bkoganbing Between Midnight And Dawn refers to the graveyard shift that patrol car cops Edmond O'Brien and Mark Stevens are on where for some dead time a lot of action is happening. Most of it generated by a vicious local hood played by Donald Buka. O'Brien and Stevens really have it in for him, but that's nothing compared to how Buka feels about these two always cramping his style.When some out of towners try to muscle in on Buka's rackets that starts a gang war. Most gang bosses have people on the payroll to take care of the dirty work, but Buka likes to get in on the action himself. That proves to be his undoing.While all this is going on O'Brien and Stevens have a good natured rivalry for Gale Storm going on. Of course one of them does get her, but that's far from the whole story.O'Brien and Stevens are fine as the cops, but Donald Buka probably got his career role as the vicious hood who is their nemesis. Some kudos should also go to Gale Robbins as the nightclub singer who is Buka's girlfriend. She finds out too late what a bad taste in men she has.Between Midnight And Dawn is one good cop drama from Columbia Pictures that still holds up well for today.

mark.waltz Two patrol cops, one a light-hearted rookie (Mark Stevens), the other a cynical veteran (Edmund O'Brien), are old army buddies who fall for a pretty new secretary (Gale Storm) in their division and together escort her out for a night on the town. She is determined not to fall in love with a cop, having watched her mother ("Batman's" Madge Blake) go through losing her cop husband in the line of duty, but sweet mama interferes to the point of renting the second half of their duplex home to the two, frustrating Gale who wanted to steer clear of the two entirely outside of the office.Dominating the sugar-coated situation comedy of this plot line is the determination to bring down a local crime kingpin (Donald Buka) who has resorted to violence in order to prevent his organization from being taken over by an even more ruthless mobster. This leads to one of the two cops being brutally murdered and the determination of the killer to escape from prison and seek revenge with the help of his nightclub singer girlfriend (Gale Robbins). This leads to a tense stand-off at the end involving Buka, Robbins and a screaming little girl whom Buka uses as a shield in order to get away. The mood changes drastically from the brief foray into light-hearted slapstick to gritty street drama, and the violence is actually quite graphic. It's not a great film, but certain sequences will have you on the edge of your seats.

firefly1933 Make no mistake. Gordon Douglas staged splendid action scenes, and this film, like many he made in this period, are well worth watching. (My favorite is THEM, where the build-up to the appearance of the title menace is so good, taut, and believable that you simply accept the implausible when it appears.) But, it's stretching a point to call BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND DAWN a noir classic. It's really much more a police procedural (and I agree, no doubt an influential one) than a noir, even with the O'Brien character's bitterness and the iciness of the sociopathic heavy. And, while it's good of its kind and budget level, with some striking action set pieces, it's really no better than that.The problem is that the Stevens and O'Brien cops, while extremely likable, are, despite the edgy shading given O'Brien, simply too good and heroic to be memorable noir icons. They're straight-shooting, professional cops--as is the entire force from the top down, and, as a result, never really become more than simple heroes. The Stevens' character's shooting is staged with brutal swiftness, and is a stunner, but his deathbed scene seems present only to motivate the cold-blooded (and, frankly, extremely improbable) lone-wolf heroics of O'Brien. And the villain Garris is a chilling hood and nothing more. His execution at the climax resolves matters effectively, but Garris' demise lacks the feral poetry that makes, say, Cody Jarrett's end in WHITE HEAT the noir classic it is.That's what BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND DAWN is missing, as a supposed noir. Compare it to two other celebrated noirish police procedurals of the period--HE WALKED BY NIGHT and ON DANGEROUS GROUND, and you'll see, I hope, what I mean. HE WALKED BY NIGHT was, in many ways, even more influential a police procedural than Douglas' film. Two things make it stick in the memory long after viewing, even to the point of haunting dreams. The first is the evocative shadowy camera-work of John Alton, combined with stunning locations like the LA sewers, to make the dogged police pursuit of their prey truly suspenseful. Maybe more important is the effort to make Richard Basehart's hi-tech thief more than just a stock villain: oh, he's a violent sociopath, yes, but he's also clearly smart, painfully alienated, and someone you can imagine making something of his life under other circumstances. One respects the cops for their efforts in this film, but one isn't expected to simply cheer them on, as I think was intended in the Douglas film. The climax of HE WALKED BY NIGHT was a tragedy. One can't say that for BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND DAWN.ON DANGEROUS GROUND takes an element of BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND DAWN--a good cop gone to bitterness and violence from the job--and presents his redemption in a manner so remarkably poetic and memorable that it clearly demonstrates the difference between a true noir classic and a solid but unremarkable programmer. This Nicholas Ray movie--both in storyline and visuals (via George Diskant, who also shot the Douglas film)--takes great pains to present a world not of mere good cops and evil criminals, but characters on both sides of the law who share human tendencies for good and ill. Robert Ryan's cop is so obsessed with doing his job that he's become nigh psychopathic. He literally must be taken out of his familiar, suffocating haunts, and made to face the extent of his dehumanization. That this happens while he's pursuing the perpetrator of a horrific murder is but one of the resonant ironies that makes Ray's film linger in the mind and heart.In short, real noir is poetic...and BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND DAWN, good that it may be, simply lacks the poetry of a true classic...

