User reviews

By 1954, the noir cycle had already sounded most of its dissonant themes. Audiences had seen the crooked cop with the straight-arrow younger brother (The Man Who Cheated Himself); the shantoozie with a past (Gilda, Dead Reckoning, The Last Crooked Mile); the slick mobster beyond the reach of the law with his alcoholic, trophy mistress (Key Largo, Railroaded,The Big Heat); the street-savvy old jane who passes on scuttlebutt for a price (Pickup on South Street). But, as Roy Rowland's Rogue Cop demonstrates, there were still changes to be rung on those themes, jazzed up with fresh casting and pithy writing.

Here, the cop gone sour isn't a homicidal brute like Edmond O'Brien in the same year's Shield For Murder (both movies were adapted from books by William McGivern, as was Fritz Lang's The Big Heat). He's dapper, laid-back Robert Taylor, known by his `brothers' on the force to be on the take but given a wide berth despite it (it's the thin blue line's equivalent of omertà).

When his younger brother Steve Forrest, also a policeman, identifies a connected hit-man, Taylor receives a summons from his paymaster, crime boss George Raft. Either Forrest recants his testimony, in return for a $15-grand payoff, or he'll be killed (the accused knows too much and might sing if convicted). Upon delivering the ultimatum, Taylor gets rebuffed by Forrest; he then tries to blackmail his brother's fiancée Janet Leigh, a nightclub singer, into trying to change his mind. Taylor doesn't really want Forrest to go bad, he just doesn't want him dead.

But Raft plays tougher than Taylor imagines. Lulling Taylor into thinking he still has time, Raft has Forrest shot in the back. And so the worm turns: Using both Leigh and Raft's discarded moll Anne Francis as his allies, Taylor swears vengeance....

Crisply photographed by John Seitz, Rogue Cop burrows snugly into its rotten urban core – a city of dreadful night. With its large and aptly chosen cast, it nonetheless rests squarely on the shoulders of its central character, Taylor, who comes through with the performance of his career. At age 42, he passes muster as a burnt-out cop who's sold out for easy money – in this urban jungle, corruption is just another perk passed up only by fools -- but still has the wits and the will to spring a few surprises when cornered.

There's plenty of brutal, even sadistic, action, but Rogue Cop is less an action picture than a character study that Taylor, somewhat surprisingly, manages to pull off. With its siblings The Big Heat and Shield For Murder, Rogue Cop makes up a grim tryptich of big-town America in the mid-20th century.

A hard-edged, gritty, violent little crime drama from, of all studios, MGM! Probably the closest that studio ever came to a noir thriller, only the overall gloss gives it away as an MGM film (guess they just couldn't help themselves); otherwise it could well have come from Warners or RKO. Robert Taylor is in top form as a hardened detective who has been immersed for so long in the seedy, seamy world of big-city crime that he finally succumbs to its corruption and is even tempted to sell out his younger brother, who is also a policeman. George Raft as the slimy crime boss, Janet Leigh as his brother's pretty, sweet (but hardly naive) fiancé, Robert Ellenstein (in a standout performance) as his partner and friend who doesn't want to see Taylor become the kind of lowlife he's always hated, all combine with a Chandler-esqe script by Sydney Boehm, tough, no-nonsense direction from Roy Rowland (a reliable but somewhat stolid director of mainly westerns and musicals) and a violent, action-filled climax to make this a must-see for noir fans. Highly recommended.

Robert Taylor puts an even harder edge on his 'Johnny Eager' type of role with another hard-boiled, even tougher characterization as a man steeped in underworld crime until his brother (Steve Forrest) is killed by mosbsters. Crisply directed, nice all-around performances from an attractive cast--Janet Leigh, Steve Forrest, George Raft, Alan Hale, Jr.--with Taylor highly convincing in the tough central role.

Not the kind of gritty film noir one would suspect coming from the MGM studios--but well worth it with its Raymond Chandler type of dialogue and a climactic gun fight that is extremely well handled.

