A Gun in His Hand (1945)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Joseph Losey

Writers:

Charles F. Royal (story)
Richard H. Landau (writer)

Release Date:

15 September 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime | Short

Plot:

Dennis Nordell joins the police force with a long-range goal; use the knowledge he gains to pursue a career of undetected crime...

Plot Keywords:

Evidence | Robbery | Police Academy | Police Officer | Archive Footage

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Tom Trout	...	Officer Dennis Nordell
Richard Gaines	...	Inspector Dana
Anthony Caruso	...	Frankie (as Tony Caruso)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
William Challee	...	Snorky (uncredited)
Robert Emmett O'Connor	...	Veteran Policeman Mc Guinnes (uncredited)
Arthur Space	...	Whitey (uncredited)
Harry Strang	...	Captain R. C. Johnson (uncredited)
William Tannen	...	Police Lab Technician Wilson (uncredited)
Ray Teal	...	Lt. O'Neill (uncredited)
Charles C. Wilson	...	Chief of Police (uncredited)
Harry Wilson	...	Ex-Con Thug (uncredited)

Directed by
Joseph Losey

Writing credits
Charles F. Royal		(story) (as Charles Francis Royal)
Richard H. Landau		(writer) (as Richard Landau)

Original Music by
Max Terr

Cinematography by
Jackson Rose

Film Editing by
Harry Komer

Art Direction by
Richard Duce

Music Department
Albert Glasser	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1945) (USA) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

Crime Does Not Pay No. 46: A Gun in His Hand (USA) (series title)

Runtime:

19 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #10966) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Good Cop, Bad Cop-----7/10.

This is the story of a young man who knew what he wanted to be once he graduated from the police academy: a thief. Once Dennis Nordell becomes an officer of the law, his grand scheming falls perfectly into place. Officer Nordell walks his beat through the day and plans robberies of liquor warehouses at night. Because Officer Nordell knows the whereabouts of his fellow officers up to the minute, he can plan without fail many robberies over several weeks.

Once Nordell murders a fellow police officer during a robbery, clues start to fall into place and Nordell starts to head unknowingly into a trap. Police headquarters suspect Nordell, but leave it to Nordell to hang himself while taking charge of the investigation. Nordell complies by tampering with evidence. Nordell goes a step too far by trying to put the finger on a street thug who literally doesn't have the fingers required to leave any fingerprints.

This story plays out like a decaffeinated CSI TV show. You won't have to sit through an hour to see how the robberies get figured out, nor will you have to wade through minutes and minutes of beer and car commercials. Best of all, you won't have to watch guys with perpetual two-day beards in khaki pants solve anything.

It's very dated, but who isn't these days….7/10.

Clark Richards