Clevercell
Very disappointing...
Pacionsbo
Absolutely Fantastic
Matho
The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.
Joseph Kearny
Superficial drama with a seething, scenery chewing Kirk Douglas playing opposite a seemingly miscast Eleanor Parker as his sweet wife with a dark past. William Wyler director of the masterful The Heiress ('1949) and The Collector (1965) is unable to make the talky and tedious Pulitizer-Prize winning drama interesting, and there is no pacing or atmosphere, and despite the overwrought dramatics there is little excitement. The film is largely confined to one set and the film seems redolent of so many detective TV shows. In its day, Detective Story was considered somewhat daring due to the abortion issue, but the conflict feels forced and pointless. Douglas cannot make sense of his character who seems unduly obsessed with persecuting an abortionist. Despite the Oscar nominations for Wyler, Douglas, Parker and Lee Grant, they all seem to be merely marking time.
grantss
A day in the life of New York's 21st Precinct detective squad. Shows their everyday routine, the issues they have to deal with, from petty complaints by citizens, to minor felonies, to major crimes. At the centre of the action is James McLeod (played by Kirk Douglas), a hard-nosed, hot-headed detective who always gets his man, one way or another.Interesting take on the detective genre. Not the glamorous side that we are used to seeing in movies and on TV but the everyday, more accurate, side. Almost every scene is inside the police station, showing just how much police work is more about paperwork and interrogating suspects than actually apprehending them.While the movie includes several different strands, following different suspects, it is still quite engaging. This is due to largely concentrating on one detective in particular, James McLeod, his methods, flaws and personal life, and how these are linked. Lee Grant's character, the small-time female shoplifter, also provides an outsider's perspective on goings-on, as well as some of the film's more humorous moments.Not brilliant though. Certain aspects of the plot feel a bit too neat and contrived and the character-drama side of the movie feels overblown, helped by a large dose of overacting, especially from Kirk Douglas. The dialogue and acting were so over-the-top at times it felt like a play.Not perfect, but entertaining nevertheless.
Irie212
Skillfully written and directed, as well as played by a superb ensemble of actors, DETECTIVE STORY barely opens up from the three-act play it is based on. By keeping the action cramped in a New York City precinct house, director Wyler succeeds beautifully in drawing the audience into the vice-like grip of this complex, tightly woven drama.The trouble is, the story is too much a product of its time. I never use the phrase "good for its time," because it doesn't allow for the works of genius that transcend time. But this movie is stuck in 1951, which muddles a key part of the plot: the abortionist is treated as evil, but the woman who went to him is someone we sympathize with. That's a double standard now, and it was then. It also treats religion with period awe.From that flaw, others follow. The one person who cannot forgive her is her own husband (Kirk Douglas), an Irish cop with zero tolerance for even the pettiest of crimes. He dispenses Manichaean justice-- good vs evil, no shades of gray. First-time offenders are nothing more than guys who finally got caught. He's cop, judge, and jury with everyone he arrests-- and he's punisher, too, at one point saying he wants the doctor in the electric chair and he'll throw the switch. He also has a violent temper; indeed, even after being warned by his Captain, he beats a suspect badly enough to hospitalize him. Therein lies another flaw: we're supposed to believe that a man with this uncontrollable temper never crossed the line with off-duty assault against a neighbor, a relative, anybody? He's presented as pure, except for his passion for (his own definition of) justice.The film ends with his confession, and here it is, transcribed verbatim: "Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell." It's a fairly standard Christian text for the Act of Contrition. I kept waiting for him to add that he was sorry for any human being that he hurt, or offended-- a nod to the Golden Rule, if you will-- but no. His contrition is canned Christianity. Never mind what individuals you actually hurt, just address an apology to the Being who promises to hurt you if you don't. That, as must have been observed before, is the brutal opposite of the Golden Rule. It isn't morality; it's fear, and it's self-serving. Including the Act of Contrition pandered to the Catholics in the audience, but even Catholics would have appreciated him expressing heartfelt remorse toward the people he hurt.It's worth seeing, it's so well done. But the playwright, Sidney Kingsley, did not look beyond temporary mores {sic}, and the two screenwriters, Robert Wyler (the director's brother) and Philip Yordan, settled for that. Too bad.
jc-osms
The detective in question is Kirk Douglas' Jim McGuire, a literally take-no-prisoners detective in a tough New York precinct. His zero-tolerance approach to crime as against the more understanding outlook of his fellow detectives remains topical today of course. The film takes the viewer through a 24 hour time-period in the station and as such can be sen as a precursor of quality TV cop-shows from "Hill Street Blues" onwards.To be sure, it occasionally shows its theatrical origins with its set-bound scenario and occasionally moralistic and speechy dialogue, but for the most part the characters ring true as people rather than types, with their words both street-smart and sharp. It also introduces the tricky subject of back-street abortionist practices, although naturally the word abortion itself doesn't make it past the censor's cut.Stories, characters, scenes and at times, dialogue overlap to give a workaday, vernacular feel to proceedings and the acting throughout is committed and yet natural. It obviously helped that a lot of the supporting roles are filled by cast members of the long-running Broadway play which sourced the film.In the two leads Douglas and Parker are both excellent although their parts are a little unevenly written at times. Those look like real tears they're both shedding however in their climactic scene and while the ending is a touch melodramatic, somewhat contradicting the realism of what had gone before, it at least gets across its moral point with Douglas' last minute conversion to humaneness.The supporting cast are excellent, especially the actors playing the cops, lending a palpable "fly-on-the-wall" feel to director Wyler's proceedings. In conclusion, a fine film, although I wasn't sure if I'd enjoyed a theatrical rather than a cinematic experience by the final reel.
