Incident in an Alley (1962) User Reviews

"Officer, that hoodlum's hair ...!

[Handlinghandel · 3/10 · 22 April 2007]

"... The highlights and streaks are hurting my eyes." Yes, this is a pretty lame story about bad teenagers. The pivotal figure looks like Troy Donahue: More a surfer than a tough guy. Of course, times have changed in 25 years. But "The Blackboard Jungle" came earlier. And it still packs a wallop.

I love low-budget trash. This is low-budget but it seems to be part drive-in juvenile delinquent movie and half an urban "Tammy." The plot is OK. Not new by any means but it worked before and it works here. The actor playing the obsessed police officer is decent. His wife is done up so she looks more like a b-girl than a loving wife. She wears very short skirts, has a vacant look. All she needs is some gum to snap.

What I'm trying to say is that it all seems bogus. It doesn't feel as if the producers' hearts were in it. It was a quickie that might pull in a few bucks. And sometimes that Results in an exciting little movie. This one is little but it's not exciting.

Excellent film, not to be overlooked.

[lor_ · 1 January 2024]

This unsung little movie released over 60 years ago by United Artists manages to be both an intelligent, very convincing crime film as well as delivering the pleasures of a traditional B-movie. Its Rod Serling story delivers psychological motivations that hold up well, while low-budget expert Edward L. Cahn wraps it all up0 neatly in a whirlwind final reel of sheer pleasure.

With an outstanding performance by Virgina Christine as the mother of a young teen shot dead fleeing by our hero, a soulful, neurotic cop,the script smoothly shows both sides of a deadly situation: the difficulty of the police to make split second decisions, and the sentiment accorded the victims. Our hero clearly did the best he could but almost everyone turns against him because he shot a 14-year-old in the back.

He's feeling pags of guilt, even though acquitted in a trial for manslaughter that makes both sides of the case equally defensible. Only gimmick that the film relies on is his yeoman efforts to solve an adjacent robbery/homicide which explains and ties up all loose ends.

To manipulate an audience, both B-movies and increasingly Hollywood blockbusters strain credulity with arbitrary motivation and weird plot twists to maximize thrills. This sober little picture goes the opposite route, treating the viewer fairly and giving one something to think about by movie's end.

An usual sidelight here helps bolster my theory about the continuum represented in the entertainment industry. Made by a B-movie team with extremely low-budget, this film was nevertheless released by United Artists, one of the major film distributors, not an exploitation company. And the star giving a sensitive performance playing the cop was Chris Warfield, who several years later became a sexploitation movie producer and director, starting in softcore and graduating to XXX porn, with several excellent Adult movies in his resume. It's all part of showbiz.

Seems more like a two-part TV drama than a full length movie.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 4 August 2020]

The issue is not with the story by Rod Serling, but the way it is edited together as a feature film. It seems like it has trouble with continuity to get it from start to finish other than the thread plot line of beat cop Chris Warfield charged with killing an innocent fourteen-year-old and then being freed by the jury after he is placed on trial.

The sequence of the court cases actually very good with the grieving mother confronting Warfield and his wife first before the trial, then after, then directly at Warfield's house. Virginia Christine get us a performance reminding me of Eileen Heckart in The Bad Seed as the dead boy's mother as she expresses her regrets and her frustration that Warfield can't even bring himself to apologize.

The second half has Warfield dealing with the gang that led him on the chase that resulted in the boy's death in the first place, and this is where the plot line becomes convoluted and jumpy. Television could have dealt with this issue much better in breaking it up into two parts, and had Serling participated in writing it, it would have gelled together much better.

TV could have also made it grittier with location footage as this seems very studio bound, and as a movie where location could have held it, the lack of street footage weekends the film's structure. That old lady that charwoman surprise performances to are directed to make this seem rather stay juicy, and that also aids in its artificial ceiling. With all of the juvenile delinquent films of varying budgets, this could have been a lot better considering the subject matter and how timely it still is.

riveting, low-budget study of a police killing, quite good!

[django-1 · 9/10 · 22 September 2002]

Between 1959 and 1962, director Edward Cahn made MANY very-low-budget films for a production company that went under a few different names, but all were produced by Robert Kent. TCM did a salute to Cahn in 2001 and dug many of these up, including this one, INCIDENT IN AN ALLEY. Chris Warfield plays a police officer who breaks up what he thinks is a robbery and possibly an assault in an alley, and shoots one of the suspected robbers who runs away. That takes place in the first five minutes. After that, the film surveys exactly what happened, looks at the incident from multiple perspectives, has a trial where the officer is charged with manslaughter, and THEN starts another plot which becomes just as exciting as the first one, and finally it all comes to wild but satisfying close in just over an hour! Pardon my vagueness, but I don't want to give anything away. This film, written by the great Rod Serling, is a completely unexpected gem that does not go in any direction you expect it to. Shot on a few small sets, b-movie veteran Cahn keeps an exciting pace going, and the acting makes each character seem individual and real. In some ways this seems more like a play than an action film, but that's not surprising considering Serling's background in 1950s live TV and Cahn's background in VERY low budget films where talk and atmosphere make up for scenes that would be too expensive to shoot. As I wasn't expecting anything special, just a b-grade crime film, I was very pleasantly surprised at the care taken in the making of the film and in the many serious and complex issues it dealt with both intelligently and realistically. Bravo to writer Serling, director Cahn, and star Warfield for his little-known gem of a film.