jivenjoe Contains SpoilersEver wondered how various producers, writers and directors came up with original ideas for such TV classics such as "Adam Twelve", "Dragnet", "CHIPS", "Police Story", "Columbo", "McCloud" and maybe even "Police Woman's" leading lady "Pepper" played by Angie Dickinson ? I'm sure this classic 1950 good cops and nasty bad guys "B" movie "Between Midnight and Dawn" had to have been THE model for "partner" cop dramas that teamed up two good, morally correct and by-the-book street cops together in some very dangerous, and very believable situations. The two idealistic and by-the-book cops played by Mark Stevens and Edmond O'Brien present their roles with exceptional style. Donald Buka, who played in numerous criminal roles, also gives a great performance as the sadistic crime boss turned cop killer "Ritchie". The crime boss has one of the best "mugs" for crime stories - thin, nervous lips, a sub-zero stare and equally cold eyes that give audiences a lot of material for many nightmares.This film was made in 1950 and certainly belongs into the upper level of classic "B" movies that showed a much darker side of society and the hidden slums of big cities in postwar America. It's obvious that the writers, directors, and producers of dozens of film classics such as "Ashfault Jungle" starring Sterling Hayden and "Cross Cross" starring Burt Lancaster were trying to make a very strong point that following the unbelievable horrors of World War II, the movies had many new, and more graphic boundaries in terms of depicting society, crime, suffering, and the sadistic nature of the those who prayed on the innocent."Between Midnight and Dawn" could easily be rewritten into a current police drama. Simply add some more currently cars, and a little more violence and you could have a major box office smash in 2004. . . . . . . This 1950 film is simple, and gives a new insight into the routine, predicable, and often violent surprises of the street cops who work the graveyard shift in an unknown, and large Midwest city. The scenes take place mostly at night, and show few, if any pretty interludes as Mark Stevens and Gale Storm (who plays a sexy voiced radio dispatcher) gradually begin a short, and tragic relationship. Gale Storm was rarely given any opportunities to show her screen talents, and it's a rare treat to see this pretty gal who had several #1 song hits in the early 1950's (like "Dark Moon") display some great acting talents. Edmond O'Brien, who was one of the screen's grittiest and well-rounded actors comes across as a tough, no-nonsense cop who hunts down the sadistic killer of his partner Stevens. Early in the story, the two cops catch a nasty criminal who guns down a rival hood for control of the city's gambling action, and when he's brought to trial he swears revenge for the two cops who testify against him. Shortly before he's transferred to the state prison, the gunman's cohorts free him from a jail hospital in a dramatic escape and gun battle. Within hours Stevens is gunned down by Ritchie while out on patrol and his partner O'Brien watches in horror as his partner wilts under gunfire. Gale Storm, now in love with Stevens has a few last moments with him, and the two discuss plans about a wedding before Stevens dies on the operating table.Now the stage is set for some major reprisals by the police, and the hunt takes a very personal mission by O'Brien who baggers and roughs up the killer's girlfriend - a beautiful night club singer in a vain attempt to gain the location of her "mad dog" boyfriend. Following the classic story line of "I'm an absolute sucker for my girlfriend", the killer foolishly sneaks into his sexy girlfiend's apartment, without realizing that the police have set up hidden microphones, and are monitoring her phone calls and all activities from the basement of her high rise building. Oh please, is this guy REALLY dumb or what ???Within minutes police converge on the building, and put on a great show of spotlights, begin shouting into bullhorns "come out this is your last chance", and must have 100 police with guns of every description trained on the windows. In one last desperate attempt to buy some extra minutes for his escape, the mad dog killer grabs a small child from an adjoining apartment and dangles her outside the window . . . "You cops let me go or I drop this girl in 30 seconds" !!!!!. . . . WHEW, things are really tense, and the action level rises to the boiling point. The final moments have to go down as one of THE best classic life or death scenes between an army of cops, the determined O'Brien who wants blood, the equally determined mad dog killer, an innocent (and screaming) little girl and a suddenly turned moralistic girlfriend who jumps in front of her killer boyfriend's bullet meant for O'Brien. Just before the killer is shot dead in the hallway he makes one last insulting comment "You crazy dame" to his dying girlfriend. As expected the mad dog cop killer gets his punishment in the final and most violent scene (especially for 1950) and leaves a wall full of blood as he takes bullet after bullet from O'Brien.We're not sure if O'Brien and Gale Storm begin a new love interest, however the director leaves a final subtle message that may very well be a STRONG possibility.One final note, Hollywood had two very obvious "camps" of "A" and "B" actors and although all of the "B" group gave first rate performances in this fast-paced, and excellent film, very few of them ever made the transition into the "major leagues" of Hollywood. It's also very clear that the director choose a proven and reliable actor like Edmond O'Brien to greatly improve the over all quality and pace of this exciting melodrama.The determined cops, the nasty criminals, and all of the supporting cast pulled out their talents to the max and made "Between Midnight and Dawn" one of the BEST of the top 100 crime dramas of all time from the classic black and white era. One of the best and shortest performances featured character actress Madge Blake who was one of the most recognized actresses in films of the 1950's. She also had a short revival of her career as Bruce Wayne's mother in TV's "Batman" in the mid-1960's.