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Saturday, May 17, 2008

DETECTIVE STORY (1951)


Two Sidney Kingsley ’s plays, DETECTIVE STORY and MEN IN WHITE, etched the template for every cop & doc series to ever get on tv, so you’d think William Wyler’s honest adaptation of the former would look pretty shopworn by now. Surprise! With Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker & William Bendix added to a slew of holdovers from the original B’way cast, and the merest whiff of cinematic ‘opening up,’ the old tropes feel reinvigorated, even endearing. Wyler allows no background music, but does allow just enough heightened stage energy to fit the play’s character while saving his sly & subtle stylistics for the dramatically loaded third act. Eleanor Parker (as Kirk’s tarnished wife) & debuting Lee Grant (a comic relief shoplifter) got Oscar noms, but just watch William Bendix steal the whole show.

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