Between Midnight and Dawn (1950)

Directed by Gordon Douglas; produced by Hunt Stromberg

Dan Purvis (Edmond O’Brien) and Rocky Barnes (Mark Stevens) are two big-city policemen, who spend much of their time patrolling the night in their unmarked car. Theirs is the routine life of the beat cop, arresting burglars, breaking up fights and dealing with frightened, angry citizens. But events are leading to a point, both personally, in that the partners are in friendly rivalry for a pretty girl (Gale Storm), and professionally, as they keep running up against a local gangster (Donald Buka).

For the first half of the film, Between Midnight and Dawn is rather different than most crime-dramas of the period. Almost light-hearted at times, it is a precursor of many cop-buddy movies, and of not a few tv series, in particular Adam-12. (Incidentally, one of the catch-phrases from that series was “see the man…”, spoken by dispatchers sending the police to a complainant. It’s interesting to hear it used twenty years earlier in a setting that is likely meant to represent the same city.)

Barnes and Purvis are pals, comrades from the war in the Pacific, and get along, despite their contrasting characters. Purvis is a veteran (he must have been in the police force before the war), a mild cynic; Barnes is not a rookie (it’s implied that he’s been on the force for two years) but certainly without Purvis’s experience. Their banter is easy-going and sounds genuine. The story is episodic for the initial half. If the movie changes at one point to a more conventional cops-and-mobsters movie, it isn’t ruined by the shift, and if it becomes less enjoyable, it doesn’t become less entertaining.

The script is a good one. There is no memorable dialogue but, as aforementioned, it is realistic, and conveys the camaraderie the partners have. Even their shared affection for the girl doesn’t lead to any stress or ill-feelings, as might have happened in a more predictable movie.

Police procedure is well-woven into the story, and, with the exception of including civilians a little too much in the more dangerous parts of a cop’s job, gives the impression of knowing its subject. Detectives for once are relegated to subsidiary roles, and the duties of the uniformed branch of law enforcement come to the fore.

The direction is also commendable. Advantage is taken of the night. Darkness as such is not used for suspense - the characters are too used to working in it - but it does provide atmosphere. Between Midnight and Dawn gives one of the earliest uses of ‘squibs’ that I’ve seen to simulate bullets hitting a body, which must have been startling to contemporary audiences, and which is effective even now.

The actors are at home in their roles, and well-cast. O’Brien and Stevens were only a year apart in age, and had similarly hefty resumés by this time, yet the former’s less fit look and hardened attitude successfully make him appear older and more experienced, while Stevens’s fresh-faced appearance gives him youth. Secondary characters are adequately played, with Buka loading his with a menace and irresponsibility that easily suggests a criminal who’s had it too easy so far.

Despite a shift about its mid-point, Between Midnight and Dawn is an above-average - and even innovative - entry in the crime genre.