Down Three Dark Streets (1954)

(On Cable TV, June 2022) Late-noir-period police procedural Down Three Dark Streets is most notable for being an amalgam of three subplots distantly connected by a framing device – a forerunner, in a way, to some modern police TV shows. The filiation isn’t all that accidental, as the film was adapted from a novel titled Case File: FBI, with the intention of showcasing the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in spotless glory. (Not that you’ll have any doubt about that after the film’s self-important introductory voice-over telling you it’s going to be about the heroes of the FBI.)  The result is… not that good, albeit not without a few occasional moments of interest. The protagonist is played by a grumpy Broderick Crawford, and Ruth Roman populates one of the subplots. It all ends at the foot of the Hollywood sign. But the biggest problem of Down Three Dark Streets remains that the three subplots are thinly integrated – there’s little chance for thematic resonance or unexpected links when the film is meant as an umbrella on top of three shorter films glued together. The obvious FBI propaganda is familiar to anyone who’s seen movies of that era celebrating the work of the Bureau without any distance or skepticism. The result is middling at best, although it’s delivered with professionalism – Down Three Dark Streets is not that good on its own, but it looks better when compared to much-cheaper productions that didn’t even master the elementary elements of filmmaking.