http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046928/
New thread for Down Three Dark Streets (1954); as usual, first I will copy the previous posts made on this movie in the Film Noir Discussion ThreadFirst post is by:
cigar joe:
http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=1822.msg147579#msg147579 :
Down Three Dark Streets (1954) directed by Arnold Laven with Broderick Crawford, Ruth Roman, Martha Hyer, Marisa Pavan, Max Showalter (Niagara), Kenneth Tobey, Gene Reynolds, and William Johnstone.
Sort of a police procedural, quasi-documentary, stars Broderick Crawford as FBI Agent John Ripley.When fellow G-man Zack Stewart is murdered, Ripley takes over the trio of cases Stewart had been working on assuming one of them will reveal his killer. This one is also entertaining but its a bit fuzzy in logic with the motives of the actual murderer the connection of why he killed the FBI man and his girlfriend? or whatever she was is never connected. Martha Hyer is a cute mobsters girlfriend.
It does have some great location shots of LA and the streetcar system and ends up at a great set piece at the base of the iconic HOLLYWOOD sign.
Entertaining, but the lack of connection explained above drops this to a 7/10
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dave jenkins http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=1822.msg155516#msg155516Down Three Dark Streets (1954) - 7/10. When an FBI agent is killed, his supervisor (Broderick Crawford) takes over his caseload. Reasoning that the killing is tied up with one of the open cases, Crawford is doubly keen to solve each investigation quickly. The first case involves a killer-on-the-run with girlfriend Martha Hyer as Crawford's only lead. The second case is about an interstate hot car ring (huh?) headed by a very evil Claude Akins. The third case is one of extortion: widow Ruth Roman keeps getting calls threatening the safety of her daughter unless she pays off. Given that Roman is billed as Broderick's co-star, it's kinda obvious that this is going to develop into the main thread of the film. This is further confirmed by the presence in the thread of the movie's most interesting supporting characters: Jay Adler as a creepy uncle, and Casey Adams (aka Max Showalter) as an even creepier friend-of-the-family. There are lots of cool LA location shots (of many places that doubtless no longer exist), and a solid climax at the Hollywood sign. The film tries to move toward exploitation territory by showing first Hyer and then Roman in very attractive lingerie (there's even a moment suggesting Jay Adler is a voyeur). Ooooh, those filthy 50s!
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drinkanddestroy:
http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=1822.msg155517#msg155517I didn't like this movie all that much (I'd rate it a 6/10), but watching Ruth Roman is always a wonderful experience. She seems really sweet
An unrelated note on Ruth Roman: When Strangers on a Train on TCM, I recall that Robert Osbourne (the TCM host) mentioned that Hitchcock didn't want Roman in that movie, and only used her cuz the studio forced him to (I see something similar on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strangers_on_a_Train_%28film%29#Cast )
I have to agree with Jack Warner and disagree with Hitchcock: IMO, Roman was terrific in that movie -- one of the best parts of an overrated movie
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dave jenkins:
http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=1822.msg155518#msg155518And stacked.
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Alright, that's it for the prior posts on Down three Dark Streets. Please make all future posts on this movie in this thread, not in the old Film Noir Discussion Thread, which cj is trying to phase out 
