The Lineup

Dark crime drama about heroine smuggling into the US from China that shows the gritty streets of San Francisco in a different light than normal. It appears that unsuspecting passengers have stashes of heroine placed in the nicknack's they have purchased abroad, and hoodlums such as Eli Wallach and Robert Keith are sent out to retrieve them. One such person is a toupee-less Raymond Bailey ("The Beverly Hillbillies") who dominates much of the first half of the film as a possible suspect in the heroine ring. Another attempts blackmail and is murdered in a sauna; A manservant refuses to allow the gangsters to take the package (to apparently switch it with another package) and looses his life. Finally, a single mother and their daughter are victimized by the gangsters and end up in terror as the gangsters ride them all over SF and the general area (including a newly built freeway) after the little girl uses the powder hidden inside her porcelain doll on its face. There are some really graphic violent scenes. The set-up for the shooting in the sauna is really suspenseful. Robert Keith is cast against type, and in one scene gives an interesting assessment of the gangster's life compared to normal people's life towards the single mom. Eli Wallach is excellent as the most dangerous of the drug ring. When he is told by the boss of the heroine ring he is dead, his reaction is priceless, leading to one of the best shots of violence since "Kiss of Death's" notorious old lady on the staircase sequence. Later, there is another graphic demise in which the viewer cannot help twitch in agony over the psychological feelings of pain. I thought that the use of the single mother and young daughter was well handled; It could have been done with more manipulation by the kid being too cutesy pie, but that doesn't happen here. The writers do a good job in preventing those segments from being too cloying. Columbia's Film Noirs tended to be more violent than others, especially as the cycle of that genre began to cool off in the mid-late 50's. Along with "The Garment Jungle" and the later "Experiment in Terror", "The Lineup" has a realistic horror to it that would later be used in many classic crime shows of the 60's and '70's. However, I didn't find that the title was appropriate for the film; Other than one scene of the line-up of ship's porters in the beginning, it had nothing to do with police line-ups. "Heroine Smuggling" would have been a more appropriate title, although that might sound more exploitive than mainstream.

This movie is one shocking scene after another. They're connected, to be sure. It's a very well crafted film. But it;s like the "This Is Cinerama" of shocking brutal effects. Eli Wallach, right out of his brilliant performance in the sublime "Baby Doll," plays a psychopath. His mentor is Robert Keith. They have a very strange relationship: Keith, though a cold blooded criminal, is very strict about grammar and manners. Wallach wants to learn from him. Add to this twosome a blond, prettied-up Richard Jaeckel as their eager driver. (See my comments on the pros and cons of gay hit men in fifties movies under my comments on "Murder By Contract." At least people saw them but they were far from role models. Better than the swishy stereotypes of earlier decades but portrayed most unflatteringly nevertheless. We have a scene in a steam room. We have nuns and children. We have a terrific car chase. I'm not giving away any plot. I'll say only that these boys don't play nice -- or nicely as the Dancer (Wallach) character would have it. It's a brilliant movie. It's one of Siegel's most polished and very best.

In the harbor of San Francisco, a porter throws the suitcase of a passenger that has just arrived from Asia into a taxi and the driver hits a truck and a police officer that kills him before dying. The owner Philip Dressler (Raymond Bailey) explains to the police Lieutenant Ben Guthrie (Warner Anderson) and Inspector Al Quine (Emile Meyer) that the content of the suitcase are antiques that he bought in Asia from a street vendor. However the police laboratory discover that one statuette has heroin hidden inside and the inspectors replace the drug per sugar and return the suitcase to Dressler, who is a citizen above suspicion. Meanwhile the gangster Dancer (Eli Wallach), who is a psychopath; his partner Julian (Robert Keith) and the alcoholic driver Sandy McLain (Richard Jaeckel) are hired by the kingpin The Man (Vaughn Taylor) to collect the heroin packages that have been smuggled hidden in the luggage of three other innocent tourists. They succeed to retrieve the two firsts, but the load of the third one vanishes and they panic. Meanwhile the police is hunting them under the command of Lt. Guthrie. "The Lineup" is another great police story directed by Don Siegel. The story is original and the action scenes in San Francisco are impressive for a 1958 film. The dysfunctional criminals are peculiar and Eli Wallach performs a psychopath killer; Robert Keith takes notes of the last words of Dancer's victims in a notebook; and Richard Jaeckel is an alcoholic driver. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "O Sádico Selvagem" ("The Wild Sadist")

The late director, Don Siegel, never made a bad film: and many of them were classics of their kind. He directed "Flaming Star", one of Presley's better efforts. He directed Clint Eastwood in "Coogan's Bluff", "Two Mules For Sister Sara", and "The Beguiled". He made one of the best of John Wayne's later films: "The Shootist". He directed the original "Invasion of The Body Snatchers". He also directed now rarely seen films like "Baby Face Nelson", with Mickey Rooney. "The Lineup" stands out even among this fine body of work. While "The Lineup" is a 'caper' film, it's anything but what passes these days for films of that genre. I was lucky that a film society I belonged to, managed to get hold of a 35mm print of this film, along with prints of "The Hanged Man", Riot In Cell Block 11", "The Verdict", "Baby Face Nelson", and others. Naturally, this and other early Don Siegel films are not on tape. Something I hope will be rectified one day, hopefully now, put out on DVD. Eli Wallach, as 'Dancer', is outstanding, as is Robert Keith as 'Julian'. If it turns up on TV, or cable, cancel everything and watch it. It has one of the best endings ever!

