The Case Against Brooklyn (1958)

"The Case Against Brooklyn" is about cops on the take selling their "protection" to the illegal off track betting houses.After a reporter exposes corruption within the police force, District Attorney Norris (Tol Avery) decides to do something about it. Unable to trust the police, he plans to plant newly graduated policemen under cover to ferret out the syndicates. Officer Pete Harris (Darren McGavin), an ex-marine, and Jess Johnson (Brian Hutton) are assigned to the task. In the opening, we learn that Gus Polombo (Joe DeSantis) is heavily in debt to the syndicate headed by Finelli (Nestor Paiva). Unable to pay up, he crashes his truck so that his wife Lil (Maggie Hayes) will collect his insurance. We also learn that Rudi Franklin (Warren Stevens) is the go-between among the various betting parlors as well as being the syndicate's enforcer.Harris and Johnson through Lil learn that a barber shop is the front for Finelli's operation. Jess is discovered setting up a wire tap and is killed by bad cop Sgt. Bonny Robert Osterloh). Capt. Wills (Emile Meyer) questions Bonney and releases him. Willis you see, is on the take as well.Harris strikes up a "friendship" with Lil Polumbo who also is pursued by Franklin. After having a little too much to drink one night, Lil reveals to Franklin the Harris is a cop. After being worked over by the gang, Harris is falsely arrested. After being released, Harris returns to his home and his wife Jane (Peggy McKay) where a tragic event occurs.Harris then goes after the gang. Capt. Wills protests to Finelli about all of the killings stating that he wanted no part in murder when he went on the take. Just then Harris arrives at the gang's headquarters and..........................................................Darren McGavin was always one of my favorite actors. He never quite made it to the "A" list but had a long and varied career with his best work coming in various TV series (Mike Hammer, Riverboat etc). Maggie Hayes too, had a long career but seemed a little too long in the tooth to be a convincing "femme fatale". Warren Stevens similarly to McGavin never made it to the "A" list but too had a long and varied career both in movies and TV. And singer Bobby Helms (My Special Angel, Jingle Bell Rock) makes a very brief appearance as what else, a bar singer crooning a forgettable tune.Still and all despite its low budget, this film makes a fair little noire. A good supporting cast of familiar faces and strong leads make this an enjoyable little second feature.

Sure, if you were collecting over $4 million a month, you could afford to give pay-offs to crooked cops to keep the decent law officers from breaking up this gambling racket. So when honest cop Darren McGavin discovers what's going on, he makes it his mission to break up this racket once and for all and discover who is behind all of the protection that the racket is getting. He gets support from his lovely wife (a young Peggy McKay, best known to today's "Days of Our Lives" audiences as the feisty senior Caroline Brady) who doesn't realize how deep he'll get in, especially when he hooks up to get information from widow Margaret Hayes whose husband was killed after being beaten up due to a gambling debt to the racket.This fast moving crime drama with some aspects of film noir is tight and brisk, with narration typical of film noir docu-dramas. In the mid-late 1950's, Columbia made a lot of these types of films, and some go in where others fear to tread. This one goes deep into the dirt of these rackets, showing innocent people getting killed or beaten up, and involves a personal drama as well. McGavin is perfectly rough around the edges, not quite a Sterling Hayden or Robert Ryan, but just an every day guy trying to lead a decent living. McKay stands out in a scene where she acknowledges the disillusions of the marriage since his involvement began which leads to a shocking twist. The stand-out, however, is Margaret Hayes as the lonely widow, a bit of a lush, who reveals the inner depths of her soul, especially in a scene where she is stood up by McGavin due to circumstances beyond his control.

Darren McGavin plays Pete Harris, a young driven cop in "The Case Against Brooklyn" who goes undercover to smash a police corruption ring. Harris is a highly motivated character who believes that he can make a reputation for himself with this undercover assignment. Director Paul Wendkos, who later helmed "Guns of the Magnificent Seven" and "Cannon for Cordoba," doesn't pull any punches in this gritty, black & white, urban crime thriller. After a newspaper reporter complains during a television news broadcast that police are taking pay-offs to look the other way so that illegal gambling can flourish, the District Attorney takes graduates fresh out of the academy to work as plainclothes agents. The villains threaten to take everything that a gambler, Gus Polumbo (Joe De Santis of "The Professionals") owns if he doesn't pay-up. Instead, the hopeless gambler commits suicide so his wife, Lil Polombo (Margaret Hayes) will be taken care of. Meanwhile, Harris and his partner Jess Johnson (Brian Hutton of "Last Train for Gun Hill") set out to infiltrate the bookies. At one point, Johnson taps into the bookie's phone line to gather evidence. The wily villains smell a rat and they do everything that they can to discredit Harris. Later, the film takes a cue from the Fritz Lang classic "The Big Heat" when our hero's wife dies in an explosion. Harris was supposed to answer the phone. Earlier, a mob henchman (Joe Turkel) swapped Harris' old phone for one packed with explosives. Joe Turkel and Warren Stevens are terrific as the despicable villains who stop at nothing to thwart Harris. Eventually, the McGavin character completes his assignment, but it comes with a high cost. Before she died, McGavin's wife told him that he was letting his assignment get to him. Sure, it's a B-movie, but "The Case Against Brooklyn" is taut throughout its 82 minutes. Emile Meyers is fine as a corrupt N.Y.P.D. Captain who cannot stand the heat. Scenarists Bernard Gordon & Julian Zimet adapted newspaper reporter Ed Reid's expose book "I Broke the Brooklyn Graft Scandal" as the basis for this Columbia Pictures release. "The Case Against Brooklyn" is a rewarding, atmospheric undercover epic that is worth-watching.

A real scandal involving several NYPD police officers stationed in Brooklyn was the basis for this crime and corruption story that became the plot for The Case Against Brooklyn. Cops are being paid off at an alarming rate to close their eyes and look the other way as illegal betting parlors open up for business all over the Borough of homes and churches. The District Attorney in Kings County who at that time in real life was a man named Edward Silver is determined to do something about it. In the film the character's name is Michael Norris and he's played by Tol Avery. What Avery's decided to do is literally hijack the whole graduating class at the Academy and have them work for him undercover. One of them, Darren McGavin is sent undercover to romance the recent widow of Joe DeSantis who committed suicide so his double indemnity clause could pay off Nestor Paiva the bookie who's sent some of his enforcers around to collect. As McGavin romances Margaret Hayes that certainly puts a strain on his marriage to Peggy McCay.And the triangle becomes four sided as Warren Stevens who does a bit of everything for Paiva, muscle, bagman, and even hit-man also starts courting Hayes to see what could spill to the cops, if she can find some that she can trust. Best performances in the film by far are from DeSantis and Hayes. As the victim you can feel things closing in for DeSantis as he makes that final gesture for his wife's solvency. And Hayes you can feel sorry for the fact she's being used by both sides. How it all ends, let me say that the climax takes a leaf from the Fritz Lang noir classic The Big Heat and if you know that film, you know about 80% of how the story will come out.McGavin himself is a ruthless sort looking to prove himself, knowing that a good job here will cement his reputation. In real life it would have gained him a long career in Internal Affairs.A year after the Dodgers left Brooklyn, The Case Against Brooklyn is a fine noir drama based on a real incident in the beloved former home of the Bums.