Summaries

Johnny Damico botches a murder case and is suspended from the force. In reality, he is put undercover to identify the mysterious boss of the NY waterfront who has murdered everyone in his way. Will Johnny be next in line?

Police detective Damico, outwitted by mob killer Blackie Clay, is nominally suspended; actually he goes undercover (as Tim Flynn, ex-con longshoreman) to find Clay and expose the waterfront rackets. In character, Damico throws his weight around so much that the mobsters try to get rid of him; surviving this, he begins to realize that few of those around him are what they seem.—Rod Crawford <[email protected]>

During a rainy night, Johnny Damico buys an expensive ring to propose his girlfriend Mary Kiernan to marry him. When he leaves the pawnshop, he hears a gunshot and sees two men, one standing and the other lying on the street. The man gives his badge to Damico e identifies himself as police detective. Damico gives attention to the man on the street but he is dead. When Damico calls his chief Lt. Banks, he is ordered to go immediately to the precinct, where he learns that the victim was the witness of a case against the hitman Blackie Clegg, who killed the detective that was investigating him first and showed his badge to Damico. Now Damico is forced to work undercover to find the whereabouts of Blackie Clegg. He has to report directly to Lt. Banks since there is corruption in the police force. He assumes the identity of the tough longshoreman Tim Flynn, from New Orleans, and begins his investigation befriending the stevedore Tom Clancy that lives in his low-budget hotel, and the bartender Smoothie in the beginning of his assignment.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Details

Keywords
  • undercover
  • corruption
  • organized crime
  • waterfront
  • police failure
Genres
  • Thriller
  • Crime
  • Drama
  • Film-Noir
Release date Sep 20, 1951
Motion Picture Rating (MPA) Approved
Countries of origin United States
Language English
Filming locations San Julian St. and East 6th Street, Downtown Los Angeles, California, USA
Production companies Columbia Pictures

Box office

Tech specs

Runtime 1h 27m
Color Black and White
Aspect ratio 1.37 : 1

Synopsis

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