Let's go back to the postwar era for a pair from filmmaker Edward Dmytryk, best known for "The Caine Mutiny."
THE SNIPER (1952) (B) - Arthur Franz is weirdly jittery as a mentally ill military vet who can't help killing 20-something brunettes while hoping someone finally stops him and ends the misery. Luckily a strong supporting cast rights the ship, and director Edward Dmytryk settles into a "Naked City" verite style that stalks the streets of San Francisco.
Franz plays Edward Miller, who likes to perch on rooftops and aim his carbine at women who remind him of his mother. Adolphe Menjou steals the show as gruff Lt. Frank Kafka, in a natural performance that would be mimicked for decades on TV police procedurals. He must battle with reporters, who, by the third or fourth homicide, demand answers and whip their readership into a frenzy over the serial killings.
Miller blends in as a delivery driver for a dry cleaner. He has a creepy scene where he tries to resist a casually flirtatious woman, only to be summarily dismissed from her apartment. She'll pay for that.
Dmytryk builds suspense steadily, though the final third drags a bit. The crisp black-and-white shots of San Francisco's landmarks provide a pleasant distraction on the way to the big climax.
Spotted: Frank Faylen as a lead police inspector. He would go on a few years later to play the father on TV's "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis."
CROSSFIRE (1947) (B) - Bobs are wild in this three-ring murder mystery starring Robert Young, Robert Ryan and Robert Mitchum. Flashbacks and conflicting memories (clouded by a lot of drinking) among decommissioned WWII soldiers provide a "Rashomon" feel as the boys try to piece together the events that led to the murder of a Jewish man in an anti-semitic rage killing.
There is little doubt who the killer is before it is made plain about halfway through. Still, the performances are solid, and some snappy banter seeps through the sometimes dense dialogue. Young is a revelation -- a real actor instead of a TV hack -- as he grounds the film's narrative as a dogged detective who gives way too much leeway to his witnesses. Mitchum is sly in a supporting role -- assisting the cops but protecting his comrades. Journeyman George Cooper is compelling in his screen debut as the sweaty GI without a good alibi after a night of boozing. And Gloria Grahame runs them all ragged as a smart-talking lady of the night.
Dmytryk toys with light and shadows in classic noir fashion. And while it can be difficult to follow all the characters during the first third, this police procedural finds its swagger. It does get a little preachy in the final reel, and it probably will catch you off-guard with its sudden, unnervingly blithe ending. But that's what you get when you cross a cop who always gets his man.
Spotted: Robert Young, of course, would be known to my generation as TV's Marcus Welby, M.D., and as a pitchman for Sanka instant coffee.
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