison tour.
Ladd hits various bars etc looking for possible witnesses. The problem here is that everyone ends up dead before, or just after he talks with them. Mobster Robinson is planning a big move to take more of the dockside "trade" and Ladd is becoming a pest. He sends his chief "controller", Paul Stewart along with ex-pug, Stanley Adams to have a few words with Ladd. Stewart, a former death row inmate, had been sprung from jail by Robinson's expensive legal boys. Stewart's heart is not really in his work since he got out. He has found love with a dolly, Fay Wray.
Anyways, Stewart and Ladd, who knew each other years before, have a few words about Ladd's quest. Stewart suggests to Ladd that it would be best for his health if he laid off annoying, Robinson any further. Ladd will of course have none of this idea. He then lays a severe beating on mob heavy Stanley Adams when the pug steps into Ladd. Stewart picks up the battered Adams and heads back to report to Robinson.
Ladd keeps stirring the pot and puts the grab on Robinson's nephew, Perry Lopez. Lopez is a minor link in Robinson's outfit, and not a very strong one. A couple of slaps and a dunking in a bathroom sink quickly has the kid spilling everything he knows. Ladd also gets a few clues from the pug, Stanley Adams. Adams was fired by Robinson after he was thumped by Ladd. Wanting to get back in the mobster's good books, Adams tries to shoot Ladd. This plan goes sideways and Adams collects some lead himself. Adams spills to Ladd before he dies that Ladd needs to go looking for a hired muscle type, Rod Taylor, who works for Robinson.
As all this is going on, Ladd's wife is still trying to get Ladd to forgive her for her romantic dalliance while he was in jail. Ladd is not the forgiving type at the moment so Miss Dru is out of luck.
Ladd gets a grip on Rod Taylor and hands him over to his Police buddy, Demarest. The Police are now starting to suspect that maybe Ladd had been framed after all. The pot starts to boil as Robinson turns up the heat. He has his nephew Lopez murdered for talking. Robinson also decides he can do without his executioner, Stewart. He sends a crooked cop to take care of this. (Unsuccessfully as it turns out)
With Robinson's mob falling to pieces under Ladd's pressure, he decides it is time to leave San Fran. Now there is a quick series of events with several gun battles, Miss Dru getting kidnapped, and a high speed powerboat chase across the Bay ending in a thunderous crash.
The film is okay, but it could have been a thundering good revenge film. The story, by veteran writers, Sydney Boehm and Martin Rackin, has its moments, but needed to supply more tension. It story also under uses Miss Dru for the most part. The colour and the Cinemascope also detract from any real film noir look. The film, shot on location, provides some great vistas of San Francisco but black and white would have worked better story wise.
The director here was long time Ladd friend, Frank Tuttle. Tuttle was the helmsman on Ladd's first hit, "This Gun for Hire". He also directed the Ladd film, "Lucky Jordon". Seven-time Oscar nominated cinematographer John F Seitz, was in the director of photography chair. Another Ladd pal, Seitz lensed 20 of Ladd's films.
Also in the cast is Anthony Caruso, Tina Carver, Willis Bouchey, Peter Hansen, former silent star Mae Marsh and with an early bit, Jayne Mansfield.
While the cast are all competent, Robinson does stand out as he does a take on his role from "Little Caesar". The film is not a waste of time by any means, but I for one was expecting a bit more.
On a sad note, stuntman and bit actor, Louis Tomei was fatally injured during the final chase scenes. He suffered a bad head injury and died that same day.

Hi Mgt,I want to say thank you for the great review,and that whilst there are no shots of Brooklyn,I was wondering if there are any scenes shot on location,or if it is all studio bound?

Well if you like McGavin's
Mike Hammer
it's like a dry run for the series.

I have this one here put have never watched it. I keep shuffling it back to the bottom of the should watch pile. Something about the title does not grab me. It would not be the first time I got fooled that way. Nice write-up.

See if you can get a used copy, I always go that route if I can.

I'd love to check the movie out. Amazon has it, I just don't know if it's worth the price.
I agree with you about the on-location filming. In places like NYC, it's a must. You get a sense of place.
The Naked City
is a favorite of mine and though the movie is decades old, you still easily recognize the city. It changes, but it doesn't.
Jessica Rabbit
"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way."

