Faustrecht der Großstadt (1950)

Faustrecht der Großstadt: Directed by Otto Preminger. With Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Gary Merrill, Bert Freed. Det. Sgt. Mark Dixon wants to be something his old man wasn’t: a guy on the right side of the law. Will Dixon’s vicious nature get the better of him?

“Despite the lack of a haunting theme song and the austere and humourous presence of Clifton Webb, this film is a much more exciting experience than u0026quot;Laurau0026quot;, the other collaboration between Preminger, Andrews and Tierney. This is one of the grimmest film noir films Iu0026#39;ve ever seen, and not just in its lurid shadows and rain-drenched streets. The film is dark to its very soul. Dana Andrews plays what is now a standard stereotype: the cop who is bitter and deadly with his temper. But Andrews plays it with more honesty and humanity than most any other angry movie cop youu0026#39;re likely to see. Despite the fact that his character is good at heart, he is also a criminal and a killer, and the film beautifully strings him along, forcing him to serve his spiritual penance. What of course is most fun is the way that his terror over being discovered slowly comes to a boil. Iu0026#39;ve seen tons of film noir movies but I canu0026#39;t recall ever seeing the protagonist ever becoming the anti-hero in such a startling way. Many of the best film noir pics have that dizzying spiral theme of a man trapped by his own weakness. u0026quot;Night in the Cityu0026quot;, u0026quot;Detouru0026quot;, u0026quot;Scarlet Streetu0026quot;, u0026quot;In a Lonely Placeu0026quot;, u0026quot;Act of Violenceu0026quot; and u0026quot;Johnny Eageru0026quot;, are among the best of them. u0026quot;Were the Sidewalk Endsu0026quot; holds its own among them. Not a bad recommendation!”