Tough cop Dave Bannion takes on a politically powerful crime syndicate.
Dave Bannion is an upright cop on the trail of a vicious gang he suspects holds power over the police force. Bannion is tipped off after a colleague's suicide, and his fellow officers' suspicious silence leads him to believe that they are on the gangsters' payroll. When a bomb meant for him kills his wife instead, Bannion becomes a furious force of vengeance and justice, aided along the way by the gangster's spurned girlfriend Debby. As Bannion and Debby fall further and further into the Gangland's insidious and brutal trap, they must use any means necessary (including murder) to get to the truth.—alfiehitchie
Homicide sergeant, Dave Bannion's assigned to the case of a policeman, Tom Duncan who has committed suicide. Duncan was head of the records bureau. It seems to be an open-and-shut case, until the police get a call from Lucy Chapman. She says she was Tom's girlfriend, and there is no way he would have committed suicide. Bannion dismisses her story out of hand, but when Chapman is found the next day, beaten and tortured to death, he begins to think there may be something to what she said. Despite warnings to back off, Bannion continues investigating, but it leads to his wife's death. He quits the force and pursues mobster Mike Lagana and his henchman Vince Stone.—garykmcd
In the city of Kenport, where criminal elements control the politicians as well as the city itself, homicide Sgt. Dave Bannion's tasked with investigating the supposed suicide of fellow officer Tom Duncan. Duncan had been head of the records bureau, and though at first it seems an open-and-shut case, Bannion gets a call from Tom's girlfriend, Lucy Chapman, who doesn't believe he would have done this. Though he puts it off, Ms. Chapman's found dead the very next day, having been brutally tortured and beaten to death. As Bannon begins to dig, he's warned to back off, but this only angers him to look harder. A bomb - meant for him - kills his wife, and Bannion's anger boils over. Looking to get vengeance and justice, he works harder. With help from the gangster's forlorn girlfriend, Debby, the clues point towards Mike Lagana and his associate, Vince Stone. But, as Bannion gets closer, the violence increases, spiraling towards a victory, but for which side?—Huggo
In a city rife with treacherous councilors, corrupt police commissioners, and megalomaniac crime lords, the news of officer Tom Duncan's suicide comes as a shock. However, the seductive barfly Lucy Chapman claims that his death was faked--and what's even more alarming--she swears that there's more to the deceased's cryptic wife than meets the eye. As a result, the incorruptible homicide detective, Sergeant Dave Bannion, finds himself pulled off the case and suspended from duty until the murder of a beloved one drags him into a dangerous world of corruption, mighty adversaries, and relentless retribution. Now, somebody's got to pay. Can Bannion ferret out the town's ruthless criminal kingpin?—Nick Riganas
Homicide detective Sergeant Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford) is an honest cop who investigates the death of fellow officer Tom Duncan. It would seem to be an open-and-shut case, suicide brought on, according to his wife, by concern over health issues. Mrs. Duncan found a letter addressed to the District Attorney on her husband's desk and she opens the sealed envelope, reads the contents and contacts local mob boss Mike Laguna to arrange a meeting. Bannion and the police are then contacted by the late cop's mistress, Lucy Chapman (Dorothy Green), who disputes Duncan's mindset and reported bad health.
She explains that Duncan was in perfect health and had no reason to commit suicide. The evidence points clearly to a self-inflicted gunshot wound and Bannion believes that Chapman is trying to make a little money. Bannion is intrigued to learn that the Duncans had a lake property which would have been a challenge on his police salary.
Bannion visits Mrs. Duncan (Jeanette Nolan) and raises the subject but she resents the implication of his suspicions. The next day Bannion gets a dressing-down by Lieutenant Ted Wilks (Willis Bouchey) who is under pressure from "upstairs" to close the case with as little grief to the widow as possible.
Chapman is later found dead after being tortured with cigarette burns. Bannion sets about investigating her murder even though it is not his case or his police force's jurisdiction. A threatening call is made to his home and Bannion goes to confront Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby), the local mob boss. It's an open secret that Lagana runs the city, even to the point that he has cops guarding his house while his daughter hosts a party. Lagana resents Bannion's accusations in his own home during such an event: "I've seen some dummies in my time, but you're in a class by yourself."
Bannion's main problem is that people are just too scared to stand up to the crime syndicate that controls the city, including Lieutenant Wilks, who fears for his pension and whom Bannion dismisses as a "leaning tower of jelly". But when the warnings to him to stop the investigation go unheeded, Bannion's car is rigged with a bomb and his wife (Jocelyn Brando) is killed when she borrows the car.
