Rogue Cop

The year after writing The Big Heat, the story of an upright detective avenging his murdered wife, William McGivern published Rogue Cop, a more interesting variation, in which a corrupt detective avenges his murdered brother. Auteur principles being what they are, Fritz Lang's movie of the former is a classic, while Rowland's adaptation of the latter is little known, though dramatically it's tougher, more complex, more unpredictable. It also has Anne Francis playing, as it were, Gloria Grahame, which many will find an improvement, and an iconic, if dull Janet Leigh. The fashion for location filming having just ended, we are returned, unfortunately, to MGM's standing city-street set, though it's atmospherically shot by John Seitz.