The Lineup (1958)

Directed by Don Siegel. Starring Eli Wallach, Robert Keith, Warner Anderson, Richard Jaeckel, Emile Meyer, Mary LaRoche, Robert Bailey, Marshall Reed, William Leslie, Raymond Bailey, Cheryl Callaway, Vaughn Taylor.

Inspired by the police procedural television show of the same name (syndicated as “San Francisco Beat,” a Bay Area knockoff of “Dragnet), this big screen B-movie version is a routine cops-and-robbers-style yarn for the first half-hour, but picks up in a hurry once focus shifts to the crooks working for a drug-smuggling ring. Pity about the wasted time in the name of source material dedication, but two-thirds of a well-crafted, tough-as-nails noir melodrama is more than two-thirds’ worth it. Wallach makes for an indelibly sociopathic killer, the kicker to his meeting with wheelchair-bound Taylor is a sadistic delight, and the climactic car chase is riveting. Anderson and Reed reprise their roles from the TV show.

69/100