Adapted from a Broadway play, "Detective Story" is in the Grand Hotel genre; two of the New York actors here made their film debutsJoseph Wiseman, as the insane, homicidal burglar, and Lee Grant, as the gay and spirited Brooklynese shoplifter
"Detective Story" is not so much a tale of detection but a focusing on the life and character of just one detective, James McLeod (Kirk Douglas).
McLeod is no ordinary detective, he is a fanatic, dedicated to the law and excessively brutal in dealing with criminals He is particularly upset about abortionists, and it gradually becomes apparent that this is a psychological block in his mind Some tragic happening in his past has caused him to look upon abortionists in a pathological light, and the abortionist in this film, played by George Macready with his patent brand of quiet, sinister refinement, has a hard time in the hands of McLeod
The abortion angle of the original play was taken to the screen, partly because of censorship, and partly because the close-up, immediacy of the camera requires rage to be clearly more explained than on the stage
Therefore, the film abortionist is also the manipulator of an adoption ring and a farm for unwed mothers Whenever he appears at the precinct the abortionist is accompanied by his lawyer, although he might also have hired a bodyguard, since the fist-swinging McLeod is not above encircling his suspects
As the story progresses, the reasons for McLeod's vicious temper and his hatred for crime are revealed as deriving from his love-hate attitude toward his father, a man of crooked tendencies His mania makes life hard for his gentle wife Mary (Eleanor Parker) to whom he is nevertheless greatly attached
Detective McLeod is understandably shattered when he discovers that his wife was once herself the subject of an abortion, and that the man who performed the illegal operation was the abortionist now at his mercy, Karl Schneider (George Macready).
"Detective Story" is light on plot line but rich in its different cast of characters It is, in fact, a series of character studies, one major and many minor
Kirk Douglas carries the burden of McLeod and makes the tormented policeman painfully believableit is almost a nonstop, swirling performance Around him Wyler arranges an expert team of actors: William Bendix as a tough but warm-hearted veteran cop; Horace McMahon as the precinct lieutenant who tolerates the frenzy of McLeod because he realizes he is doing his job honest1y and well; Eleanor Parker as the wife, driven to near-distraction by her husband; and several weirdly amusing criminal types, of whom those played by Wiseman and Lee Grant are shining examples, all of them moving through the dirty, oppressive atmosphere of a police station on any given work day
"Detective Story" is not so much a tale of detection but a focusing on the life and character of just one detective, James McLeod (Kirk Douglas).
McLeod is no ordinary detective, he is a fanatic, dedicated to the law and excessively brutal in dealing with criminals He is particularly upset about abortionists, and it gradually becomes apparent that this is a psychological block in his mind Some tragic happening in his past has caused him to look upon abortionists in a pathological light, and the abortionist in this film, played by George Macready with his patent brand of quiet, sinister refinement, has a hard time in the hands of McLeod
The abortion angle of the original play was taken to the screen, partly because of censorship, and partly because the close-up, immediacy of the camera requires rage to be clearly more explained than on the stage
Therefore, the film abortionist is also the manipulator of an adoption ring and a farm for unwed mothers Whenever he appears at the precinct the abortionist is accompanied by his lawyer, although he might also have hired a bodyguard, since the fist-swinging McLeod is not above encircling his suspects
As the story progresses, the reasons for McLeod's vicious temper and his hatred for crime are revealed as deriving from his love-hate attitude toward his father, a man of crooked tendencies His mania makes life hard for his gentle wife Mary (Eleanor Parker) to whom he is nevertheless greatly attached
Detective McLeod is understandably shattered when he discovers that his wife was once herself the subject of an abortion, and that the man who performed the illegal operation was the abortionist now at his mercy, Karl Schneider (George Macready).
"Detective Story" is light on plot line but rich in its different cast of characters It is, in fact, a series of character studies, one major and many minor
Kirk Douglas carries the burden of McLeod and makes the tormented policeman painfully believableit is almost a nonstop, swirling performance Around him Wyler arranges an expert team of actors: William Bendix as a tough but warm-hearted veteran cop; Horace McMahon as the precinct lieutenant who tolerates the frenzy of McLeod because he realizes he is doing his job honest1y and well; Eleanor Parker as the wife, driven to near-distraction by her husband; and several weirdly amusing criminal types, of whom those played by Wiseman and Lee Grant are shining examples, all of them moving through the dirty, oppressive atmosphere of a police station on any given work day