Film Noir veterans John H. Auer (Hell's Half Acre) and Steve Fisher (I Mobster) directed and wrote this police thriller in the vein of the popular Detective Story of two years earlier. The film juggles around five characters through a particularly bad night in a Chicago police precinct - Johnny Kelly (Gig Young), a stressed out cop ready to crack; Sally "Angel Face" Connors (Mala Powers), a lounge singer looking for a way out; Hayes Stewart (William Talman), a thug-for-hire who's dying to move up in the syndicate; Penrod Biddel (Edward Arnold), a smooth and corrupt district attorney; and Sgt. Joe (Chill Wills), an honest cop trying to keep Joe on a straight path. Beautiful black-and-white cinematography by John L. Russell (Psycho) and another great bad-girl performance by film noir goddess Marie Windsor (Force of Evil).
