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Dana and Gene a third time YEAR: 1950 |
A sort of Film Noir in reverse as a downright bad and brutal cop does something accidental and pretty awful, covers it up and then, a bit later, gets half-a-heart, which is how Noir leading men usually start: this after he falls for the Falsely Accused Wrong Man's daughter in Gene Tierney's gorgeous, as usual, Morgan Taylor... Even her name is lovely...
Dana Andrews, who resembled a hybrid Sean Connery before there was one famous enough to resemble, and Steve Martin had he been a tough and tall leading man type, stole scenes in the post World War Two classic,
THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, and, brother of Steve Forrest, has the same square-jaw and no-nonsense style, and is a lot more edgy and desperate than his snoopy cop in the previous, more lavish and high-budgeted crime melodrama,
LAURA, with the same director and gorgeous co-star...
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Take that, Peter Gunn... Dana punches Neville Brand |
His character here, Detective Mark Dixon, wields a reputation that proceeds him, including a gangster-friendly father as we open with (what we know is
yet another) police captain-scolding that sets the stage for a first act with a meticulous, contained vibe, especially an important sequence involving murder and a quick cover-up...
One of the greatest "directed movies" as a strategically maneuvered camera by director Otto Preminger sticks to a focal character and then revolves around that person and several others (a sort of gravitational pull), or begins on the focal point and then backing up, even during action/fight scenes while, also unlike the famous cult crime-genre, SIDEWALK ENDS is not so dark-lit and alley-way shadowy but full of interior light, showing eyes bright and, for one particular person, guilty as sin...
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Prison without bars for a sleepless cop |
Without delving into details or any big spoilers that could spoil the ride, after Dixon begins to melt, the suspense is there but the intrigue wanes: on purpose; sort of a one man show with people all around, it's really about just how long our bad/good cop can, as the fitfully melodramatic score blares, keep his tight lips firm, teeth clenched, and the truth inside while ultimately risking his life while saving another.
RATING: ****1/2
TRIVIA: Dana Andrews died at a Los Alamitos, Southern California Alzheimer's Hospital about five minutes where yours truly grew up and a literal stone's throw from softball league at Laurel Park, across the street. And after Dana's roles lessened in the 1980's, he successfully bought land starting in Garden Grove, a few miles from where he died and where your favorite blogger works a non-movie day job. Who knew a legend was so close? If only it was known back then. And, while watching
MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, one particular actor, Gary Merrill, who played a journalist in that and the head gangster in this, stood out.
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David Wolfe, Gary Merrill and Don Appell in Where The Sidewalk Ends |
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Baddies Gary Merrill, David Wolfe and Neville Brand faced off by a desperate Dana Andrews |
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Gene Tierney at her most lovely; Dana listens as Gene answers to his partner Bert Freed |
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Dana Andrews and partner Bert Freed in Where the Sidewalk Ends |
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Dana Andrews in WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS
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