★ 7 / 10
We discover right from the outset that "Nolan
CinemaSerf
We discover right from the outset that "Nolan" (Edmond O'Brien) is a dodgy cop, and that he has killed a bookie's runner so he can take the $25k he was…
We discover right from the outset that "Nolan" (Edmond O'Brien) is a dodgy cop, and that he has killed a bookie's runner so he can take the $25k he was carrying and use it to build a new life for him and his girlfriend 'Patty" (Marla English). Unfortunately for him, he was seen by a deaf mute and so has to think on his feet before his partner "Brewster" (John Agar) gets to the truth or before the mob, whose cash it was, decide to take their own form of retribution. He has a reputation as a bit of a shoot-first merchant so faces a considerable degree of internal suspicion and that doesn't help as his initially loyal colleague begins to smell a very big rat. Can he get away with it and make it to to his retirement bungalow? On that front, there's not so much jeopardy nor is the writing really up to much either. What does help this stand out, though, is the strong characterisation of the odious "Nolan". O'Brien almost sweats the role, effectively demonstrating his loathing of his fellow cops and of the arrogant mob as he treats them all with contempt and disdain. Even the usually underwhelming Agar is likewise quiet effective as this story quite cleverly marries the crooked cop with the crooked system and the crooked gangsters all in the hope that somebody, somewhere, might actually prove decent enough to avenge the slaughtered man. It's quite a potent little eighty minute thriller, and worth a watch.
★ 8 / 10
Taut and well-scripted with a good performance by O'Brien
twhiteson
Middle-aged "Detective Barney Nolan" (Edmond O'Brien) is a bad cop out to make a score for his retirement fund. He finds it by murdering a "bagman" bookie of a…
Middle-aged "Detective Barney Nolan" (Edmond O'Brien) is a bad cop out to make a score for his retirement fund. He finds it by murdering a "bagman" bookie of a local mobster who was carrying $25,000 in mob-money. Nolan stages the scene to make it look like an arrest that deteriorated into an attempted escape, leaves some chump-change on the corpse, and pockets the $25k. Initially, it looks like Nolan will get away with his callous scheme and eventually retire to suburban track-house comfort with his much younger girlfriend, "Patty" (Marla English).However, he has three things going against him. First, he already has too many shootings "in the line of duty" for this one to be completely shrugged-off by his captain (Emile Meyer), the local crime beat reporter (Herbert Butterfield),and his fellow detectives. Secondly, the mob boss, "Packy Reed" (Hugh Sanders), wants his $25k and sends two goons (one of them a young Claude Akins)after Nolan to get it back. And, finally, there was a witness to the murder. Still, Nolan has his partner, "Sgt. Mark Brewster" (John Agar), who is willing to give his friend every benefit of the doubt, but as the evidence of Nolan's guilt mounts even Sgt. Brewster starts to wonder.The best thing about "Shield for Murder" is the character of Barney Nolan. He's a violent brute. The beast underneath the badge is never far from the surface. He murders for money. He roughs-up his girlfriend's boss for no reason other than his outrage at her skimpy cigarette girl costume. He brutally pistol-whips two men in front of a bar full of shocked and horrified patrons. Yet, we see glimpses of a man who was not always a monster- his sweetness towards his girlfriend and a scene where he lets a young shoplifter off the hook which was apparently a repeat of something he done in the past to good effect.Edmond O'Brien probably aged more quickly and badly than any leading man actor of his era. In 1939's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" he was thin, had a mop of wavy hair, a pencil mustache, and the chiseled features of a handsome Hollywood matinée idol. Yet, within fifteen years, he was badly overweight, puffy-looking, and sweaty. It looks like he didn't give a hoot about his physical appearance which is unusual for an actor. In "Shield for Murder," though, O'Brien's disheveled appearance actually fits his character very well.However, his scenes with 19 yr old budding starlet Marla English are a bit of a stretch. While one can definitely see what an overweight, middle-aged man would like about Ms. English's "Patty"- she looks like a combination of young Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Collins- we have no idea what she sees in him. Ms. English is OK in the role, but her character could have been played by almost any young actress. It appears Ms. English was chosen by the producers just so they could briefly show-off her physical assets in that cigarette girl costume.
57%
AUDIENCE
6.8/10
2.3K
