Scene of the Crime (1949)

★ 6.0 1h 34m IMDb

Drama Crime Mystery

A cop investigates the shooting of another policeman... that may have been involved in crooked activities.

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Cast

Van Johnson as Mike Conovan Died 2008 · Newport, Rhode Island, USA Van Johnson (1916–2008) was an American film, television theatre and radio actor, singer, and dancer. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II..

Arlene Dahl as Gloria Conovan Died 2021 · Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA Arlene Carol Dahl (August 11, 1925 – November 29, 2021) was an American actress active in films from the late 1940s. She was one of the last surviving stars from the Classical Hollywood cinema era. Sh...

Gloria DeHaven as Lili Died 2016 · Los Angeles, California, USA Gloria Mildred DeHaven (July 23, 1925-July 30, 2016) was an American actress, singer and a former contract star for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. DeHaven was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of a...

Tom Drake as Det. 'C.C.' Gordon Died 1982 · Brooklyn, New York, USA Tom Drake was born on August 5, 1918 in Brooklyn, New York, USA as Alfred Alderdice. He was an actor, known for Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), The Green Years (1946) and Raintree County (1957).

Leon Ames as Capt. A.C. Forster Died 1993 · Portland, Indiana, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Leon Ames (January 20, 1902 – October 12, 1993) was an American film and television actor. He is best remembered for playing fatherly figures in such films a...

Director Roy Rowland

Cast Van Johnson, Arlene Dahl, Gloria DeHaven, Tom Drake, Leon Ames, John McIntire, Donald Woods, Norman Lloyd, Jerome Cowan, Tom Powers

John Chard 8/10 Jul 12, 2015

I know you know I know you know something!

Scene of the Crime is directed by Roy Rowland and adapted to screenplay by Charles Schnee from the story " Smashing the Bookie Gang Members" written by John Bartlow Martin. It stars Van Johnson, Arlene Dahl, Gloria DeHaven, Tom Drake, John McIntire and Leon Ames. Music is by André Previn and cinematography by Paul Vogel.

When a fellow detective is gunned down in suspicious circumstances, Mike Conovan (Johnson) decided to dig a little deeper...

Only fools bet horses - fools keep me prosperous.

A rough and tough noir piece this one. It finds MGM jumping onto the noir bandwagon and putting golden boy Van Johnson forward as a hardboiled hero, and it works. In essence it's about a cop who is disillusioned with his job and faces static at home from his lovingly concerned wife (Dahl). Circumstance drags him into the fray, thus risking everything in life he holds dear, but hell bent on cracking the case and bringing to justice crooks and killers, he ploughs right on in to the frying pan.

Yuk Yuk Yuk.

Pic is in keeping with the Dragnet type of cop films that were so productive in the era. So we get plenty of dry conversations and verbal jousting, splendidly scripted by Schneee who gives thought to the various characterisations. Violence is never far away to add an edge to the standard plotting, while it's sexy and romantic in equal measure - poor Johnson has an adoring Dahl waiting at home for him, while sultry stripper Lili (DeHaven) is all over him when he goes incognito on the case.

Dead Pigeon.

Characters all have solitary nicknames, such as Piper (McIntire ace with a tongue as sharp as a knife), Sleeper, CC, Turk and Hippo. There's Bogart references to keep you tuned into the world the pic is operating out of, and the black and white photography, though short on thematic chiaroscuro, keeps the hardboiled atmosphere on the high heat. Cast are uniformly on song, delivering the spiky dialogue with a rich dryness beloved by fans of such fare, and the mystery element has a strong enough current to pull you in for the finale. Good stuff for the discerning fans. 8/10