Scene of the Crime (1949) on Netflix
Passed19491h 34mCrimeDramaFilm-Noir
An older policeman in Mike Conovan's precinct, once his partner, is found shot with a thousand dollars on him. Lieutenant Conovan takes the case, rookie detective C.C. Gordon at his side.
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- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb6.6/101,774 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Lieutenant Mike Conovan works homicide for the LAPD. Ed Monigan, an older man from his precinct and once his partner, is found shot with a thousand dollars in cash on him. The money rules out robbery and raises the question of whether Monigan was taking payments. Conovan sets out to dispel the theory that Monigan was in league with bookmakers, and to track down a pair of guns for hire from downstate. His partner Fred Piper is getting on in years and his eyesight is failing, while rookie detective C.C. Gordon learns the ropes under Conovan's wing.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Scene of the Crime (1949)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Producer Harry Rapf died of a heart attack a week after principal photography on Scene of the Crime began; the film was the last of his thirty-plus year career.
- Unable to show a stripper actually stripping, the film has Gloria DeHaven's Lili do a "reverse strip": she starts in a skimpy outfit and puts her clothes on while singing Andre Previn and William Katz' song "I'm a Goody Good Girl".
- Van Johnson was known for light comedies and musicals, so playing a cop was a complete change for him; the newly revealed versatility won him a role in 1949's Battleground and the offer of Eliot Ness on TV, which went to Robert Stack instead.
- Charles Schnee's screenplay for Scene of the Crime was based on John Bartlow Martin's non-fiction article "Smashing the Bookie Gang Marauders", the only property Martin ever sold to be made into a film.
- Scene of the Crime was the only film noir Van Johnson ever made, even though it turned a small profit because of its low production cost.