Crime buffs should enjoy this one--as will Robert Taylor's fans.

Rogue Cop is directed by Roy Rowland and adapted to screenplay by Sydney Boehm from the novel written by William P. McGivern. It stars Robert Taylor, Janet Leigh, George Raft, Steve Forrest and Anne Francis. Music is by Jeff Alexander and cinematography by John F. Seitz.

Christopher Kelvaney (Taylor) is a cop on the take from the mob that's fronted by Dan Beaumont (Raft). When his brother and fellow cop, Eddie (Forrest), is requested to withdraw testimony about a crook covered by Beaumont, Chris is compromised and danger lurks for all involved.

A face wrinkled like Venetian blinds.

Out of MGM, Rogue Cop is a better than average venture into film noir territories. Characters are standard fare for such plottings, but the moral quagmire at Kelvaney's core lifts things considerably. Helps also that Kelvaney is a cop with a quip, the script affording the character some hard boiled edges. With Seitz on photography duties, Rowland is able to fill out the pic with usual noir trappings, where shadows and dim lights exude a doom ambiance.

Stoolies Incorporated.

Scenes are staged in noir funky locations such as a penny arcade (scene of the vicious crime that kicks everything off), a race track and of course shimmering streets, the latter of which plays host to the gun laden finale. Colourful characters such as Francis' (excellent) lush moll and Olive Carey's wise old news stand operator (info for sale) add some side-bar female essence to the moody tale. The ending could have been bolder as per outcome, but it sits OK, and since the story has its share of emotional wallops for some of the players, it ultimately ends up as a comfortable recommendation to noir fans. 7/10

I caught this on TCM Middle East the other night. First thought was in regard to the opening, my the titles are very sparse and with no soundtrack music it really added to a gritty feel. Then we get to see one hell of a gritty city with a women who looked 50 but was probably in her 30's buying a narcotic from a dealer in the penny arcade (boy I'm lucky enough to have seen one of must be the arcades with penny films in it at Grand Central Station NYC in the 1970's, pretty cool gone by times). So I'm wondering what this womens role is in the film when she slips away after getting her fix, than the dealer gets knifed by a rival dealer. WOW! This is one seedy town! Then the killer drives away but not before the good cop brother stops him because he's overparked by 15 minutes (oh brother!). Cut to the next scene and a detective is walking into the police station and I could have sworn he was the same guy as the killer (of course I'm watching this on a 20" TV so it's probably an easy mistake). Well I wont go on anymore about personal observations other than to say this is a great 1/2 of a movie and Taylor is looking really rogueish and bad, even saying if you cross me again "I'll break both your legs", thats pretty tough talk! But in the second half we get the polished MGM treatment and there is some pretty lame action and a lot of dialog, and Taylor turning a new leaf to be a good cop after all. Two things I noticed that had to be spoofed in the TV show "Police Squad" with Leslie Neilson, the stooly at the newspaper store and the final gunfight where they are shooting in between trash cans and no one is getting hit! Remember "Police Squad"? I was kinda grinning watch this movie thinking about it. Two TV personalities I noticed The Skipper Alan Hale Jr, as a heavy and The guy who was the Sheriff in Bonanza (musta chose him based on his flatfoot character here). Anyway 6/10 because its a crime thriller (which are my favorites next to good war flicks) and Taylor talks the good talk, he just doesn't walk the walk. Damn you'se lousy rogue cop you'se!

With some of the roles he played as he got older, it's hard to believe that at one time MGM was worried about a powder puff image that Robert Taylor had in his youth.

Seeing Taylor as Chris Kelvaney in Rogue Cop is like seeing a whole different player than Armand in Camille. But it's the same guy and a film like Rogue Cop brings out the maturity and depth Taylor had as an artist as well as a person.

Taylor is a long time big city cop on the take to gangland boss George Raft. He's risen pretty high in the department and could go farther. He's a pretty cynical dude, in his chosen field he's seen a lot of the worst that people can be.