It just shows that you don't need a large budget to make a good film.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 15 January 2014]

"Incident in an Alley" is a very simply made film. The budget was small and the actors are mostly faces you won't recognize. However, because it has good writing and surprisingly good writing and direction, it's well worth your time.

The film begins with a burglary in progress. The police show up and suddenly teen delinquents are running about everywhere. In the confusion, one cop, Bill Joddy (Chris Warfield) repeatedly tells one of the gang to halt. Eventually, he fires warning shots and somehow a younger teen is hit and killed. Almost immediately, there is a huge uproar and folks are calling for the cop's head. The case goes to court but he is found innocent of responsibility in the death. But, he cannot live with himself and is stuck--alternately blaming himself and searching for more answers. See the film and see where this goes.

One of the only folks you probably would recognize if you grew up in the 40s, 50s or 60s is Virginia Christine (the dead boy's mother). She played a lot of characters on TV (such as in the original "Dragnet") and was also the spokesperson for Folger's Coffee for many years. Yup...she's Mrs. Olsen. Another familiar presence is Rod Serling--who wrote the original story. All in all, surprisingly good and worth your time.

One from Serling

[gordonl56 · 8/10 · 10 September 2006]

A group of young hoods break into a music store late one night. It is their bad luck that the cleaning woman discovers them. They dispatch said witness with a pipe to the side of the head. They then gather up all the loot they can carry and hit the road.

When the janitor is found, just clinging to life, the police begin rounding up the usual selection of neighbourhood villains. Chasing several suspects down a darkened alley, a cop, Chris Warfield, yells "HALT!" Then fires a shot when not obeyed.

His round hits one of the suspects killing him. The suspect, Bobby Fox, turns out to be a 14 -year old boy. Was it the suspect the policeman had been chasing? Or was it just a kid who happened to be in the dark alley.

For political reasons, the D.A. decides to charge the officer with murder. The public and press are calling him a "KID KILLER" and want someone to pay for the boy's death. The viewer, however, knows the kid was in on the break in with his older brother and several others.

Warfield goes on trial and is found not guilty. The story in court is told from several diff points of view including, the dead boy's mother, the officer, his wife, the other cops and the press.

Warfield gets his job back. Some of the cops welcome him back him while others think he is guilty of being a tad trigger happy.

Warfield has bouts of inner turmoil, that maybe the boy's death was his fault, so he decides he must clear his name. He enlists the help of his partner, Harp McGuire in his quest. They go over everything that happened looking for any possible clue.

Lila Finn, the cleaning woman, who has been in a coma since the robbery, dies. It is now a murder case. The detectives assigned to the case get a break when some of the stolen goods show up. They grab up a suspect who leads them to a poolroom where he says he bought the items.

And who should the Police find, but the dead boy's brother, Michael Vandever. With Vandever is the gang he runs with. The detective's suspect is unable to identify any of the boys so he is returned to jail.

After the Police leave, the boys, lead by Gary Judis, start knocking Vandever around. They are less than amused that Vandever had sold some of the stolen goods The plan was to sit on the stolen items for 6 months before selling them. Vandever tells them "I was broke and needed some cash". After a few smacks to the head the gang sends him off to move the goods to Judis place.

Later that day as Warfield is on patrol, he sees Vandever in the same alley were his brother had been killed. It is also the same alley where the swag is hidden. Warfield puts the grab on him for a little bit of face to face. He is pretty sure Vandever was involved in the robbery. One of the gang, who was tailing Vandever, sees the two talking and reports back to Judis.

Judis, not the most trusting of people, decides they will need to bump off Vandever. Warfield has in the meantime convinced Vandever to come clean about the robbery. He tells Warfield it was Judis who had brained the cleaning woman with the piece of pipe. He also agrees to show Warfield were the stolen goods are.

Judis and the boys, now armed with a trio of revolvers, head for the same location. A local warehouse watchman happens to see the boys pull the guns out their hiding spot. He figures they are up to no good and calls the Police.

