Homicide Bureau (1939)

After being criticized by the Citizens' League for his inability to cope with a crime wave, Police Captain Haines orders his men in the Homicide Bureau to clean up all their cases, but ... See full summary »

Director:

Charles C. Coleman

Writer:

Earle Snell (original screenplay)

Stars:

Bruce Cabot, Rita Hayworth, Marc Lawrence

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Bruce Cabot	...	Detective Lieutenant Jim Logan
Rita Hayworth	...	J.G. Bliss
Marc Lawrence	...	Chuck Brown
Richard Fiske	...	Henchman Hank
Moroni Olsen	...	Police Captain H.J. Raines
Norman Willis	...	Ed Briggs
Gene Morgan	...	Detective Blake
Robert Paige	...	Detective Thurston
Lee Prather	...	R.E. Jamison
Eddie Fetherston	...	Henchman Specks
Stanley Andrews	...	Police Commissioner G.W. Caldwell

Storyline

After being criticized by the Citizens' League for his inability to cope with a crime wave, Police Captain Haines orders his men in the Homicide Bureau to clean up all their cases, but without violating the constitutional rights of any suspect. Detective Jim Logan is ordered to meet the incoming new-head of the Police Department lab and internal affairs, J.G. Bliss, and takes an instant dislike to her over her attitude toward criminal's rights. A murder case is turned over to Jim. Chuck Brown, the killer, informs his gang boss, Briggs, that their blackmailer has been killed and Briggs continues with his preparations to ship a cargo of scrap metal metal to foreign war lords to be used for munitions manufacture. Jim arrests Chuck, but if forced by Miss Bliss to release him on grounds of insufficient evidence. In an attempt to force a confession from Chuck, Jim goes to his apartment and, in a scuffle, causes him to fall through a window. The aroused Citizens' League, through its ...

---

Plot Keywords:

junk dealer | police | constitutional rights | scrap metal | detective | 

---

Taglines:

Dangerous thrills as underworld terror gets a victim a day! (original Insert Card)

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 May 1940 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Investigação Criminal

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

58 min 58 min (TCM print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

User Reviews

Nifty "B" picture with some social commentary and science

With all the criminal forensics displayed on television these days it's a surprise to see a late version thirties version of it. Avoiding the autopsy part, RIta Hayworth playing a forensic expert examines murder weapons and other physical evidence. Nobody makes a big deal about her gender except at first. I was expecting to see her quit and get married by the end of the film but surprisingly she never even comes close to thinking about it. While a major part of the movie, the forensics is second to the main topic of the movie, police brutality.

The police force is under new rules passed by the city council preventing the police from roughing up the suspects. The officers chafe under the restrictions just hoping for a chance to torment the apparent villains into a confession. The brutality isn't shown, just alluded to, except in a scene where the hero cop breaks into a crook's apartment and throws him around until an accident nearly kills the crook. There's also a scene where the city politicians react to a dragnet that the police do in a desperate attempt to solve a murder.

It actually interesting until the point where the standard B movie plot dynamics take over and the film reverts to typical matinée cops and robbers complete with a kidnapping, a silly shootout and eventual redemption for the tough guy hero. The police brutality topic is, unfortunately, dropped.

Pretty good except for the standard ending.