Feeling that the department will do little to bring the perpetrators to justice by focusing on his old arrests and cases and disgusted by Police Commissioner Higgins' (Howard Wendell) cliched condolences, Bannion resigns from the force and sets off on a one-man crusade to get Lagana and his second-in-command Vince Stone (Lee Marvin). He vacates his house, goes to live in a hotel, and sends his young daughter to live with his in-laws for safety. Bannion continues his investigation and uncovers a suspect in the car bombing named Larry who can be contacted at a nightclub and bar.
When Stone drunkenly attacks a girl in the nightclub, Bannion who is there looking for a Larry, stands up to him and orders him and his bodyguard out of the joint. This impresses Stone's girlfriend Debby Marsh (Gloria Grahame). Debby, left behind in the bar, tries to get friendly with Bannion and ends up in his hotel room. Bannion Points out that she gets her money from a thief. Marsh states: "I've been rich and I've been poor. Believe me, rich is better." But when she unwittingly asks him about his late wife, he sends her packing: "Oh, well, you're about as romantic as a pair of handcuffs," she remarks.
Marsh was seen with Bannion by Stone's associate Larry Gordon and when she returns to Stone's penthouse, Stone accuses her of cheating on him with Bannion and throws boiling hot coffee in her face.
She is taken to hospital by none other than Commissioner Higgins who was playing poker with Stone and his friends at the penthouse. When Higgins warns that he will have to file a report, Stone reminds him that he pays him to deal with that sort of thing.
Her lovely face half-scarred, Marsh returns to Bannion who gets her a room on his floor at the hotel to protect her from the gangsters. He's been looking for a man called Larry who hired a mechanic to set the dynamite in the car that killed his wife. Marsh reveals that it is Larry Gordon (Adam Williams), one of Stone's hirelings.
Bannion confronts and strangles Gordon until he admits that he did organize the bombing of his car. Gordon tells Bannion that he arranged the bombing, that Stone killed Conway and that Duncan was on the take and that Bertha Duncan, widow of the cop who committed suicide, has information that could expose Lagana.
Bannion has been warned by Marsh that killing for revenge would make him no better than those who killed his wife. He thus refrains from killing Gordon, instead threatening to spread the word that he talked. Gordon is seized and murdered by Stone before he can leave town and make his escape.
Bannion now goes to confront Mrs. Duncan accusing her of betraying Chapman to her death and of protecting "Lagana and Stone for the sake of a soft plush life". Mrs. Duncan had called Lagana when Bannion arrived outside her house and he advised her to stall for time. A couple police arrive and Bannion is forced to leave. Bannion had been in the process of strangling Mrs. Duncan to get her to confess and because he believes that if she dies the information she has on Lagana will be released publicly. Bannion returns to his hotel and tells Debby about the Duncans and how he had just about killed Mrs. Duncan. Bannion then gets a call from his sister-in-law.
Stone decides to try and kidnap Bannion's little daughter Joyce (Linda Bennett) who is staying with her aunt and uncle with a police guard outside their apartment. When the guards are called off by Lagana through his police contacts, the uncle calls in a few army buddies to take over. Satisfied that she is in good hands, Bannion sets off to deal with Stone. On the way he meets Lieutenant Wilks, the "leaning tower of jelly", who is now prepared to make a stand against the mob, admitting that, in spite of his own wife's pressure over what will happen to his pension, "It's the first time in years I've breathed good clean air."
Debby Marsh, slowly coming to terms with her disfigurement, confronts Mrs. Duncan. They've both benefited from their association with mobsters as can be seen by their very-similar and expensive mink coats: "We're sisters under the mink," says Marsh. She then kills Mrs. Duncan, thus starting the process that will see Tom Duncan's evidence surface and bring about Stone and Lagana's downfall. When Stone returns to his penthouse, a hidden and waiting Marsh throws boiling coffee in his face, like he did to her.
Stone shoots Marsh and then Bannion arrives and during a short gun battle Debby admits she killed Mrs. Duncan. Stone is eventually captured by Bannion. As Marsh lies dying, Bannion describes his late wife to her in terms of their relationship rather than the physical "police description" he gave earlier: "You and Katie would have gotten along fine," he tells her.
Stone is arrested for Marsh's murder. When Duncan's evidence is made public Lagana and Commissioner Higgins are indicted. Bannion returns to his job at Homicide.
