Down Three Dark Streets

When it comes to the semi-documentary style, a little bit goes a long way. While it doesn’t take much for the imperious voiceover or procedural rigor or patriotic pageantry to become excessive, some films seem to find the right balance. One such film is Arnold Laven’s underrated Down Three Dark Streets in which Broderick Crawford stars as FBI agent John Ripley, determined to hunt down the murderer of fellow agent Zack Stewart (Kenneth Tobey), beginning by taking over the three cases Stewart had been working on. Ripley’s primary lead for each case is female: Connie Anderson (Martha Hyer) is the self-obsessed moll of a fugitive gangster; single mother Kate Martell (Ruth Roman) is receiving threats on her young daughter’s life; and Julie Angelino (Marisa Pavan) is wife of a car theft gang member who went to prison rather than rat on his associates. Ripley solves each case until, by process of elimination, he uncovers Stewart’s killer underneath the giant Hollywood sign. Cinematographer Joseph Biroc works his noir magic in a variety of dramatic scenes, especially the confrontation at Walpo’s secret cabin and the cemetery rendezvous. Hyer’s performance is perhaps the most memorable (and occasionally hilarious) in the film: she’s introduced studying herself in a mirror held by a fur-sleeved, bejeweled hand, her response to Ripley’s introducing himself, “What am I supposed to do, break out in a rash?”