The gang, Vandever and Warfield all bump into each other in the alley with the predictable results. Shots are exchanged with two of the boys, including Judis being hit. Warfield's partner, McGuire arrives just in time to nab the third boy.

Vandever turns State's evidence and Warfield's reputation is restored.

The cast includes Erin O'Donnell as Warfield's wife, Willis Bouchey as the Police Captain, Don Keffer as the D.A. and Virginia Christine as the dead boy's mother.

This good little low renter was from b-film vet, Edward L Cahn. Cahn's work includes, CAGE OF EVIL, VICE RAID, YOU HAVE TO RUN FAST, WHEN THE CLOCK STRIKES, THE WALKING TARGET, PIER 5 HAVANA, GUN GIRLS AND GANGSTERS, HONG KONG CONFIDENTIAL, GIRLS IN PRISON, BETRAYED WOMEN, TWO DOLLAR BETTOR, DESTINATION MURDER, BUNGALOW 13 and the great 50's sci-fi classic, IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE.

The screenplay was by Harold Medford. His work includes the screenplays for BERLIN EXPRESS, THE KILLER IS LOOSE and THE DAMNED DON'T CRY. The story is from none other than Rod Serling. The d of p was Gil Warrenton whose work includes, PAROLE INC, ALIMONY and HIGH SCHOOL HELLCATS.

This is the second time I've caught this one. The first time was on a terrible VHS. This time, thanks to Ned, I got the pleasure of seeing a nice print on DVD.

A decent time waster in my humble opinion.

Proves that you don't need a big budget to make a good movie.

[ofpsmith · 8/10 · 10 October 2016]

None of the actors in this movie are particularly well known. The director, Edward L Cahn is likewise obscure. The only big name the film has to offer is Rod Serling, whose short story was the basis for the movie. And yet Incident in an Alley is a detective story, a courtroom drama, and a redemption story all in one. Officer Bill Joddy (Chris Warfield) accidentally shoots a boy named Harvey Connell (Bobby Fox) in the back, aiming for his leg. Bill is charged with first degree manslaughter. Bill is acquitted but he is haunted by the shooting. To make things worse, Bill is assigned a new assignment. But redemption comes his way when he investigates a robbery of a music store that Harvey was involved in. I won't spoil the ending but it's very entertaining. It's a hard movie to find, but if you come across it, give it a watch.

Guilty Bystander

[richardchatten · 8/10 · 13 April 2024]

The talents of up & coming TV scriptwriter Rod Serling and veteran 'B' director Edward L. Cahn made for pretty strange bedfellows in this Allied Artists quickie made with effective and low-keyed intelligence.

The title is really a misnomer as there (SLIGHT SPOILER COMING:) are in fact two incidents in the same alley that bookend the film, which actually devotes over half of it's running time to a courtroom drama in which the incident that gives the film its title - in which a trio of hoodlums rob a musical goods store with violence - which although in screen time is all over in less than five minutes is thereafter the subject of painstaking forensic analysis.

Bearing a passing resemblance to the case of Craig & Bentley this time its the policeman who pulled the trigger and has to deal with the consequences. To anyone familiar with Serling the depiction of office politics within the police department is characteristically sardonic.

made for pocket change

[barahona · 8 December 1999]

Low budget cop movie which pops up on Showtime now and then concerns a cop who shoots and kills a young juvenile delinquent and how he deals with it. The most amusing part is the big city 'precinct' set which looks like the receptionist area at a dentist office.

Painfully bad luck in the line of duty

[clanciai · 9/10 · 1 August 2023]

A bunch of five young hoodlums break into a music shop to steal some precious instruments, they are surprised by the owner who is an old lady who is knocked down and never recovers consciousness before she dies, the five young scoundrels escape but the alarm is ringing, they just have time to hide their loot in an old deserted department store, when the police catches up with them, four manage to get away, but the fifth, a mere kid, runs into a lady who happens to go out at that moment, she screams, the boy continues running, the police shouts a warning that he will shoot if the boy doesn't stop, he doesn't stop, the police takes careful aim at his legs, but instead the boy is hit in his back and is instantly dead. The police officer is indicted for homicide, but all this is just the beginning.

The trial is very interesting, Virginia Christine as the mother of the dead boy giving a very sensitive and unforgettable performance, and she will return later in the film. Naturally Chris Warfield as the police officer can't stop worrying and brooding about the case, feeling guilty although he was acquitted, the trauma of his father's death, also a police officer shot by hoodlums, haunting him, until gradually the sky clears by a meticulous reconstruction of the entire incident, the fact that Chris Warfield's character as a very honest officer playing an important part. This is a jewel in the gutter of the asphalt jungle of the big city, tortured constantly to death by innumerable crimes all around the clock. A film like this, although a B-feature, is worth watching carefully indeed.