Shield for Murder (1954)

When a brutal police detective Lt. murders a bookmaker's runner for $25,000 in cash, a deaf mute sees him do it and now he finds he must kill again to cover his tracks.

Directors:

Howard W. Koch, Edmond O'Brien

Writers:

Richard Alan Simmons (screenplay), John C. Higgins (screenplay)

Stars:

Edmond O'Brien, John Agar, Marla English

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Edmond O'Brien	...	Barney Nolan
Marla English	...	Patty Winters
John Agar	...	Mark Brewster
Emile Meyer	...	Capt. Gunnarson
Carolyn Jones	...	Girl at Bar
Claude Akins	...	Fat Michaels
Lawrence Ryle	...	Laddie O'Neil (as Larry Ryle)
Herbert Butterfield	...	Cabot
Hugh Sanders	...	Packy Reed
William Schallert	...	Assistant D.A.

Storyline

A vicious cop kills a bookie's runner and steals $25,000 from the corpse. He then frames everyone in sight in order to keep the money to buy a new home for his would-be lounge singer girlfriend.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | rogue cop | witness | police detective | swimming pool | 

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Taglines:

So savage, so stark, so vicious, it'll make your skin crawl!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

September 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

Freibrief für Mord

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Camden Productions Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Noland shows Patty the new model house, the sign out front says "Castle Heights Tract Homes". Castle Heights is an actual Los Angeles neighborhood where such homes were being built at the time. It is situated between Chevoit Hills, Beverlywood and the Santa Monica Freeway.

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Goofs

In the beginning of the film, when the police have been called to the scene of the shooting, a traveling shot of a responding police car shows a black and white car--no lettering saying "Police", or a city logo, or badge, or anything; just a plain black and white four-door sedan. However, when it pulls into the alley next to the crime scene and the driver gets out, the word "POLICE" in large black lettering can be seen on the door.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Capt. Gunnarson: [to police reporter] Write his story good.

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Connections

Referenced in Biography: Carolyn Jones: Morticia and More (2002)

User Reviews

a shocker for sure

The poor police detectives that populated the film noirs of the early 1950s. Their suits were rumpled and they lived on whatever pittance the departments paid them. Edmond O'Brien pretty much owns the stereotype in Shield For Murder, which he also co-directed, a film that takes "hard-hitting" to new heights of violence, most notably in a scene where he pistol-whips the holy crap out Claude Aikens, who plays an enforcer for the local underground crime boss. O'Brien's character had either gradually gotten fed up with his lousy pay or was always on the take, but either way, his murder of a numbers runner and "liberation" of the $25,000 he was carrying, opens this film onto a unique level of tawdry bleakness only made possible by the lesser studios, like the one from which this highly recommended film emerged. Ostensibly, what drives O'Brien's character is a desire to provide the kind of life his girlfriend (Marla English) deserves, a nicely appointed and totally furnished tract house in the suburbs. John Agar, O'Brien's honest partner on the detective division, seems to gradually move in on Marla, coinciding with O'Brien's descent into violent desperation, capped off by a few drinks in a spaghetti bar where he meets incredible looking Carolyn Jones. Everything builds up, well-paced to the end.