Detective Story

Twenty-four hours in the life of a precinct station, just another day during which Douglas' jutting-jawed cop uses sadistic strong-arm tactics on a variety of suspects, discovers that his wife has had dealings with a slimy abortionist, throws a hysterical tantrum or two, and runs accidentally on purpose into a hoodlum's bullet. Underlying it all is a morality about the good man driven over the edge by the evil all around him, not made any less stagy by the way several characters come on as though auditioning for a Method class. It has a certain compulsiveness, but as with Dead End (also based on a play by Sidney Kingsley), the main interest lies in the admirable set.