"Detective Story" is a great film, made by a great director (William Wyler) and the acting is terrific...but the film, while great, is flawed. Now I cannot blame any of the cast or production crew for this....it was just that the studio could not replicate the successful stage production. Why? Because a main plot point was about a doctor who performed abortions...and in 1951 films simply were not allowed to mention abortion. As a result, the film, while terrific, doesn't make all that much sense unless you can see the subtext. Instead of 'abortion mill', they use the words 'baby farm'...which implies they provide a place for an unwed woman to have a baby and then essentially sell off the baby to childless couples under the table. It's illegal but NOT enough to explain why Detecive Jim McLeod is so vindictive and angry towards the doctor in charge of the operation....and abortions would be...especially because apparently some of the women died at the doctors hands.

90% of the film is set in a room much like you'd see in old "Barney Miller" episodes. Detectives come and go...bringing in victims and victimizers alike. There are many different stories, but the main one is about the 'baby farm' and McLeod's manic and sadistic prosecution (persecution is more like it) of the case. In addition, there are two burglars (gay burglars apparently in the play, though all gay subtext is missing),a shoplifter as well as an embezzler. All the stories are interesting and compelling, though I did find Joseph Wiseman's acting (as one of the burglars) occasionally over-the-top.

All in all, a great story about a lot of things...in particular, an angry, inflexible cop who considers himself judge, jury AND executioner (Kirk Douglas). Well worth seeing and never, ever dull! In many ways, aside from the usual camera work and lighting, an excellent example of film noir...especially the dialog, violence (usually involving cops beating the perpetrators) and grittiness.

By the way, this is among character actor Burt Mustin's first films...and he looks ancient even here! He began appearing in films in his 60s...but looked much older!

DETECTIVE STORY is one of those thrillers that takes place over the course of a single day, a bit like an old-fashioned 24. Thus the premise is a decent one - a police station is the setting for about 90% of the story - and the web of lies, deceit, and conflict that arises from the arrest of a back street abortionist is well crafted and expertly staged. And when I say staged, I mean it; this was an adaptation of a popular stage play, which is apparent in the single location nature of the thing.

It's an interesting little work that plays out as a character piece for the most part. Kirk Douglas appears in a star-making turn as the stressed-out detective who becomes more and more personally involved with his case. He has the everyman likability of his son Michael here, and is completely believable in the part. The supporting cast is a delightful mix of laconics, wiseguys, and eccentrics, and incorporates the familiar faces of Lee Grant, Bert Freed, William Bendix, and future spaghetti western star Craig Hill. Overall, though, it's director William Wyler (ROMAN HOLIDAY) who keeps the whole thing taut and bubbling merrily along.

Before coming to the screen, Sidney Kingsley's Detective Story ran in the 1949-1950 season on Broadway for 581 performances. It's hard to believe because Kirk Douglas is so right for the part, but on Broadway the role of uptight police detective Jim McLeod was played by Ralph Bellamy.

Lee Grant, Michael Strong, Joseph Wiseman, and Horace McMahon are the four that came over from the original Broadway cast. These and the others that William Wyler cast for the film, fill their parts almost to perfection. But this one is really Kirk Douglas's show.

Kirk essays the part of a modern Inspector Javert in playing McLeod. Remember that in Les Miserables, Javert was also the son of a criminal and feels he has a burden to live down. Like Javert, McLeod has this maniacal attitude towards the criminal element. The world however is not black and white as McLeod discovers to his thorough destruction. I have no doubt that Sidney Kingsley was influenced by Victor Hugo's classic in writing this play.

Note a lot of the Irish names among the squad, note also the fact that this is 1951 and the attitude about abortion was a whole lot different back then. Douglas's pet peeve is back alley abortion provider George MacReady. Many women died from the hands of such folk as MacReady, this was before Roe vs. Wade.

MacReady is also harboring one dirty big secret about someone very close to Douglas. In his black and white world, the revelation of it breaks Douglas.

Eleanor Parker is Douglas's loving wife who is showed to be less than perfect and neither her or Kirk can deal with his rage. William Bendix in one of his best screen parts, plays Douglas's veteran partner who's tough and compassionate.

Lee Grant as the mousy little shoplifter got an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in her screen debut. Unfortunately she fell afoul of the blacklist and didn't make it back to the screen for over fifteen years. After that her parts were anything, but what you see here.

Joseph Wiseman plays the psychotic burglar and you won't forget his character rages either. But Douglas is wound so tight in his role, it's anyone's guess who is the bigger psycho.

Detective Story is a realistic look at an NYPD squad back in the days before Miranda. It serves as the model for other police dramas right up to and including NYPD Blue. It's one of Kirk Douglas's best developed characters on screen. Reason enough to see it.