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Bargain basement filmmaker Edgar Ulmer offers up a fetish laden noir of probably a 10 day shooting schedule with reasonable facsimiles of moments from Laura, Shadow of a Doubt, Out of the Past and Chinatown to present the viewer with a rather breezy run through police corruption and procedural abuse. It's quite a bargain for the price.Straight arrow homicide detective Ray Patrick is on a winning streak and up for a promotion when his next case gets compromised by a dame he feels he railroaded and now wants to clear. But she wears him down with her plea of innocence and they illegally set off to find the guilty party his commanding officer in pursuit. In spite of the incredulous plot Ulmer once again, with little, works wonders with cast and crucial tight editing that offers momentary top tier suspense at fire sale prices. As no nonsense dick gone rogue Paul Langton is no Mitch or Dana Andrews in Laura but he expresses the same veneer and a nebulous incertitude that bedevils them; in this case by a blonde fatale, no Jane Greer but the tragic Barbara Payton, a walking noir reality as convincing innocent. There's also some solid small bits with Kate McKenna as witness Miss Sparrow stealing both her brief scenes.Ulmer for his part packs a tremendous amount of seedy backdrop to the story as Patrick steps on rights ( no one ever thinks to ask for a lawyer in the face of gross malfeasance) and goes through women's underwear draws with abandon in the pursuit of justice, making it clear he is not interested. Form wise Ulmer does not waste time and he offers up some fine montage, provocative inferences and enough subtle deceptions to make this a bit of an enjoyable overachiever.
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Murder is My Beat (1955)Director Edgar Ulmer is the one reason you might think of seeing this movie, a creaky story told fairly well. But really there's nothing redeeming about it all. The acting is fine, the filming routine, and the plot so unbelievable you just wonder how they heck they thought it was worth it in the first place.Well, that's unfair, because it probably looks good on paper. It's the story of a murder squad detective who gets a late call and starts to investigate. This leads to a crazy but fun tromp from L.A. to the mountains in a snowstorm, where he meets the apparent perp and falls in love with her. So now all the rules of being a cop are out the window, and that's the part you have to accept (even when he gets his boss to throw his rules out the window later in the movie). There probably was an attempt to look at the psychology of a really good cop who suddenly has doubts about himself (because he thinks he made the huge mistake assuming the girl was guilty). There are people with false identities, a cheesy ceramics factory, and a couple more murders. It adds up to some campy fun, but even as a barrel of laughs it doesn't quite hold up, getting slow at times, or becoming just successful enough to draw you in.Ulmer is famous for making a lot out of a little—or so he did with the early "The Black Cat" back in 1934 or the legendary "Detour" in 1945. There are too many story problems for him to make this one fly, however, so give this a pass unless you're really a fan of Ulmer, or of the waning years of film noir.
Andrei
Mr. Dean's body is found face down in the fireplace, his features burned beyond recognition. Detectives Patrick (Paul Langton) and Rawley (Robert Shayne) arrest nightclub-singer Eden Lane (Barbara Payton) and she is convicted of the crime. On the way to prison, Eden sees a man through the train window, identifying him as the murderer, and Patrick and Eden jump from the train to search for the man. In a series of plot twists, the murderer is found, and Eden and Patrick are reunited. Directer Edgar G. Ulmer uses flashbacks and elliptical editing to good effect, but the film lacks any strong visual or narrative center. Barbara Peyton delivers a great performance as the ambiguous, mysterious femme-fatale. While still of some interest, Murder is My Beat lacks the power and grim vision of Ulmer's bleak gem, Detour.
TAYLOR BOWIE
This is no masterpiece but is a modestly entertaining crime movie...not "noir" by any stretch either but the performances from a good group of "B" players are not bad, and anyway you don't get too much chance to see Barbara Payton in movies. Just don't expect any competition for The Big Heat or The Maltese Falcon and you should have a good time!
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