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

Blackboard Jungle (1955)

On the first day of school in the Blackboard Jungle, two new teachers, Richard Dadier (played by Glenn Ford) and Josh Edwards (played by Richard Kiley), express apprehension about starting their first year of teaching at North Manual High School. The school’s violent reputation has preceded it. Edwards likens his first day to the day that he and his fellow service members “hit the beach at Salerno” in Italy during World War II. Dadier, a navy veteran of the war, responds, “At least they’re not shooting at us.” An older teacher, already a seasoned pro at North Manual High, tells them, “Not yet.” His response is oddly and disturbingly prescient.

The students at North Manual High are capable of inflicting physical and psychological harm without guns. The film depicts several instances of crime and aggression by high school students. Here are some examples:

◊ Joy riding and causing an accident (hitting and overturning a parked car)

◊ Attempted rape of a teacher in the school library

◊ Assault and battery of two teachers

◊ Hijacking of a newspaper truck

◊ Assault and battery of a truck driver and delivery person

◊ Prank phone calls and anonymous letters to a teacher’s wife alleging an affair, causing psychological stress severe enough to induce premature birth of an infant

After he gets the teaching job at North Manual High, Richard Dadier meets his wife Anne for a celebratory dinner at an Italian restaurant. She is four months pregnant, and her celebratory mood is clouded by the memory of her miscarriage. She is worried it will happen again with this current pregnancy. Their discussion of the new job and Anne’s pregnancy sets up the harassment that she will experience later in the narrative, when one of Richard’s students does all he can to sabotage any good that Dadier tries to achieve.

(This article about Blackboard Jungle contains spoilers.)

Richard Dadier rescues Lois Judby Hammond from the attempted rape in the school’s library by Joe Murray, one of the students. The students in Dadier’s class are upset with Dadier because Murray is charged with the crime and goes to jail. They give Dadier the silent treatment, even though Murray was caught in the act. After school, Hammond asks Dadier to walk her out to her car, and he does, under the watchful gaze of some of the students. Josh Edwards meets them at the end of the small schoolyard and, after Hammond gets into the car, he asks Dadier to go across the street for a drink.

On the way home from the bar, Dadier and Edwards take a shortcut through an alley, where they are jumped by several students. Artie West, who is in Dadier’s class, is one of them. Josh Edwards is beaten nearly unconscious. The police arrive to take him to the hospital. Dadier goes home to Anne with his face beaten and his suit torn. This latest incident shakes Dadier’s faith in his ability to get through to the students or to make any progress in their formal education.

Dadier consults one of his university professors about continuing to teach. The professor teaches at an orderly school, the complete opposite of North Manual High. The professor’s students do all their schoolwork and sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” during an assembly. He convinces Dadier to return to North Manual High. There is a hint that teaching is a civic duty, that Dadier will be doing more for his country by continuing with his chosen profession. Leaving the military was apparently not the end of his service.

This theme of patriotism and duty comes up again between Dadier and Artie West. The scene contrasts Dadier’s idealism with West’s resigned cynicism. Dadier suspects that West is involved with the hijacking of a newspaper truck and tries to convince him to avoid illegal behavior. He warns him of the consequences, but West sees a prison term as an asset. He tells Dadier, “You know, a year from now, when the army comes by and they say, ‘Okay Artie West, you get in a uniform, and you be a soldier, and you save the world, and you get your lousy head blowed right off. Well, maybe, maybe I get a year in jail, and maybe when I come out, the army, they don’t want Artie West to be a soldier no more. Maybe what I get is . . . is out.” Nothing that Dadier says in response can dissuade West from his point of view.

Dadier does return to his classroom after the attack in the alley. He is accompanied on his way through the school corridors by a police detective investigating the assault on him and Josh Edwards. The detective wants Dadier to press charges. Dadier insists that he couldn’t see any of the attackers because it was too dark and that the incident wasn’t that serious anyway. The detective disagrees; he thinks the fact that Dadier couldn’t return to the classroom for a week is proof that his injuries were serious. He tries one more time to convince Dadier to help the police investigation:

• Police detective: “Dadier, I’ve handled lots of problem kids in my time. Kids from both sides of the tracks. They were five or six years old in the last war. Father in the army. Mother in a defense plant. No home life. No church life. No place to go. They formed street gangs. It’s way over my head, Mr. Dadier. Maybe the kids today are like the rest of the world. Mixed up, suspicious, scared. I don’t know. But I do know this: Gang leaders have taken the place of parents. If you don’t stop them—”

• Dadier: “Class is starting. Do you mind?”

