The Turning Point (1952)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

William Dieterle

Writers:

Warren Duff (writer)
Horace McCoy (story)

Release Date:

15 November 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Drama

Plot:

Special prosecutor John Conroy hopes to combat organized crime in his city, and appoints his cop father Matt as chief investigator...

Cast

William Holden	...	Jerry McKibbon
Edmond O'Brien	...	John Conroy
Alexis Smith	...	Amanda Waycross
Tom Tully	...	Matt Conroy
Ed Begley	...	Neil Eichelberger
Danny Dayton	...	Roy Ackerman
Adele Longmire	...	Carmelina LaRue
Ray Teal	...	Clint, Police Captain
Ted de Corsia	...	Harrigan
Don Porter	...	Joe Silbray
Howard Freeman	...	Fogel
Neville Brand	...	Red

Also Known As:

This Is Dynamite! (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Norway:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

The captive city bis.

Robert Wise's "the captive city" was released the same year and it's roughly the same subject .William Dieterle's work is not as absorbing because his directing is too static and academic in spite of a good cast.Melodramatic elements interfere with the film noir treatment -the father trying to redeem himself after behaving very bad,but he did it in order to pay his son 's studies etc etc -.Fortunately,the last sequence avoids pathos .Wise's film was more interesting because the enemy was almost invisible and the stranglehold it had on the town was complete though.In Dieterle's movie ,in spite of a lot of violence,we never really feel a threatening atmosphere.