Good crime drama with interesting settings and some good action scenes.The movie really showcases San Francisco. Sutro Baths ( now sadly lost in a fire) is the setting for a some excellent scenes. You will also see the Opera House, the Ferry Building, some freeways being built, and other interesting sights. If you want to see how San Francisco looked in 1958 and see some pretty good action and some pretty mean bad guys you will enjoy this one.

Heroin from Asia is flooding into San Francisco, carried in souvenirs and curios packed by unwitting mules. When the mules arrive home to kick back after their peregrinations around the Pacific Rim, they are paid an unexpected and usually unpleasant visit by a team of psycho-killers named Dancer and Julian (Eli Wallach and Robert Keith, respectively), who collect the precious narcotic. Wallach is forever on the edge of detonation, so it takes the patient ministrations of Keith to soothe him down and keep him on task; their relationship suggests that of an old queen dealing with rough trade. (Their young driver, Richard Jaeckel -- best remembered as the young Turk in Come Back, Little Sheba -- adds to the homoerotic tone, as does a violent scene in a steambath). Don Siegel goads the action along and knows what he's doing every step of the way. The Lineup marks a no-man's-land between classic film noir, which had pretty much ground to a halt, and the flatter, faster and more sensational thrillers that the early 1960s would bring; in its more modest way, it foreshadows later movies like The Detective, Bullitt and The French Connection.

This was a breezy, fast-paced little piece of noir that crosses the time barrier pretty efficiently. Each of the three main villains, driving through the sun-lit streets of San Francisco, delivering violence and death, leave up with strongly etched character studies. The locations are wonderful, particularly the ice rink. It's a privilege to sit back, follow, a simple, well-woven plot and travel back in time to a place you never been, yet know pretty intimately anyways. Films that flow with such ease are becoming rare items This would be a great double bill with Bullitt or Dirty Harry. Heck, it would be a great double bill with anything.

Don Siegel was a fine director, and here he has made a film based on a TV show, The Lineup, which ran on CBS for six years, and using its stars, Warner Anderson and Marshall Reed as Lt. Ben Guthrie and Inspector Fred Ascher. The show was similar to "Dragnet," meaning that it had a lot of police procedural work, which Siegel didn't want in the film. He lost that argument with Colombia. Robert Keith and Eli Wallach are gangsters employed to retrieve narcotics that are hidden in items coming into the country -- unknown to the people who actually purchased them. This means either finessing the items from them on some excuse, breaking into their homes, or whatever needed to be done. The Wallach character elects to kill as he goes. When he gets to a woman (Mary LaRoche) and her daughter, the heroin is is supposed to be inside a doll, except it isn't. Now they have to tell the big boss what happened. If you're from San Francisco, this is the film for you, as it uses San Francisco locations circa 1958, which you will find fascinating. The city gives the film a great atmosphere, too. Pretty good film noir, with a dramatic, wild ending.

How could you go wrong? Directed by Siegal. Written by Silliphant. Starring Wallach. I realize as this is written (2016) B&W police procedurals from the 1950s are no longer cool, and to many this is a piece of history. But I just re-watched it and I suggest it holds up regardless of age. The last 10 minutes includes a scene where one of the two gangsters explains to a helpless female captive that criminals "need" violence and that regular folk never understood that. A double irony -- and a credit to Silliphant's genius -- is that this particular character never touched a gun in his life. Wallach of course steals the show. By a bizarre coincidence I was watching GOOD BAD AND UGLY (Leone) on another device at the same time and I was gob-smacked at how this actor could hold the camera like no other. Recommended.

I only saw this violent little thriller once, about 1977. Robert Keith and Eli Wallach are a pair of gangsters who have to pick up some narcotics that have been sneaked into the country. It is inside a doll. Keith, an old hand at criminal activity and violence, is the control man who keeps reassuring the volatile Wallach that if they get through the various delays and problems along the way, the mission will be accomplished and "It will all be over by" the hour when they leave town. Of course nothing is easy, especially as Wallach's "Dancer" is such a sensitive, over-ready killing machine. Soon the number of unnecessary murders accumulate (a butler, a blackmailing hood). Also, the dangers of being a courier increase - the drugs are not all found, and Dancer decides to try to explain this to the wrong party. His typical reaction to the wrong party's reaction leads to the violence of the film's conclusion. This was one of Don Siegel's first thrillers, and may be the leanest in terms of plotting. It is tightly filmed and remarkably effective, especially in the way the violence breeds more violence until it engulfs the last moments of the movie. It is not the squeamish, although not as bloody as other films, but it is for film noir fans.