The Lineup (1958)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

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:

Cult Favorite | San Francisco California | Sutro Museum | Drug Smuggling | Psychopath

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:

Mark Hopkins Hotel - 999 California Street, 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: In the scene where the passengers are disembarking the ship, Staples gives Dancer the address of the couple as "9020 Jackson." Dancer then relays it to his driver, McLain, as "2090 Jackson." McLain then drives to the correct house.

Movie Connections:

Remake of "The Lineup" (1954)

Terrific crime drama with great location work

Lots of films have been shot in San Francisco, but few present as many views of the City By the Bay as this one. Here's what we see: Pier 41 and the Embarcadero, Coit Tower, The Ferry Building, The Cliff House, Sutro's Baths (after the closure of the swimming baths in 1954, but during the heyday of the skating rink that took one of the bath's place until 1966--this is probably the only motion picture featuring this rare sight), lots of neighbourhoods, and--to top it all off--a car chase on the then under construction Embarcadero Freeway (since torn down due to earthquake hazard)! Add in a truly exciting and relatively believable story of drug smuggling--certainly cutting edge stuff in 1958--and you have a great little film. Of particular note is Robert Keith (the sheriff in 1954's The Wild One) as one of the twisted criminals. Whenever co-villain Eli Wallach kills someone, Keith writes down the victim's 'final words' in his little black book. And in the some things never change department, Oakland's Lake Merritt is cited as the location of a taxi theft by one of the film's numerous junkies.