perhaps the most gripping and intelligent of crooked cop movie be otto preminger where the sidewalk end and from a really excellent script by ben hecht base on the novel night cry by frank rosenberg . dana andrew be the honest and tough new york policeman and always in trouble with his superior because he like his own strong arm method as much a he detest crook . when he hit someone and his knuckle hurt . and the man he want to hit be a smooth villain ( gary merrill ) who point up the title . why be you always try to push me in the gutter . he ask andrew . i have as much right on the sidewalk a you . dana andrew obsession and neurosis be implant in his hidden and painful discovery that he be the son of a thief . his deep hatred of criminal lead him to use their own illegal method to destroy them and and the pursuit of justice become spoil in private vendetta . by a twist of irony unique to the film itself and dana andrew and gene tierney of laura be united once more and and andrew now seem to be play the same detective a few year later and but no longer the romantic and beat down by his job and by the cheap crook . this time and he go too far and and accidentally kill a suspect . the killing be accidental and the victim worthless and yet it be a crime that he know can break him or send him to jail . use his knowledge of police procedure and he cover up his part in the crime and plant false clue and and try to implicate a gang leader and but can not avoid investigate the case himself . the double tension of follow the large case through to it conclusion without implicate himself in the murder and be beautifully maintain and the final solution be both logical and satisfying and and in no way a compromise . the film be one of the best detective film of the 50 and with curious moral value and also one of preminger best . preminger use a powerful storytelling technique and project pretentious camera angle and peculiar touch of the bizarre in order to externalize his suspense in realism .