Here is a late "Classic Noir" cop film that has great cinematography, a decent story about NYPD police corruption undercover work fifteen years before Serpico, and the always enjoyable Darren McGavin in the title role. It's missing one thing.
B R O O K L Y N ! ! !
Now how the hell can you make a film about corruption in the NYPD Brooklyn precincts and NOT have any second unit or even stock footage establishing shots of the boro the film is set in? I'm spoiled, I guess after seeing the likes of The Naked City, Odds Against Tomorrow, and Blast Of Silence, backlot NYC just doesn't float my boat. You expect more not less.
No footage of the Brooklyn, Manhattan or Williamsburg bridge, no East River, no skyline, no subways, no avenues. A two second clip of Brooklyn Boro Hall is it. It's a big omission.
It's not as if they couldn't afford stock footage, they actually have a clip of a truck going off a curve and turning over from Thieves Highway (1949). It's jarringly out of place, and looks like California where it was shot, lol.
What they have is a few pathetic still shots of Grand Army Plaza, either the Gowanus Canal or Newtown Creek, a still of part the Brooklyn Bridge and some anonymous avenue but all of these are hidden behind the opening credits. All this spells out cheap.
The film does at least have some cuts to an el train going by along with the audios of passing subway cars during one sequence, but again, it needed a lot more sprinkled here and there, if it was going to compete on a level playing field with all of the more well known New York City noirs, The Naked City, The Window, The Dark Corner, Kiss of Death, Where The Sidewalk Ends, Cry Of The City, The Unsuspected, The Glass Wall, The Killer That Stalked New York, Sweet Smell Of Success, etc., etc. If those are all considered "B" Noirs The Case Against Brooklyn, A Columbia Pictures release, looks like a "C" Noir. Hell even cheapo "D" noir, Blast Of Silence has beaucoup more New York City ambiance, of course it had the advantage of actually being shot in New York.
Because of the lack of second unit footage the film has that "stylized" almost dreamlike, depopulated, relatively garbageless, antiquated backlot city look and feel, hell they don't even have the old bishop's crook street lamps, they give us these "California" globe type lamps. You get this exact same look and feeling when viewing The Man With The Golden Arm, A Streetcar Named Desire, Rear Window, and the weird split personality look of The Money Trap (1965) which jarringly segues between real LA and a backlot New York brownstone street. That film sorely missed using the old Bunker Hill Locations. But I'm digressing.
Also MIA is any New York/Brooklyn accents, you'd think it would have been a casting concern for a film set in NYC, even that would have helped more with the ambiance.
Other than those minuses The Case Against Brooklyn is a tight little film directed by Paul Wendkos who gave us (The Burglar (1957) and that film did include location shots of Atlantic City). The story was by written by Ed Reid based on his story I Broke the Brooklyn Graft Scandal, Daniel B. Ullman (screen story), Bernard Gordon (screenplay) (originally as Raymond T. Marcus) and Julian Zimet. Cinematography was by Noir, Crime, and SiFi vet Fred Jackman Jr. (Dangerous Passage (1944), Creature with the Atom Brain (1955), The Night Holds Terror (1955), Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (1957).
The film stars Darren McGavin (Fear (1946), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), Mike Hammer (TV Series), The Outsider (1967 TV film and 1968-1969 TV), Kolchak: The Night Stalker (TV Series)) as Pete Harris.
The supporting cast provides quite a bit of cinematic memory, Margaret Hayes as Lil Polombo (Saboteur (1942), The Glass Key (1942), ), Warren Stevens (Women's Prison (1955), The Price of Fear (1956), Accused of Murder (1956), The Twilight Zone (TV Series) ) as Rudi Franklin, Peggy McCay as Mrs. Jane Harris, Tol Avery (Where Danger Lives (1950), Gambling House (1950), His Kind of Woman (1951), Naked Alibi (1954), ) as Dist. Atty. Michael W. Norris, Brian G. Hutton as Jess Johnson, Emile Meyer (The People Against O'Hara (1951), Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954), Shield for Murder (1954), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), The Lineup (1958), ) as Police Capt. T.W. Wills, Nestor Paiva (The Fallen Sparrow (1943), Cornered (1945), Rope of Sand (1949), Split Second (1953), I, the Jury (1953), New York Confidential (1955). ) as mobster Finelli, Robert Osterloh as Det. Sgt. Bonney, Joe De Santis as Gus Polumbo, Herb Vigran, and Bobby Helms as Himself - Vocalist (his biggest hits were My Special Angel and Jingle Bell Rock).
The story is a quasi police procedural, about the investigation of a breaking news story about police corruption infesting Kings County (Brooklyn). Police corruption was already addressed in earlier Noir films such as The Big Heat (1953) - Philadelph

Thank you for the wonderful tip Gordon,I'll make sure to watch the ep soon,and I'm looking forward to seeing what Sanders is like.

