The Lineup (1958)

In San Francisco, a psychopathic gangster and his mentor retrieve heroin packages carried by unsuspecting travelers.

Director:

Don Siegel

Writer:

Stirling Silliphant

Stars:

Eli Wallach, Robert Keith, Richard Jaeckel

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
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

Storyline

In San Francisco, two police inspectors are on the case when a rogue taxi driver, with the help of a rogue porter, manages to steal the suitcase of an antiques collector before running down a cop, whose dying gesture is to shoot the cabbie dead. The inspectors discover that a statuette in the suitcase contains heroin. Meanwhile, a psychopathic gangster, his malignant mentor and their dipsomaniac driver have the job of picking up the other heroin shipments, hidden in the luggage of unsuspecting travelers. All goes well until they attempt to retrieve the heroin stuffed in a Japanese doll. A little girl and her lovely young mother have the doll, but when the crooks take possession of it, they find that the heroin has mysteriously vanished.

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Plot Keywords:

bagman | phone booth | line up | crime boss | assignment | 

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Taglines:

The big, new lineup of thrills comes to the BIG movie theatre screen.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 June 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Contrabando

Filming Locations:

Nob Hill, San Francisco, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pajemer Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Several locations given in the film are indeed the actual locations used for those scenes in San Francisco. This is unusual, since most addresses given by characters in films are changed to fictitious ones.

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Goofs

When the 4:30 siren blows, the shadows under the police cars are almost vertical; more like noon.

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Quotes

Julian: [Surveilling a man at a meet] How do we know thats him?
Sandy McLain: He's wearing horned rim glasses ain't he? He's wearing a trench coat ain't he, with the collar turned down? No, it's got to be him, because who wears a trench coat with a collar turned down?

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Connections

Referenced in Murder of a Cat (2014)

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Soundtracks

Polly Wolly Doodle
(uncredited)
Song first published Harvard student songbook in 1880.
Heard on calliope in museum

User Reviews

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.