Detective Story (1951)
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, (more)
- Director(s):
- William Wyler
- Format(s):
- DVD
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Synopsis of Detective Story
Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play Detective Story was praised for its realistic view of an event-filled day in a single police precinct station. The film, directed by meticulous taskmaster William Wyler, manages to retain this realism, even allowing for the star-turn performance of Kirk Douglas. A stickler for the letter of the law, Detective James McLeod (Douglas) is not averse to using strong-arm methods on criminals and witnesses alike in bringing lawbreakers to justice. He is particularly rough on a first-time offender (Craig Hill), on whom the rest of the force is willing to go easy because of the anguish of his girlfriend (Cathy O'Donnell). But McLeod's strongest invective is reserved for shady abortion doctor Karl Schneider (George MacReady); McLeod all but ruins the case against Schneider by beating him up in the patrol wagon. When McLeod discovers that his own wife (Eleanor Parker) had many years earlier lost a baby in one of Schneider's operations, and that the baby's father was gangster Tami Giacoppetti (Gerald Mohr), it is too much for the detective to bear. Punctuating the grim proceedings with brief moments of humor is future Oscar winner Lee Grant, reprising her stage role as a timorous shoplifter; it would be her last Hollywood assignment until the early 1960s, thanks to the iniquities of the blacklist. Despite small concessions to Hollywood censorship, Detective Story largely upheld the power of its theatrical original, and it forms a clear precursor to such latter-day urban police dramas as NYPD Blue. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 103 mins
Complete Cast of Detective Story
- Kirk Douglas - Detective James McLeod
- William Bendix - Det. Lou Brody
- George Macready - Karl Schneider
- Bert Freed - Det. Dakis
- Joseph Wiseman - Charley Gennini, Burglar
- Luis Van Rooten - Joe Feinson, Reporter
- Horace McMahon - Lieutenant Monaghan
- Michael Strong - Lewis Abbott
- Gladys George - Miss Hatch
- James Maloney - Mr. Pritchett
- Howard Joslin - Patrolman Keogh
- Pat Flaherty - Desk Sergeant
- Lee Miller - Policeman
- Jack Shea - Desk Sergeant
- Harper Goff - Gallantz
- Edmund Cobb - Ed, Detective
- Donald Kerr - Taxi Driver
- Catherine Doucet - Mrs. Farragut
- Eleanor Parker - Mary McLeod
- Lee Grant - Shoplifter
- Cathy O'Donnell - Susan Carmichael
- Frank Faylen - Det. Gallagher
- Grandon Rhodes - Det. O'Brien
- Craig Hill - Arthur Kindred
- Warner Anderson - Endicott Sims
- Russ Evans - Patrolman Barnes
- Burt Mustin - Janitor
- Gerald Mohr - Tami Giacoppetti
- Bob Scott - Mulvey
- Ann Codee - Frenchwoman
- Charles Campbell - Newspaper Photographer
- Mike Mahoney - Coleman
- Ralph Montgomery - Finney
- Kay Wiley - Hysterical Woman
- William "Bill" Phillips - Det. Pat Callahan
- Director(s):
- William Wyler
- Writer(s):
- Robert Wyler, Philip Yordan
- Producer(s):
- William Wyler
- 1952 - Cannes Film Festival - Best Actress
- 1951 - Edgar Allan Poe Awards - Best Screenplay
- 1951 - Edgar Allan Poe Awards - Best Screenplay
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