The Case Against Brooklyn (1958)

Truly Dreadful Film

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

"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.

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.

Only the second film that Paul Wendkos directed, the "Case Against Brooklyn" is a look inside the New York police department. The lead, Officer Pete Harris (Darren McGavin ) must separate the good guys from the bad guys without getting knocked off himself. McGavin had been in films and numerous TV appearances for 10 years, along with co-stars Margaret Hayes, Peggy McCay, and Warren Stevens. It's a bit like an episode of Dragnet - there's an omniscient narrator giving us the play by play. At one point, there's a singer in a lounge, Bobby Helms, who sings "Jacqueline", in a complete standstill, deadpan manner as he leans against the jukebox. The real interesting note here is that he was also the co-writer on "Jingle Bell Rock"... too bad he didn't sing that one. The character here with real personality has about the smallest role - the landlady Mrs. Carney, played by Cheerio Meredith, is eccentric, nosy, and likes to give advice. You probably recognize her as the gossipy "Emma Watson" from the Andy Griffith show. I was determined to watch this through to the end, but it's as dry as a piece of toast with no buttah.

***SPOILERS*** With the shocking news, due to investigative reporter Reid, flooding every newspaper radio and TV station in the city about police corruption the D.A's office headed by Brooklyn D.A Michael W. Norris has commandeered the just graduating class of the Police Academy and put it, and its 40 rookie cops, under his personal control.With the mob controlled bookies having almost total immunity from the law it's obvious that the cops are being paid off to look the other way by what's known as the "Syndicate". But what isn't known is just how far and high the corruption leads to! It may well lead straight into the Police Commissioner's or even Mayor's office!With both rookie cops Pete Harris and is partner Jess Johnson put undercover to crack the bookie ring and the cops controlled by it Pete get's in touch with a local Brooklyn woman who's husband was driven to suicide by the "Syndicate". Acting as if he's an old high school acquainting of her Harris get's Lil Polombo to open up about her husbands, Gus, strange death. Gus was in hock to the syndicate for $800.00, in losing bets on the horses, and got worked over by Finelli's, who runs the local bookie operations, boys and told to come up with the cash or else!Not having the money and not wanting to leave his old lady Lil out in the cold Gus got himself a double indemnity life insurance policy and immediately dove his truck off the road killing himself! As Lil was going through a deep depression, almost drinking herself blind, both Pete and local laundry delivery man and family friend Rudi Franklin came to comfort her. Pete was serious about Lili's loss but Rudi wasn't. Rudi in fact was one of the goon's who worked, laundering the weekly illegal gambling take, for Filenni. Rudi was also one of Filenni's goons who worked Gus over which lead to him, in not wanting to end up at the bottom of the East River, to kill himself.The movie "The Case Against Brooklyn" has both Pete and Russ get stymied in trying to uncover who's the big cheese, or kingpin, behind the police corruption & bookie racket in the borough. Russ' nerves get the best of him which ends up in him getting himself shot and killed by a fellow cop Sgt. Bonney. Bonney in fact was also working for Filenni and mistook Russ as a prowler when he caught him snooping around Filenni's bookie joint.Holding himself responsible for his partners-Russ Johnson-death Pete goes all out to get those behind his murder only to end up getting his wife Jane killed with a booby trapped telephone that was meant for him. Frustrated in how little help he's getting from his fellow cops, who for the most part are in the pay of the "Syndicate", and the D.A's office Peter throws in his badge and quites the force in disgust. It's then that Pete goes out on his own to get Filenni and those in the department who are protecting him as well as the hoods who murdered his wife Jean.Together with a reluctant Lil's help Pete gets an unsuspecting Rudi to take him, in his laundry truck, to the big bosses hideout-the laundry factory-where the sparks and bullets start flying. That's when Pete, like so many times in the movie, blows his cover and ends up with the barrel of a .38 police special aimed straight at his face.Based on a true story "The Case Against Brooklyn", released in 1958, shows that police corruption didn't start and end with both Officer Frank Serpico-who almost lost his life fighting it-and the 1970's Knapp Commission Hearings that shockingly exposed it as not being just a couple of bad apples in the department but a whole barrel full. The fact that there's honest and dedicated policemen like Pete Harris and his late partner Russ Johnson out on the street keeping criminals honest, and behind bars, is what makes the job of being an honest cop that much more easier as well as rewarding for those on the force willing to be one.