The Lineup (1958)

Director:

Don Siegel

Writer:

Stirling Silliphant (writer)

Release Date:

11 June 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Drama

Tagline:

Starring Eli Wallach (the sensation of "Baby Doll"...as the killer!)

Plot Keywords:

Psychopath | Cult Favorite | Sutro Museum | Embarcadero Freeway San Francisco | San Francisco California

Cast

Eli Wallach	...	Dancer
Robert Keith	...	Julian
Richard Jaeckel	...	Sandy McLain
Mary LaRoche	...	Dorothy Bradshaw
William Leslie	...	Larry Warner
Emile Meyer	...	Insp. Al Quine
Marshall Reed	...	Insp. Fred Asher
Raymond Bailey	...	Philip Dressler
Vaughn Taylor	...	The Man
Cheryl Callaway	...	Cindy Bradshaw
Robert Bailey	...	Staples
Warner Anderson	...	Lt. Ben Guthrie

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

West Germany:16 (nf) | USA:Approved | Finland:(Banned) (1958) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

2090 Jackson St., San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Pajemer Productions

Trivia:

The scene in which the car nearly drives off the end of San Francisco's unfinished Embarcadero Freeway, before the driver swerves just in time, was done by stunt driver Guy Way. Way had his wife with him when he did the stunt, and she freaked out and didn't recover for several days.

Goofs:

Continuity: The dark colored (black) 1957 Dodge sedan used by the police changes back and forth between the high end Custom Royal model and the low end Coronet model.

Movie Connections:

Remake of "The Lineup" (1954)

A Gem in the Rough...

I was relaxing in my easy chair when I saw this film pop up on one of the mystery cable channels. I was very surprised and pleased at what I saw. First of all, the comments made about this film having great views of San Francisco are 100% true. I love "noir" films that set a city mood, and this was probably the best film that ever set a "San Francisco mood" with the possible exception of Dirty Harry. A friend of mine lived near the Cliff House and seeing Seal Rock Road and the Sutro Museum (used to be the Sutro Baths) was just incredible. Its just a hole in the ground now. Pier 39, now an over-sized shopping mall, was great to see as well when it was an actual shipping pier. And the movie itself was quite good. Eli Wallach played a sadistic, yet somewhat complex criminal who had no morals and yet showed flashes of compassion. Brian Keith's Father Robert played his mentor with excellence and style. This film was no high budget spectacular but more then made up for it with Siegel's excellent direction and great location scenes. I immediately went online to IMDb to try and buy the VHS or DVD but imagine my surprise when I saw it wasn't available! CMON, LETS SEE THIS ONE COME ONTO DVD!!!!