Shield for Murder (1954)

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Edmond O'Brien makes Popeye Doyle look like a crossing guard as a corrupt cop in Shield to Murder. High on The American Dream he turns other lives into nightmares or worse in this compact cynical story of police corruption.Trigger happy detective Barney Nolan waylays a gambler with a wad and wastes him using a silencer. Not the first time he's shot someone but the thin blue line is not about to be crossed. Nolan has big plans for the cash with his hat check girlfriend that he is violently jealous over along with a house he just bought in the burbs. The pressure begins to build when the mob comes calling for their money and a witness to the initial robbery mysteriously dies but Nolan remains resolute in his dream and expires from it on his front lawn under a hail of bullets.O'Brien plays Nolan with paranoid intensity, a victim as well as victimizer in the corrupt world he has made his living. The pressure on his face never subsides (unless facing off with his girlfriend) as he mightily attempts to make a go at a tenuous caper. Special mention should also go to Carolyn Jones doing a loopy bar fly kibitzing with Nolan on his demented level. In a couple of years she would get an Academy Award nomination for a variation of it in The Bachelor Party.Visually there are actual gaffes with a boom mike shadow but two particularly well edited scenes resonate; a shootout in a locker room and pool area along with a brutal beat down in a restaurant reaffirming Nolan's vicious nature. With nothing redemptive outside of his warped love for his girl O'Brien's Nolan remains unsympathetic from end to end making Shield to Murder an ugly but decent watch.

***Spoilers Ahead, Most Definitely*** I'm not into Film Noir flicks so I wasn't really expecting all that much out of Shield For Murder but it turned out alright.The things that stick out most for me in the movie are Edmond O' Brien (Of course) as the corrupt cop Detective Lt. Barney Nolan (What a GREAT name) I've probably seen a few other movies that Edmond O' Brien has been in but never really paid attention that he was in it.That's going to change.The spaghetti dinner scene (I don't know what else to call it) was brutal.I can see a scene done like that today but with blood & brains splattered all over the table.Sorry if I've grossed anybody out but that's the way movies are done nowadays.They go for the shock factor instead of trying to make you think.I like the way the scene was done because like I said if a scene was shot like that today, it would've been gory & you would've actually seen the beating take place.In the movie you saw just enough to know what's happening & the screams & looks of horror on the diners faces was the perfect touch.The shootout at the pool was something way different that I haven't seen until I watched Shield For Murder.It's the 1st time I've seen something done like that & haven't seen it done in any other movie.The final scene where Nolan used his police tactics to try & escape from the police who were looking for him.Going into the police station & stealing a uniform, calling into the police station to find out what information they had on him, etc, etc, etc.Lastly, the end scene where Nolan was killed right in front of the model home he planned on buying.I would have to say Shield For Murder is worth taking a look at if you are a fan of Film Noir or enjoy crime movies like I do

Previously, Edmond O'Brien had made a name for himself in crime dramas like D.O.A. and 711 Ocean Drive. In those pictures, he plays a man of justice, sometimes put in compromising positions and dealing with ironic situations. This time, he is decidedly on the wrong side of the law. Mostly, the plot of Shield for Murder can be described as a good-cop-turns-bad-cop story, with O'Brien playing a crooked detective whose increasing corruption becomes more and more obvious with each additional crime he commits. Yet the drama is played fairly realistically and remains believable throughout the film's entire running time. Viewer interest is achieved by including assorted oddball characters and with a spectacular chase during the final minutes, where O'Brien is embroiled in a tense shoot-out at a men's athletic club.The supporting cast is more than adequate-- including a memorable turn by Carolyn Jones as the girl at the diner. And while the climactic ending is predictable, it's fun watching O'Brien's character get the usual what's-coming-to-him after causing so much trouble.

I cannot say that this is one of the better films noir, but it's a good example of the way this kind of film was drifting in the early fifties: away from the studios; toward independent production; more cars, fewer subways; a vaguely documentary air, ala Jack Webb, rather than the more elegant stylization we associate with the forties; more outdoor scenes, fewer cramped rooms; and overall a movement away from the Gothic and toward a more contemporary, which is to say paranoid mood. Having said this, it ain't a bad picture. Edmond O'Brien (who also had a hand behind the camera) plays a basically decent and fair cop who gives in to temptation and steals some money from a bad guy. He pays dearly for his transgression. O'Brien is edgier and tougher than usual; the rest of the cast is okay. This is an extremely watchable film. It involves you more than most police thrillers. I enjoyed it thoroughly.