Rating: 
Summary: A snapshot of the past-ahead of it's time.
Review: This film is wonderful. At first I had a problem with Barry Fitzgerald as the lead then I stopped to think about real life in that era and understood that it was not as we see it portrayed these days with the Mel Gibson/Kevin Costner types in the lead roles. In all probability a guy like Barry Fitzgerald would have been a detective back then. The other standouts are Don Taylor,Howard Duff and Mark Hellinger's narration. Director Jules Dassin went on to make some of the best gritty crime films of that generation. This movie was 50 years ahead of it's time and did for it's type of film what Miami Vice and Hill Street Blues did years later. The magic of this movie is that after you see it you keep thinking about it, the real scenes of New York City keep coming back and it dawns on you that you are looking back 50 plus years in time to a then real New York City that no longer exists. Watch it several times, you see more things over and over that you missed the first go around. Film makers today need to get back to the basics of story telling and stop relying on effects and shock. They should study Dassin's works.
Rating:
Summary: Top Notch Police Procedural
Review: This movie really stands out as being different from the usual noir crime story of the past. One observant reviewer already pointed out the difference in the realism conveyed here as opposed to the Hollywood stylized reality of its contemporary "The Big Sleep". You won't find any tough talking detectives slugging down a shot of bourbon in the middle of the day and conversing with a tough dame like Lauren Bacall in a dialogue, which no one would ever have in real life. What you have here is a police story with cops who get up in the morning, kiss their wives good-bye, and go to work. The work can be frustrating and tiresome; a lot of walking and asking questions around town; many leads are followed and few pan out. At the end of the day they ride commuter trains back home in the heat and humidity. They get home and kiss their wives hello. There is a dynamic here that is very different from modern police crime dramas as well. How many times today do we see the same tired and clichéd characters and relationships in police movies? The chief of police is always a jerk. The hero cop has to solve the case in spite of the chief's meddling and hostility (sometimes he's even suspended and has to solve it on his own time). The hero cop is a disillusioned veteran who is probably divorced and lives alone with nothing but cold pizza and beer in the fridge. Does this sound familiar? Throw in a partner who is probably a rookie learning the ropes and probably gets shot in the shoulder during the last chase scene (don't worry it's always just a flesh wound). You want realism? Use the four letter word whenever possible. Aren't we all tired of that by now? See this movie if you are.Another reason to see this film is because it was shot in the streets of New York around 1948 and from the first shot where we see the Empire State Building before it had the antennae added, it offers us a glimpse of the city that has changed and will never be the same. If you knew New York around this time, or if you are just interested from a cultural perspective, you'll enjoy the views of the city streets where milk is still delivered in horse drawn vehicles and every one seems dressed to the 9s.
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