In New York City, detective Lt. Thomas (Karl Malden) gets a new promotion while detective Sgt. Mark Dixon (Dana Andrews) gets demoted for hitting suspects. In a gangster's secret gambling den, Morgan Taylor (Gene Tierney) wants to leave but Ken Paine gets violent. Texas tycoon Morrison is also leaving but a fight erupts. Morrison is killed and Dixon investigates. Dixon finds a drunken Paine who starts fighting back. Dixon accidentally kills Paine and works to hide the incident.
Otto Preminger makes a police noir and brings back many of the cast from Laura. Dixon holds limited rooting interest for me but the story is intriguing. Part of that is the character and part of that is Dana. I don't like him as a leading man and he's mostly a character playing a part. That's still fine although rooting for the character would heighten the tension. I keep thinking of Kevin Costner in No Way Out. Costner makes his character appealing and that heightens the tension. Nevertheless, I like the premise and it's fun to watch Karl Malden figuring out the mystery.
Otto Preminger makes a police noir and brings back many of the cast from Laura. Dixon holds limited rooting interest for me but the story is intriguing. Part of that is the character and part of that is Dana. I don't like him as a leading man and he's mostly a character playing a part. That's still fine although rooting for the character would heighten the tension. I keep thinking of Kevin Costner in No Way Out. Costner makes his character appealing and that heightens the tension. Nevertheless, I like the premise and it's fun to watch Karl Malden figuring out the mystery.