A Portrait of Murder 1955 It is a remake of Laura. Have not watched it yet but I thought you good folks would like a look at it. It stars, George Sanders, Robert Stack and Dana Wynter.
I stumbled on it on you-tube tonight. It is an episode 20th Century Fox Hour.
The episode is on You-tube under the user name seglora.

Thanks for the heads up on this. Tick is on the way.

7

• This review may contain spoilers ***
  Since reading about them making the first ever Israeli Horror Rabies after seeing Julie Estelle living Comic-Book role as "Hammer Girl" in Gareth Evans Neo-Noir epic The Raid 2,I've been meaning to check the work of writers/directing duo Aharon Keshales & Navot Papushado.Getting the honour of being the host for an event held on IMDb's Film Festival,I was excited to find that Papushado and Keshales latest had been chosen for the fest,which led to me crying wolf.
  The plot:
  After the kidnapping of a number of schoolgirls (who are found murdered) police officer Micki believes that school teacher Dror is the killer. Grabbing Dror,Micki starts torturing him for info.Failing to get any info,Micki receives an anonymous call over the location of the latest victim,whose head has been taken. Unknown to Micki,someone has recorded his beating,which leads to him getting sacked. Blaming himself for his daughters death, Gidi learns that Dror is the main suspect.As Micki vows to go rogue and get a confession, Gidi starts getting set to make Dror afraid of the big bad wolf.
  View on the film:
  Backed by an excellent roaring score from Haim Frank Ilfman,writers/directors Aharon Keshales/Navot Papushado and cinematographer Giora Bejach cast an atmosphere of Neo-Noir dread,set alight by the kids being caught in the darkness via stylish slow motion,and wide crane shots capturing the isolated Noir world the duo now inhabit. Locking the guys up in one room,the directors deliver the violence with a blunt-force,that is burnt with a gallows edge to the torture,which gives it an under the skin seedy edge.
  Before the wolves cross paths,the screenplay by Keshales and Papushado take inspiration from Nordic Noir,as Micki's claws of high-level corruption shine as the police find themselves in the wilderness over identifying the killer. Locking them in a basement with strips of jet-black Comedy,the writers cross the paths of Micki,Gidi and Dror (played by the excellent trio Tzahi Grad, Lior Ashkenazi and Rotem Keinan) and get the tools to drill rough Horror with crisp Neo-Noir discoveries.Whilst the comedic shots give the torture a jet-black snap,the writers become unwilling to cut into the inner horrors of the trio,which leads to the characters remaining still and failing to slice into the power-play Noir offering that is at hand,as the wolves blow the house down.

Hi Gordon,I want to say thank you for the fantastic review (which I've ticked) of this Noir Western,and I was wondering if there is a good official DVD around?
Thanks.

Pursued
(1947) is another.
Blood On The Moon
(1948), and some include
Man Of The West
(1958)
A more recent very Neo Noir Western was
The Great Silence
(1968)shot in the snow, check out the opening credit sequence here:

Not sure as to runtime, it was on ^TCM when I caught it a while back. It seemed to be the whole deal. Yes, RAWHIDE is also one of my fav dusters with a noir feel. There are more than one would think out there.

Somehow this one has always escaped me. I don't know why, I'm a Western fan and it has Jane Greer in it. For another Noir Western, check out
Rawhide
with Tyrone Power. Interestingly, it has Tyrone in a less than heroic role.
Checking
Station West
out on Amazon, it seems unfortunately they sell a cut version (80 min). How many minutes is your copy and is it a clean copy?
Jessica Rabbit
"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way."

