The film was not shot on a studio lot. Instead it was shot on location in New York City, so as a result it is a pretty good record of what the crowded streets looked like there in 1948 with tons of unknowing extras/residents adding to the atmosphere.
This is the story of the investigation into the murder of Jean Dexter, a model found drowned in her bathtub after being chloroformed. NYPD detectives Lt. Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and Jimmy Halloran show up at the dead girl's apartment to begin the investigation. The case is presented in a very straight-forward manner with no hard to follow twists and turns. The narration makes a point of saying how much of the investigation is just going from place to place asking - "Have you seen this person?" and checking inconsistencies in the stories of witnesses.
I will just say that Howard Duff as Frank Niles is a piece of work. He obviously doesn't realize that lying to the police about the unimportant stuff just makes the police take a harder look at you when it comes to the important stuff.
This is mainly a film with a cast full of men - there is really only one supporting role of note done by an actress and she doesn't have that much screen time. The narration is done by Mark Hellinger himself, and while most of it is good at establishing atmosphere, parts of it seem odd and unnecessary, such as at the end when he is giving tips to the fleeing perp as well as the cop who is chasing him.
This is the story of the investigation into the murder of Jean Dexter, a model found drowned in her bathtub after being chloroformed. NYPD detectives Lt. Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and Jimmy Halloran show up at the dead girl's apartment to begin the investigation. The case is presented in a very straight-forward manner with no hard to follow twists and turns. The narration makes a point of saying how much of the investigation is just going from place to place asking - "Have you seen this person?" and checking inconsistencies in the stories of witnesses.
I will just say that Howard Duff as Frank Niles is a piece of work. He obviously doesn't realize that lying to the police about the unimportant stuff just makes the police take a harder look at you when it comes to the important stuff.
This is mainly a film with a cast full of men - there is really only one supporting role of note done by an actress and she doesn't have that much screen time. The narration is done by Mark Hellinger himself, and while most of it is good at establishing atmosphere, parts of it seem odd and unnecessary, such as at the end when he is giving tips to the fleeing perp as well as the cop who is chasing him.