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

The Web (1947)

The Web is fun film noir because it has a bit of romance and a lot of snappy dialogue. All the characters get a chance to throw some humor into the mix. And all the actors are great in their roles, including William Bendix, who is on the side of the law this time, the only time that I know of—so far, that is. I have a lot of noir still to watch!

The film starts with Martha Kroner waiting inside Grand Central Station for her father, Leopold Kroner, to get off the train and arrive inside the station lobby. Leopold Kroner has just been released from prison, but he didn’t want his daughter to travel to the prison and thus have that memory of him. It’s a quick scene, but it tells viewers that Leopold cares very much about his daughter and that his affection is returned. Leopold Kroner was expecting Andrew Colby to meet him at the station, but Colby isn’t there. Viewers learn later that Leopold Kroner was imprisoned for stealing bonds from Andrew Colby Enterprises and trying to counterfeit them so he could resell them.

Charles Murdock, Andrew Colby’s personal employee, is at the station, too, but he is only tailing the Kroners and doesn’t say anything to either of them. He does report back to Colby, who seems concerned but not enough to get in touch with Kroner. He tells Murdock that he will wait for Kroner to contact him first.

Robert Regan, an attorney for someone named Emilio Canepa, pushes his way into Andrew Colby’s office to serve him a summons. Colby owes money for a minor traffic accident that slightly damaged Canepa’s produce pushcart, the source of his livelihood. Regan had to push past Colby’s personal secretary, Noel Faraday, but he is immediately attracted to her. She rebuffs him on his way out of the office, but that doesn’t dissuade him for long.

This scene sets up all three main characters—Andrew Colby, Robert Regan, and Noel Faraday—as basically likable. Andrew Colby doesn’t throw Regan out of his office, Regan is portrayed as the small-time lawyer crusading for the working man Emilio Canepa, and Noel Faraday rebuffs Regan’s advances good-naturedly. As Regan’s and Faraday’s relationship develops later and throughout the film, Edmund O’Brien and Ella Raines portray their chemistry convincingly. Their conversations showcase some of the humor and witty dialogue that I find so charming about the film.

(This article about The Web contains spoilers.)

Andrew Colby wants Noel Faraday to call Robert Regan because he wants to talk to Regan about some work. Faraday is surprised by this turn of events, but she does call Regan, who arrives later that day at Colby’s residence. Viewers now learn that Charles Murdock and Noel Faraday live at Colby’s, although all the relationships are never made entirely clear, which is part of the ambiguity surrounding Andrew Colby and the mystery to be solved.

Andrew Colby offers $5,000 to Regan to act as his bodyguard for two weeks, until he leaves for Paris. Colby knows that Leopold Kroner just got out of prison, and he tells Regan that Kroner has threatened him. Regan accepts the job, but he decides that he needs a gun. He doesn’t own one, so he takes one from Colby’s personal collection, with Colby’s blessing.

Regan goes to his friend, Lieutenant Damico, a homicide detective with the New York City Police Department (NYPD), to ask for a gun permit. They are old friends, and so were their fathers. Regan wants a personal favor, but Damico is annoyed because Regan doesn’t really say where he got his gun. Damico tells Regan that he should have applied for the gun permit before he got the gun. Viewers now see that Regan isn’t above bending the law a bit and asking for extralegal favors, even though he was introduced at the start of the film as a crusader for working-class citizens.

On his first night as Colby’s bodyguard, Regan tries to charm Noel Faraday. Their conversation is interrupted when they hear a gunshot. Regan rushes upstairs to find Leopold Kroner with Colby. Kroner has a gun in his hand, and Regan shoots and kills him. This is his first night on the job as a bodyguard, and he is already in a compromising position that is worse than obtaining a gun without a permit: He has killed a man under dubious circumstances.

At the inquest, everyone’s testimony matches the police investigation, but Lieutenant Damico still wants to talk to Regan. He doesn’t like the way events turned out only one day after Regan got his gun permit, one that he received on Lieutenant Damico’s good word and recommendation. Regan says that Lieutenant Damico knows him well enough to know that he can be trusted, but Damico isn’t corruptible. He stands firm with Regan and won’t let him get away with anything. Damico’s determination actually works out well for Regan in the long run.

I watched The Web on DVD, which came with great commentary from Jason A. Ney, a film professor and writer for Noir City magazine. He points out that Robert Regan plays the role of a bumbling amateur detective, which subverts the film noir trope of having the detective outsmart the police, a tradition that goes back to the detective stories of the nineteenth century, starting with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. Lieutenant Damico is the law enforcement officer who solves the crime and saves the “hero” (Robert Regan).

Ney’s commentary is definitely worth a listen. He also provides lots of information about the film, the cinematography, the principal actors, and the historical context of the story. I found the historical context especially interesting partly because I always believe that watching any film, especially classic film and film noir, is a window into history. Ney mentions New York City’s gun control laws, the large number of immigrants living in the city, and the effect this diverse population had on the NYPD. Audience members in 1947 would have already known many of the points Ney makes and would likely have understood the story from a different perspective than viewers today.

I noticed that Andrew Colby congratulates Lieutenant Damico on his success solving the case, even though he is the guilty party arrested for all the murders committed. Colby always seems to have his wits about him, and he always acts the gentleman, even while he plots murder and revenge. Victor Price portrays Andrew Colby as debonair and self-effacing, even though viewers know before the end of the story that he has malevolent intentions.

William Bendix’s performance as New York City homicide detective Lieutenant Damico was a very pleasant surprise. I’m not sure I have ever seen him in a noir when he was on the side of the law. In some ways, the role of Lieutenant Damico is not that different from some of his villain roles: He is tough and talks tough, but his toughness in The Web comes from his unwillingness to compromise his ethics.

Damico has some of the best lines in the film. One of them he says to his friend Robert Regan when Regan tries to explain how he accidentally killed Leopold Kroner. Damico isn’t buying Regan’s cavalier attitude or his insistence that Damico should trust him because Damico has known him since childhood. “I knew Benny Parsons all his life,” he tells Regan. “Then two weeks ago, he did a job on his uncle with a meat cleaver.” The Web might have some romance and humor, but Lieutenant Damico is ready to remind everyone that this film is noir, complete with murder.

May 25, 1947, release date  •  Directed by Michael Gordon  •  Screenplay by William Bowers, Bertram Millhauser  •  Based on a story by Harry Kurnitz  •  Music by Hans J. Salter  •  Edited by Russell F. Schoengarth  •  Cinematography by Irving Glassberg

Ella Raines as Noel Faraday  •  Edmond O’Brien as Robert (aka Bob) Regan  •  William Bendix as Lieutenant Damico  •  Vincent Price as Andrew Colby  •  Fritz Leiber Sr. as Leopold Kroner  •  Maria Palmer as Martha Kroner  •  John Abbott as Charles Murdock  •  Howland Chamberlain as James Timothy Nolan  •  Tito Vuolo as Emilio Canepa  •  Wilton Graff as the district attorney  •  Robin Raymond as the newspaper librarian

Distributed by Universal-International  •  Produced by Universal-International