CONTAINS SPOILERS
STATION WEST 1948
The only way to describe this film, is, film noir meets the wild-west. Dick Powell exchanges his fedora for a Stetson as he plays a Government under-cover agent investigating a series of gold shipment robberies. The Army is also not amused that several of their soldiers had been killed while on escort duty for the gold shipments.
The cast includes Jane Greer, Raymond Burr, Burl Ives, Agnes Moorehead, Tom Powers, Gordon Oliver and Guinn (Big Boy) Williams.
It takes Powell a bit of time to shift through the possible suspects. He starts the hard way with a knock down drag out fist fight with Big Boy Williams. This soon gets him hired by the main baddie, Jane Greer, who goes by the name of "Charlie".
Greer runs the local saloon, stage line and logging camp. All three are tied into the missing gold shipments. One of the local mine owners, Agnes Moorehead, is in with Powell and the local Army commander, Tom Powers. Unable to move the gold out of the area, the gold is being stockpiled at the local fort. Powell is sure this is what the crooks want. He figures the baddies will raid the undermanned fort and scoop the lot.
Powell plays his part as if he just stepped out of a hard-boiled noir role. He is always exchanging barbs with Greer and the town's crooked lawyer, Raymond Burr. Powell's rooting around soon stirs up a hornet's nest and bodies begin to pile up. Of course there is mandatory gun battle, with the "right" people collecting all the required lead needed to end their evil plans.
All in all, a neatly done western with a noir twist. The film has an excellent look with director Sidney Lanfield handling the action. Lanfield was better known for helming several Bob Hope comedies such as, SORROWFUL JONES, THE LEMON DROP KID and MY FAVORITE BLONDE. The cinematography was handled by noir veteran, Harry J Wild. His work included, MURDER MY SWEET, CORNERED, JOHNNY ANGEL, NOCTURNE, THEY WON'T BELIEVE ME, PITFALL, THE BIG STEAL, THE THREAT, MACAO and HIS KIND OF WOMAN.

Thank you for the wonderful review Mgt,with Dennis O'Keefe being a guy that I should be catching a glimpse of soon.

I got a heads up on the TCM board "I saw a gorgeous restoration of Abandoned at the Palm Springs film noir festival a couple of years ago." So there is a restoration out there.

I agree with your take. It is a upper middle of the road B, that moves along just quick enough to keep the interest. Good write-up.

Directed by Joseph M. Newman (
711 Ocean Drive
(1950),
Dangerous Crossing
(1953), The Twilight Zone (TV Series)). Written by Irwin Gielgud (original screenplay), and William Bowers (additional dialogue). Cinematography by William H. Daniels (
Brute Force
(1947),
Lured
(1947),
The Naked City
(1948),
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
(1958).
The film Stars Dennis O'Keefe (
The Leopard Man
(1943),
T-Men
(1947),
Raw Deal
(1948),
Walk a Crooked Mile
(1948),
Woman on the Run
(1950)), Gale Storm (My Little Margie (TV Series)), Marjorie Rambeau, Raymond Burr (twelve classic Film Noir), Will Kuluva, Jeff Chandler (
Johnny O'Clock
(1947),
Female on the Beach
(1955),
The Tattered Dress
(1957), ), Meg Randall (
Criss Cross
(1949)), Jeanette Nolan (
The Big Heat
(1953), and Mike Mazurki (
Murder, My Sweet
(1944),
Nightmare Alley
(1947),
I Walk Alone
(1948),
Night and the City
(1950)).
Moving along at a good pace Abandoned makes use of numerous Los Angeles' locations. The iconic LA City Hall looms ominously. A young woman Paula Considine (Storm) arrives at the Missing Persons Detail in search of her missing older sister and her baby. There she meets reporter Mark Sitko (O'Keefe) who takes it upon himself to assist her, it doesn't hurt that she is cute. Stiko spots a man tailing her who turns out to be a PI named Kerric (Burr).
When Paula and Mark check the morgue's Jane Doe's they find her sister but not the baby. Through various channels, old newspaper articles and various tips they discover a black market baby racket that is protected by the mob.
Their next stop is the "Sally Ann" the Salvation Army where they discover that her sister was there, and after talking to one of her acquaintances discover that she hooked up with a woman who promised that she would find a home for her baby. Going to the district attorney they get the assistance of Chief MacRae (Chandler).
Gale Storm is quite adequate as the girl from Beaver Brook searching for her sister. Dennis O'Keefe, comes off as your typical Film Noir hero. Chandler is good but underused as the D. A. Baby racket head, Marjorie Rambeau will remind you of Margaret Dumont. Will Kuluva, is mobster Little Guy Decola who bestows protection to the scheme with Mike Mazurki his enforcer. Raymond Burr, is in his trademark "heavy" role as a sleazy private dick, but it's interesting to note the Mazurki is even bigger than Burr.
Its an entertaining film especially if you are not expecting much, could use a restoration. 6.5-7/10.
Review with screencaps from a multigenerational avi file here.
http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/11/abandoned-1949-black-market-babies.html

Hi Maddy,I hope you had a fun bonfires night,and it sounds like you had a terrific time catching up on this Noir.With Andrews,I recently got the chance to catch him in a very good,lesser known (non Noir) movie of his called Night Song:
www.imdb.com/board/10039659/

This is a particular favorite of mine. I'm a Darnell fan. Need to rewatch.
Jessica Rabbit
"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way."

This is another one I really need to re-watch. Thanks for the reminder.

It's a great film.