Before he became an "A" list director, Richard Fleischer was responsible for a number of pretty good "B" noirs. Having read his autobiography, I am always on the lookout for a Richard Fleischer film. What makes Bodyguard additionally enjoyable is the casting of the perennial and quintessential noir tough guy Lawrence Tierney, known for his out of control exploits on both on and off screen.
Here Tierney plays LA cop Mike Carter who is promptly fired from his job after getting into a fistfight with his boss. He is soon offered a good deal of cash by Freddie Dysen (Phillip Reed) , to act as a bodyguard to his aunt, Gene Dyson (Elisabeth Risdon), an elderly widow and owner of the Continental Meat Packing Company.
While tailing Gene, Carter is knocked out and finds himself inside his car on a train track with a train bearing down. Next to him is his murdered ex-colleague Lieutenant Borden (Frank Fenton). After Carter escapes in the nick of time, he now has to solve Borden's murder as he is now the number one suspect in the eyes of the police.
Bodyguard is not concerned about character development. It's simply Tierney as the ex-cop racing against the clock to figure out who was responsible for the murder and exonerate himself. The plot hinges on a food inspector who earlier had been killed in an alleged accident at the meat-packing plant due to poor eyesight (he apparently walked into a meat chopping machine).
But Carter finds out the food inspector had near perfect vision (there's even a neat scene in an optometrist's office where Carter attempts to find out what happened to the inspector's prescription). Carter is aided by his girlfriend Doris (in Priscilla Lane's final film role) who works at the police department and assists him in solving the mystery.
The climax is reasonably exciting where Doris is almost killed by Freddie who's revealed to be responsible for killing the meat inspector and conspiring with another employee (along with crooked now deceased cop Borden) to add water to the meat to increase the price and siphon off the profits.
There is nothing that unusual or extraordinary about this "B" noir with a running time of only 67 minutes. Nonetheless Fleischer throws in a few touches here and there with some neat closeup cinematography along with filming often on location in downtown LA, resulting in a film that will keep you mildly interested. If you're a fan of Lawrence Tierney as I am, this is another one of his efforts you might consider viewing.
Here Tierney plays LA cop Mike Carter who is promptly fired from his job after getting into a fistfight with his boss. He is soon offered a good deal of cash by Freddie Dysen (Phillip Reed) , to act as a bodyguard to his aunt, Gene Dyson (Elisabeth Risdon), an elderly widow and owner of the Continental Meat Packing Company.
While tailing Gene, Carter is knocked out and finds himself inside his car on a train track with a train bearing down. Next to him is his murdered ex-colleague Lieutenant Borden (Frank Fenton). After Carter escapes in the nick of time, he now has to solve Borden's murder as he is now the number one suspect in the eyes of the police.
Bodyguard is not concerned about character development. It's simply Tierney as the ex-cop racing against the clock to figure out who was responsible for the murder and exonerate himself. The plot hinges on a food inspector who earlier had been killed in an alleged accident at the meat-packing plant due to poor eyesight (he apparently walked into a meat chopping machine).
But Carter finds out the food inspector had near perfect vision (there's even a neat scene in an optometrist's office where Carter attempts to find out what happened to the inspector's prescription). Carter is aided by his girlfriend Doris (in Priscilla Lane's final film role) who works at the police department and assists him in solving the mystery.
The climax is reasonably exciting where Doris is almost killed by Freddie who's revealed to be responsible for killing the meat inspector and conspiring with another employee (along with crooked now deceased cop Borden) to add water to the meat to increase the price and siphon off the profits.
There is nothing that unusual or extraordinary about this "B" noir with a running time of only 67 minutes. Nonetheless Fleischer throws in a few touches here and there with some neat closeup cinematography along with filming often on location in downtown LA, resulting in a film that will keep you mildly interested. If you're a fan of Lawrence Tierney as I am, this is another one of his efforts you might consider viewing.