Partners in Crime: Robert Kieth; Eli Wallach |
San Francisco cops Lt. Ben Guthrie (Warner Anderson) and his partner Al Quine (Emile Meyer of Shield for Murder) investigate a dope-smuggling racket when a solid citizen, Philip Dressler (Raymond Bailey), has his luggage nearly stolen by thugs pretending to be a bellboy and a cab driver. The cops discover $100,000 worth of heroin inside a statue that was sold to Dressler when he was in the Orient. As Guthrie and Quine track down the members of the gang, two men named Julian (Robert Keith) and Dancer (Eli Wallach of Plot of Fear) -- plus their new driver, Sandy (Richard Jaeckel of Come Back, Little Sheba) -- who report to someone known only as "the man," are driving around the city catching up with unsuspecting tourists who have no idea what their luggage contains. Things start to go haywire when Julian and Dancer try to find the drugs inside a doll owned by a little girl (Cheryl Callaway of Cry Vengeance) with an anxious and frightened mother (Mary LaRoche).
The Lineup began life as a radio show and then was turned into a popular, long-running TV series in 1954. (Yes, even back in the day they made theatrical films from TV shows.) Warner Anderson played the same role in this movie as he did on TV, as did Marshall Reed as Inspector Asher. The actors playing cops are professional and solid but the movie is stolen by Keith and especially Wallach as the psychopathic Dancer. Then there Emile Meyer and Warner Anderson
Vaughn Taylor |
Verdict: Exciting and suspenseful crime thriller. The ice rink scene is amazing! ***1/2.
2 comments:
Will check this out. Love Eli Wallach in anything! Great especially in The Misfits, and in his last cameo role in Polanski's The Ghost Writer.
-C
I have to see that one! A really fine actor, wasn't he? I think Lineup was only his second movie.
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