Scene of the Crime is a 1949 American film noir directed by Roy Rowland, starring Van Johnson, and featuring Gloria DeHaven, Arlene Dahl, and Tom Drake. The film's screenplay, by Charles Schnee, is based on a non-fiction article by John Bartlow Martin, "Smashing the Bookie Gang Marauders". It was the only property sold by Martin to be made into a film. Scene of the Crime was producer Harry Rapf's last film of his thirty-plus year career; he died of a heart attack a week after principal photography for the film began.
According to film critic Dennis Schwartz: "[The film is one of] few film noirs attempted by MGM. It came when Dore Schary was the studio head and insisted on producing more realistic films. This is a transitional film from the 1930s gangster film and a forerunner of the modern day TV cop show. It preaches the credo that 'Crime Does Not Pay'."
Plot
Lieutenant Mike Conovan (Van Johnson), head of an LAPD homicide detective squad, investigates when Ed Monigan, an older member of his squad (and former partner), is murdered while off-duty and carrying $1,000 in cash. Conovan's current partner and one-time mentor, Fred Piper (John McIntire), is getting on in years and his eyesight is failing, while under Conovan's wing is rookie detective "C.C." (for "carbon copy") Gordon (Tom Drake), learning the ropes.
Out to dispel a theory that Monigan was secretly in cahoots with bookmakers, Conovan begins to track down a pair of downstate criminals ("lobos") known as the "Royalty Brothers". (He repeatedly refers to the gangsters as "guns.") The trail leads to a stripper, Lili (Gloria DeHaven), whose ex-boyfriend Turk Kingby (Richard Benedict) has apparently pulled off a series of robberies of gamblers with his partner Lafe Douque (William Haade). Conovan's primary informant, Sleeper (Norman Lloyd), is brutally murdered for snitching. Conovan tracks down Lafe and places him under arrest, but leaving Lafe's apartment, gunshots ring out, killing Lafe. Conovan is convinced by his wife Gloria (Arlene Dahl) that police work is too dangerous. He agrees and tenders his resignation.
Lili calls headquarters with a tip for Conovan on where Turk can be found. Piper intercepts the message, investigates it himself and is gunned down. Conovan concludes that Lili has been double-crossing him, secretly helping Turk all along. Over the objections of his wife, he gets his old job back with the police force. Turk and his new partner attempt to flee, but Conovan sets up an ambush. He uses a truck to crash into Turk's armor-plated car, causing it to catch fire. Turk confesses to the murders and clears Monigan before he dies.
Cast
Van Johnson as Mike Conovan
Arlene Dahl as Gloria Conovan
Gloria DeHaven as Lili
Tom Drake as Detective "C.C." Gordon
Leon Ames as Captain A.C. Forster
John McIntire as Detective Fred Piper
Donald Woods as Bob Herkimer
Norman Lloyd as Sleeper
Jerome Cowan as Arthur Webson
Tom Powers as Umpire Menafoe
Richard Benedict as Turk Kingby
Anthony Caruso as Tony Rutzo
Robert Gist as P.J. Pontiac
Romo Vincent as Hippo
Tom Helmore as Norrie Lorfield
Caleb Peterson as Loomis
William Haade as Lafe Douque
Cast notes
Donna Reed was originally slated to play the part played in the film by Arlene Dahl. Gloria DeHaven's character, Lili, was modeled on stripper Lili St. Cyr
Production
MGM, Hollywood's "Tiffany Studio", had a long history of making glamorous films, especially musicals, and shied away from making gutty, street-wise films, such as Warner Bros. specialized in. The exceptions were their series of "Crime Does Not Pay" shorts – where director Roy Rowland learned the ins and outs of that genre – and the occasional films in the 1930s and 1940s, such as Kid Glove Killer and Grand Central Murder, both released in 1942. Once Dore Schary returned to MGM in 1948 from his stint at RKO Pictures, to replace Louis B. Mayer as head of production, the studio began to make darker, more realistic films. Scene of the Crime was the result of that transition.
The casting for Scene of the Crime went "against type". Star Van Johnson was known for appearing in light fare such as comedies and musicals, making him a teen idol, so a hard-boiled cop was a complete change for him, and his newly revealed versatility garnered him roles in 1949's Battleground and the offer to play Eliot Ness in The Untouchables on TV, a role that went instead to Robert Stack. Although Scene of the Crime made a small profit, primarily because of its low production cost, Van Johnson would never make another film noir.