the director and two star of laura ( 1944 ) be reteamed for this solid policier represent dana andrew be the son of a criminal who become a cop to cut all tie with the past but can not keep his inherited violent way in check while interrogate suspect and and one night and he go too far while gene tierney be the estranged wife of his victim and a decorated war hero who have become involve with the town lead racketeer and andrews no . 1 nemesis and gary merrill ( who have himself be the protégé of andrew snr . ) . a usual with preminger and this be a well craft movie with a notable opening credit sequence and enliven by a good cast that also include karl malden ( a andrew incumbent superior ) and tom tully ( a tierney motor mouth taxi driver dad ) and neville brand ( a merrill chief thug ) and with notable support also come from craig stevens ( a the slimy and wife beat victim ) and bert freed ( a andrew sympathetic partner ) and robert f. nolan ( a andrew stern outgo superior ) . have already be warn by the latter to mend his way or else and andrews panic and impersonates stevens for a couple of hour follow his murder to put the police on the ( in this case ) wrong track of merrill while however and after tully become the prime suspect ( by which time andrew and tierney be romantically involve ) and the cop go by himself in merrill lair fully intend to get bump off and frame the racketeer for his own murder . clearly and the protagonist be a complex character and andrews rise to the challenge with a first rate characterization that be typically complement by the in house fox noir style .