Vice Squad (1953)

Simply A Masterpiece

Pretty Good

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

"Vice Squad" is a nice little docudrama about a day in the life of Vice Squad Captain Barney Barnaby (Edward G. Robinson).The film opens with Al Barkis (Edward Binns) and Pete Monk (Lee Van Cleef) hot wiring a car for an unknown purpose. A beat cop comes upon them and tries to stop them but is shot. Unbeknownst to the killers, a meek little man Jack Hartrampf (Porter Hall) witnesses the crime. As the squad cars arrive Hartrampf is arrested and is taken to HQ.Capt. Barnaby arrives the next morning and begins his investigation by grilling the beleaguered Hartramph. Barnaby learns that Hartramph had been "carrying on" with an unknown lady behind the scenes. His lawyer, Dwight Foreman (Barry Kelley) assures him that he will get off for lack of evidence and that Hartrampf's wife needn't know of his discretion.Barnaby suspects that Hartrampf knows more than he is telling. Aware that the man is innocent of the crime, he nevertheless conspires to keep him in custody until he can unravel the mystery surrounding the shooting. A snitch, Frankie Pierce (Jay Adler) tells Barnaby that he has heard of an impending bank robbery about to take place.We are next shown the gang's preparations for the heist. The Barkis gang, which also includes a reluctant Marty Kosalitch (Adam Williams) finalize their plans. Meanwhile, Barnaby continues with his investigation and learns that Vicki Webb (John Vohs) is the lady with whom Hartrampf has been keeping company.The bank robbery is foiled by the police but Kosalich backs out just before the robbery attempt. In their escape the gang takes sweet young Carol Lawson (Mary Ellen Kay) hostage.Barnaby enlists the aid of Mona Ross (Paulette Goddard) an "escort service" Madam to help him track down the whereabouts of the gang. Barnaby tricks Hartrampf into identifying Kosalitch as the killer, forcing him to reveal the hiding place of the gang. Fearing for the safety of the hostage, Barnaby closes in on the gang and.........................Robinson as always, is better than his material. Although this was not an "A" feature, Robinson's performance along with those of Porter Hall, Barry Kelley, Edward Binns et al raise the quality of the film. Paulette Goddard, once a stunning beauty was now showing her age and would soon retire from films. Her role here is minimal.An excellent little film.

...as a police force with no discernible ethical standards or scruples.There's NOTHING the cops here won't do; burglary (to search the records of a mortuary business without obtaining a warrant), false arrest (for jailing the undertaker multiple times to pressure him into telling what he knows), blackmail (for hinting that the undertaker's wife will find out he has a lover), downright police corruption (releasing busted call girls in exchange for information), not to mention knowingly consorting with a known prostitute and operator of a call girl service (the call girl's madam) and not tossing her in the jug! On Robinson's suggestions and orders, policemen commit acts that should be rewarded with 5 years in San Quentin. They should have called this film "Cops Gone Wild"! If this is the LAPD Vice Squad, I'd hate to see what sort of schtick goes on down in Homicide.On the other hand, it's a fun romp through the world of 1950s film noire, with Robinson playing the cool, laid back leader of the Vice Squad. I don't think Eddie EVER put in a bad performance.Lee Van Cleef puts in an appearance at his beady eyed, sinister best. He was a natural born villain even this early in his career.The script is a lot of fun... but it's enough to make Rodney King flinch.Welcome to the corrupt Police State.

This is one of those excellent programmers that studios used to churn out as fillers (second or third features) when a day at the movies was really a day at the movies. Not 90 minutes to two and a half hours, but five hours, followed by a late dinner with your girl friend, boy friend, spouse, or kids. Robinson knocked this film (and several other excellent ones) he did in the early 1950s because his days of movie stardom seemed over (due to blacklisting, as well as a messy divorce). It was a bitter time, and his memories were colored by that bitterness. Yet in this period he did films with Paulette Goddard, Ginger Rogers, Alan Ladd, John Forsythe, and Barbara Stanwyck (the last a western). He even did a second film with his old film co-star (and nemesis) George Raft. Not bad for a barren period. Considering the number of films he did appear in, and comparing his situation to that of ... John Garfield, Robinson did not do too badly.This film was made shortly after "Detective Story" with Kirk Douglas, William Bendix, and George Macready. While that was a good film too, it was based on a successful stage play. This is based on a script from Hollywood originally. But it is one of those "day in the work life of a police officer". Robinson is shown trying to find the two goons (Edward Binns and Lee Van Cleef) who killed one of his men in a robbery. He is also handling problems with a fake-Italian fortune hunter, a scared little man (Percy Helton), and even a television news spot he has to give. He handles everything with considerable professionalism and aplomb."Detective Story" may have initiated this period of films like this, but in actuality "Detective Story" centered on the emotional problems of "good" cop Kirk Douglas, and how he resolves them by sacrificing himself to catch an armed criminal (Joseph Wiseman). A better film to compare it with is "Gideon's Day", an odd film made a few years later by John Ford. Unlike most of Ford's films it was shot in England, and starred Jack Hawkins. The "Gideon" novels were popular detective stories at the time, and "Gideon's Day" dealt with Chief Inspector Gideon tracking down the thieves who fatally injured a policeman who tried to stop them. Ford's film dealt with other incidents in the officer's day, including meeting a new constable who is something of a stumble-bum, who ends up being re-introduced to him as his daughter's new boy friend. Although minor John Ford, it has some good moments (such as Hawkins talking to the dying police officer in the hospital, which is shown from the point of view of the officer going in and out of consciousness). Except that it takes place in London, not L.A., it is a match for "Vice Squad".But somehow "Vice Squad" works better. Except for the comedy about Gideon's daughter and her new boy-friend, most of "Gideon's Day" is definitely set in England, and yet Ford can't get his Irish-Americanism totally out of himself. At one point an angry Gideon has to restrain himself from taking a poke at an arrested perpetrator. That would not have been normal in England, where that type of reaction is usually not met with. It would have happened in the 1950s (or even the 2000s) in any American city, but that seems to be expected."Vice Squad" has some good performances holding it up. Binns and Van Cleef do their normally professional jobs as the killers. Percy Helton plays a timid rabbit of a man, who has seen Robinson before (the scene humanizes both men, for Robinson knows Helton's fears are based on psychological problems and has been trying to get him to see a doctor). Porter Hall plays possibly the funniest schlemiel type he ever had the luck to play, as a man who was out on a private toot but is paying for it again and again because he was at the scene of the crime, so he is possibly a witness. Ironically Hall never saw anything, but Robinson still manages to use him effectively against somebody who can unlock the mystery. Even Hall finally realizes that it's to his advantage not to deny anything, but to play along with Robinson's hunch. The two did well together in "Double Indemnity", and it pleasant to see they still well together here. Paulette Goddard's performance is smaller than one would have wanted, but she makes the most of the role of the head of the "escort" services. If the rule twisting here seems out of date, please remember this is from 1953. The Warren Court had not started changing the open door policy for police investigations yet.

Excellent cast. Paulette Goddard, basic minor role but still has the oomph. E.G. Robinson never ceases to amaze me, he is always the main force in all the movies he is in, I never tire of seeing him on film. The film did a very good job of developing the day to day business of a major city police station without making the police to appear as super human beings.