• Police detective: “Then you won’t help us?”

• Dadier: “I’m sorry.”

The police detective ends by warning Dadier that violence will happen again.

My last blog article was about a film called Larceny (1948). The DVD for that film comes with commentary by film historian Eddy Von Mueller, who gives a lot of information that grounds that film in its time period: postwar U.S. society struggling to come to terms with the effects of World War II. Some of the young boys who were left alone during the war because their fathers were fighting and their mothers were working in the wartime defense industries contributed to the rise in juvenile crime after the war. Juvenile delinquency was a real-life issue in the postwar years; it is a subtheme in Larceny, and it is the main theme—almost seven years later—in Blackboard Jungle. In fact, the police detective talking to Richard Dadier repeats these same ideas to Dadier in an effort to convince him to help the police arrest the violent offenders in North Manual High. Dadier has some other ideas that he would like to try. His ideas do work—to a point. But he realizes that violence cannot go unpunished, and he reaches his limit by the end of the film.

I wrote about another example of juvenile delinquency in film noir: Crime in the Streets. Click here for my article about it.

The opening credits of Blackboard Jungle, which appear on a blackboard in white chalk-like text, are accompanied by “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and His Comets. Blackboard Jungle was one of the first films to use rock ’n’ roll on its soundtrack. It also uses jazz, which was not new but was used frequently in film noir to emphasize crime and dislocation. Rock ’n’ roll is a new way to achieve the same effect. After the opening credits, the film starts with text, a disclaimer of sorts:

We, in the United States, are fortunate to have a school system that is a tribute to our communities and to our faith in American youth. Today, we are concerned with juvenile delinquency—its causes—and its effects. We are especially concerned when this delinquency boils over into our schools. The scenes and incidents depicted here are fictional. However, we believe that public awareness is a first step toward a remedy to any problem. It is in this spirit and with this faith that Blackboard Jungle was produced.

The studio and filmmakers were right to worry. Blackboard Jungle created both positive and negative reactions both at home and abroad. Riots and violence by teenage viewers were blamed on the film. It was banned in some U.S. cities because of its violent content.

For a 2015 scholarly review about the domestic and international distribution of the film and reactions to its story, click here.

The first time that I saw Blackboard Jungle many years ago, I don’t think I would have called it a film noir. It’s quite possible that I saw it on television, where it would have been heavily edited. Seeing it again more recently on DVD, however, I’d say that it’s easy to categorize it as noir. It’s a great film that doesn’t sugarcoat the 1950s the way that some films and television sitcoms from the same period do.

Sidney Poitier is one of the students in Dadier’s class, Gregory Miller, a role of his that I particularly admire. It’s one of Poitier’s earliest film roles, and he and fellow classmates must address racism in addition to the violence all around them. Prejudice against all the groups represented in the class becomes the basis for a lesson for them and Dadier. It’s a lesson that Artie West takes out of context to try to smear Dadier’s reputation.

Glenn Ford is wonderful as Richard Dadier. Ford has always been one of my noir favorites and he doesn’t disappoint. His character is a bit idealistic throughout, but he does become more pragmatic by the end of the film. The students aren’t the only ones to go through a transformation.

March 19, 1955, release date  •  Directed by Richard Brooks  •  Screenplay by Richard Brooks  •  Based on the novel The Blackboard Jungle by Evan Hunter  •  Music by Max C. Freedman  •  Edited by Ferris Webster  •  Cinematography by Russell Harlan

Glenn Ford as Richard Dadier  •  Sidney Poitier as Gregory Miller  •  Vic Morrow as Artie West  •  Anne Francis as Anne Dadier  •  Louis Calhern as Jim Murdock  •  Margaret Hayes as Lois Judby Hammond  •  John Hoyt as Mr. Warneke  •  Richard Kiley as Joshua Y. Edwards  •  Emile Meyer as Mr. Halloran  •  Warner Anderson as Dr. Bradley  •  Basil Ruysdael as Professor A. R. Kraal  •  Dan Terranova as Belazi  •  Rafael Campos as Pete V. Morales  •  Paul Mazurdky as Emmanuel Stoker  •  Horace McMahon as the police detective  •  Jameel Farah (aka Jamie Farr) as Santini  •  Danny Dennis as DeLica

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