Scene of the Crime (1949): Van Johnson’s One and Only Film Noir

Van Johnson’s name doesn’t spring readily to mind when I think of film noir. But when I heard about the Sixth Annual Van Johnson Blogathon, hosted by Michaela at Love Letters to Old Hollywood, I decided to find out if Van Johnson appeared in any films noir. I know that several Hollywood stars made the transition to noir, but these types of films were low-budget B films that weren’t always given wide distribution and not as much critical acclaim. Sure enough, however, Van Johnson appeared in one—and only one—film noir: Scene of the Crime. Van Johnson is wonderful in the lead role in this film, and it’s too bad he didn’t appear in more films noir.

The opening shot of the film announces the film as “A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Silver Anniversary Picture,” with plenty of fanfare on the soundtrack, but viewers know soon enough that this isn’t the typical Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) film—or the typical Van Johnson film. The MGM trademark lion comes next, the music switches to strong horns and a steady beat, and viewers can see that there’s trouble and murder ahead. Van Johnson gets top billing, even before the title card, and the picture behind his name is a close overhead shot of a man’s dead body lying face down on the pavement next to a handgun. Then the tips of a man’s shoes walk into the shot, and his hand retrieves the gun the way a police detective would: without leaving any fingerprints. The opening credits continue over a ballistics expert with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) already starting the murder investigation with a ballistics test on the gun.

But that’s jumping ahead a bit as far as the story itself goes. The film’s opening establishes the serious nature of the film and the change of tone for both Van Johnson and MGM. After the credits, the story starts with witnesses discovering the man’s body on the sidewalk. The dead man is Detective Edward Joseph Monigan, a former partner of Van Johnson’s character, Mike Conovan. Monigan was found protecting a bookie operation, and he had $1,000 in his pocket.

Questions about Monigan’s honesty abound. Did someone kill him because he was paid off? Was he caught up in the fight for control of the town’s bookie operations? A new syndicate in town wants to take over all bookie operations, and tensions are high between the warring factions. Mike refuses to believe that Monigan was “ragged,” as he says, but Captain A. C. Forster plants a seed of doubt in the investigation, not because he believes Monigan did anything wrong but because he wants Mike to follow all leads and get the investigation right.

And Mike does just that: He throws himself into the investigation. He is aided by Detective Fred Piper, a veteran on the police force, and by a rookie, Detective C. C. Gordon. Detective Piper’s experience makes him an asset to the investigation. Detective Gordon may lack experience, but he is dedicated to the job and to the investigation. He is willing to learn, and Detective Mike Conovan is happy to teach Gordon what he needs to know.

(This article about Scene of the Crime contains spoilers.)

Van Johnson is perfect for the role of Mike Conovan: a complicated character who loves his job and his wife Gloria in equal measure. He’s devoted and committed to both. His wife is devoted to him, but she’s not so fond of his job. She worries about him every time he reports for duty or is called to a crime scene. She would like to see him move into another job, like head of security for the big corporation that her former boyfriend owns stock in, but Mike refuses to budge. Gloria finally decides that she can take no more of the worry that goes with Mike’s line of work: She plans to leave Mike and find someone who has a safer job.

Gloria Conovan is in love with Mike, which complicates everything for her. He’s a good catch, and viewers know it, too. With Van Johnson in the role of Mike Conovan, it’s easy to see why Gloria eventually decides to stay. Van Johnson exudes likability on-screen, and Mike seems genuinely fond of Gloria. He forgives her habitual lateness and gives her the affectionate nickname Glory. He counts on her for hope and optimism. He is loyal to her, but he will always be loyal to the police department and his fellow detectives.

Van Johnson gives Mike Conovan enough depth and complexity to make the story in Scene of the Crime convincing and to add just the right amount of doubt when questions come up. These questions make the plot that much more interesting, for example:

◊ Why does Gloria want Mike to meet with her old boyfriend Norrie Lorfield? When she first mentions Lorfield, viewers wonder what about her motivation, even if just a tiny bit.

◊ Is Detective Fred Piper another officer on the take? He tailed two suspects on two separate occasions and lost both of them. He’s hiding something from Mike Conovan and the department, but what he is hiding is not revealed right away.

◊ Is the informant Lili setting a trap for Conovan? Lili is portrayed as an innocent caught in a life as a dancer (it is implied that she is a stripper), but she does know Turk, a suspect in Monigan’s murder, and her relationship to Turk is not made clear right away.

These questions come up and are answered naturally as the plot goes along and as the detectives proceed with their investigation. There are no loose threads to the story, which makes it very satisfying. Van Johnson portrays all of Mike Conovan’s complexity without too much sentimentality, which ties in with just the right amount of doubt in the story. He can be tough in his role as a police detective, but he can be tender at home with his wife. When he berates Detective C. C. Gordon for his rookie mistakes, it’s clear that his response comes from concern about Gordon and his fellow officers. The film ends with Mike reunited with his wife Gloria, and viewers are rooting for them both because Mike is such a good guy.

I really didn’t know too much about Van Johnson before I saw him in Scene of the Crime so I did a little bit of research. He was apparently more complicated in real life than many of his other on-screen roles would imply. He had a difficult childhood because his mother left the family when he was still a young child, and he was never close to his father. He was also a gay man at a time in Hollywood when an actor could lose his star status if such information became public. Maybe that’s why he’s so good in the role of Mike Conovan, a character who is a bit complicated himself, although for different reasons.

While watching Van Johnson in Scene of the Crime, I could easily forget that he’s the same actor who starred with another favorite of mine, Gene Kelly, in Brigadoon (1954)! He is just great as Mike Conovan. His chance to play against type is such a success that I do wish Johnson had been given the chance to star in other noirs.

This article about Van Johnson in Scene of the Crime is my entry for the Sixth Annual Van Johnson Blogathon, which has been organized by Michaela at Love Letters to Old Hollywood. Click here for a complete list of blogathon participants and their entries, which will be updated from August 25 to August 27, 2022.

July 28, 1949, release date  •  Directed by Roy Rowland  •  Screenplay by Charles Schnee  •  Based on the article “Smashing the Bookie Gang Marauders” by John Bartlow Martin  •  Music by André Previn  •  Edited by Robert J. Kern  •  Cinematography by Paul Vogel

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  •  Ray Bennett as Sheriff Keisling  •  G. Pat Collins as Detective Edward Joseph Monigan  •  Guy Kingsford as the ballistics expert  •  Mickey Kuhn as Edward Monigan, Jr.  •  Sally Forrest as Corinne

Distributed by Loew’s Inc.  •  Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer