The Turning Point (1952)

The Turning Point had been on my list of films to see for some time because I am a huge fan of William Holden. He, and Edmond O’Brien, too, are good reasons to see a film, and neither one disappoints, I’m happy to say. Holden plays a cynical reporter, Jerry McKibbon, who falls in love in spite of himself and who is quick to point out corruption. He is also quick to point out a solution to the corruption, even though he maintains that part of his job as a reporter is to propose the problems but not the solutions.

The opening credits appear over a shot of a passenger plane landing on a runway, then a cut to a motorcade led by police motorcycles (who, I believe, could do a better job of keeping their travel lanes!). The narrative starts with John Conroy, who landed onboard the plane, then arrived at a hotel where his offices have been set up. He is besieged by reporters because he is in town to lead a special investigation into the local crime syndicate organized by crime boss Neil Eichelberger.

Amanda Waycross, John Conroy’s girlfriend, is already in his office waiting for him when Jerry McKibbon, reporter for the Chronicle, arrives to offer his congratulations to Conroy. McKibbon and Conroy grew up together in town, and McKibbon is supposed to write a story about Conroy. (McKibbon never seems to get around to writing the story about John Conroy, but he does write something about Conroy’s father.) Conroy invites McKibbon to join him for breakfast at his parents’ house because they are old friends and the senior Conroys will be glad to see him.

In the cab on the way there, McKibbon warns Conroy about Neil Eichelberger and the dangers ahead: Conroy might have been invited to head the investigation because others might need a sucker, a fall guy. And it will be almost impossible to prove something against Eichelberger. A man like Eichelberger knows how to make and protect his money.

Matt Conroy, John Conroy’s father and a police detective, has been appointed as chief investigator for the committee, but he doesn’t want the job. He tells his son and McKibbon that he wants to stay a cop until he retires. McKibbon finds his objections a bit suspicious, so he starts following Matt Conroy to find out if his suspicions are well founded.

(This article about The Turning Point contains some spoilers.)

John Conroy begins gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses, and he starts with Joe Silbray, a former cop now working for Eichelberger. John Conroy accuses Silbray and one of his accomplices named Jimmy Chop of taking a man named Manzinates to Canada and killing him there. Silbray denies it, and John Conroy needs more evidence to prove his case. He wants to find Manzinates’s widow, who he learns is now living under a new name: Mrs. Stephen Nova. He asks his father Matt Conroy to bring in Mrs. Manzinates for questioning.

John Conroy’s investigating committee was inspired by Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee. Kefauver’s Senate committee investigated organized crime in the United States in 1950 and 1951. In his DVD commentary, Alan K. Rode points out that John Conroy’s career is similar to that of Thomas E. Dewey when he was a prosecutor and then district attorney in New York City. Click on each list item below to learn more about the 1950s Senate committee and Dewey.

◊ United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce

◊ Thomas E. Dewey

Yes, Dewey is the one who was announced the winner of the 1948 presidential election. The announcement was premature, however, and Harry Truman won the presidency after all the votes were tallied.

Jerry McKibbon now follows some leads of his own: He follows Matt Conroy; he talks to Neil Eichelberger. Amanada Waycross wants to know what he is up to, which opens the door for both to become attracted to one another and complicate the film’s plot even more. She shows up at McKibbon’s place, and he takes her to the Bunker Hill neighborhood of Los Angeles for a brief ride on the Angel’s Flight funicular rail. Next to the rail is the tenement where Mrs. Manzinates lives. While they are in the Bunker Hill neighborhood (a popular place for location shooting in film noir of the 1940s and 1950s), McKibbon and Waycross see some of Eichelberger’s men guarding outside Manzinates’s apartment. Others are inside to threaten her about testifying against Eichelberger. Their threats are effective, especially because they include harm to her relatives.

McKibbon tells Matt Conroy what he knows, but Conroy warns Eichelberger. Conroy eventually tells McKibbon how easy it is to be lured by money, that is, Neil Eichelberger’s bribes. He talks about feeling underpaid and wanting more for his son, John. The implication is that John Conroy could go to college and law school only because of the money saved from years of his father being on the take. Matt Conroy eventually agrees to McKibbon’s plan to get out of the syndicate’s clutches. But the plan backfires because so many in town have traveled the same route to corruption and are willing to turn on Matt Conroy.

Matt Conroy is subsequently killed in an ambush, and Jerry McKibbon finally tells John Conroy that his father was on the take. Conroy decides at first to quit the investigation. Jerry McKibbon does publish a story in the Chronicle finally, but it is about Matt Conroy and his death being tied to the Eichelberger syndicate. He convinces John Conroy to carry on, and the investigating committee resumes its work with Conroy leading it.

That’s far from the end of the story, however. Neil Eichelberger is questioned by Conroy’s committee. After McKibbon’s story appears in the Chronicle, Eichelberger puts a price on McKibbon’s head. The lengths to which Eichelberger is willing to go to protect his business (because it is portrayed as a business in the film, complete with accounting books and offices) become the major source of tension, danger, and violence as the narrative continues.

William Holden portrays the right mix of cynicism and idealism in the role of Jerry McKibbon. At first, it’s easy for him to be cynical, but he is unhappy that John Conroy wants to quit the investigation after the death of his father. McKibbon delivers a speech to convince his friend that the pursuit of justice is worth it, even though some have to pay a heavy price to see that justice is served. Edmund O’Brien also does a great job as John Conroy, a character that also has to go through some difficult transformations. Both actors make a good pair, so much so that I tried to find other films starring both, but I didn’t have any luck.

Alexis Smith doesn’t have a lot to do as Amanda Waycross, but her role adds some complexity to the plot, which makes the narrative more interesting. Even some of the other so-called supporting roles give other actors more to do and thus overshadow her. I’m thinking of Tom Tully as Matt Conroy and Ed Begley as Neil Eichelberger. But the main attractions are William Holden and Edmund O’Brien. I think they are the real reasons to see The Turning Point.

November 15, 1952, release date  •  Directed by William Dieterle  •  Screenplay by Warren Duff  •  Based on a story by Horace McCoy  •  Music by Irvin Talbot  •  Edited by George Tomasini  •  Cinematography by Lionel Lindon

William Holden as Jerry McKibbon  •  Edmond O’Brien as John Conroy  •  Alexis Smith as Amanda Waycross  •  Tom Tully as Matt Conroy  •  Gretchen Hartman as Mrs. Conroy  •  Ed Begley as Neil Eichelberger  •  Danny Dayton as Roy Ackerman  •  Adele Longmire as Carmelina LaRue  •  Tony Barr as Monty LaRue  •  Ray Teal as Clint, the police captain  •  Ted de Corsia as Harrigan  •  Don Porter as Joe Silbray  •  Howard Freeman as Dave Fogel  •  Neville Brand as Red  •  Carolyn Jones as Lillian Smith  •  Jay Adler as Sammy Lester  •  Whit Bissel as Buck  •  Soledad Jiménez as Mrs. Manzinates

Distributed by Paramount Pictures  •  Produced by Paramount Pictures