But he's got a kid brother played by Steve Forrest who's a straight arrow. He doesn't know about his brother and he gets himself killed because he crosses Raft in the performance of his duty.

Forrest's death gives Taylor a mission, he'll take Raft down no matter what it costs.

There are two prominent female roles, Janet Leigh as Forrest's girl friend who later develops an interest in Taylor and Anne Francis as Raft's moll who turns against him. Both women hold their own in what is a male dominated film. Francis borrows quite a bit from Gloria Grahame and her performance in The Big Heat. Also both Rogue Cop and The Big Heat have blackmail of a syndicate boss as the underpinning of the story.

Raft of course is in his element as a gangland boss. In the rest of the cast there's a very nice performance by Robert Ellenstein as Taylor's honest partner. The final shootout with Raft and company with the two of them is one of the best and most realistic ever staged in a film.

For Robert Taylor fans, Rogue Cop is an absolute must and people who don't think much of Taylor as player will be jolted at how well he does in this film.

"Rogue Cop" is a 1954 film starring Robert Taylor, George Raft, Janet Leigh, Anne Francis, and Steve Forrest.

People seem surprised Taylor pulls off the tough guy act - I've seen him do it before, and he was good at it.

This is a no-nonsense film about a cop on the take (Taylor) whose honest cop brother (Forrest) can identify someone involved in a murder. The guy who pays off Taylor (Raft) wants him to convince his brother to suddenly not identify him. His brother won't go along with it, making for problems.

I had actually just seen a 1933 Taylor film and what struck me is how many octaves his voice had gone down! Smoking and age will do that.

There isn't anything special about this film. Janet Leigh is beautiful as Forrest's girlfriend with a past, and Anne Francis is Raft's decades-younger alcoholic girlfriend. Both women are fresh- faced and lovely.

No pulling of punches in this movie by Taylor. My mother worshiped the ground he walked on, so I well remember his series, The Detectives. He could be rough and tough with the best of them.

Robert Taylor plays Chris Kelvaney, a dirty cop on the take with the mob in this exciting police drama. Taylor goes on a campaign of revenge against those very mobsters, who decide to kill Kelvaney's brother, also a cop, for witnessing something that could incriminate the mob leaders.

The biggest surprise here is Robert Taylor's performance as the dirty cop. We have seen him play many rather stiff heroic types such as in "Ivanhoe", but here, he is tough and gritty as the dirty cop, and very believable. The dialogue in this movie is sharp and well written and similar to a Raymond Chandler detective novel. There is also a good fist-fight between Alan Hale, Jr. ( yes! the skipper on Gilligans Island) and Robert Taylor. A top notch supporting cast rounds out what is an overall good movie , especially for those who like the old hard-boiled detective stories.

In the law and order 1950's, crooked cops were not exactly a box office item, especially from a studio that prided itself on wholesome entertainment. But head executive Louis B. Mayer had been forced out of MGM in favor of the more current Dore Schary who promised harder- hitting films on subjects more topical than Andy Hardy.

I guess it's easier to shift personnel than it is to change tradition, because this crime drama has neither the look nor the feel of the real thing. In short, the movie's an antiseptic treatment of a seamy subject, and all Robert Taylor's tedious tough talk or George Raft's gangster reputation can't muddy up the sheen.

Note Taylor's impeccable suits, the glamor girls in high-class outfits, the uncluttered studio sets, and especially the high-key lighting that robs the visuals of any hint of ambiguity. Unfortunately, director Roy Rowland brings next to nothing to the project, filming in the most pedestrian style possible. This is a film that cries out for at least something of a noir approach to bring out the menace and moral conflict implicit in the screenplay.

Note too, how many punches are pulled from the final ambulance scene to the redeemed bad girls to the fist-fight with muscular Vince Edwards-- as a matter of fact, the movie could have used more of Edwards' convincing style. Note in particular, how the killing of the two innocents is done off camera, depriving the drama of the kind of visual impact it so clearly needs. Simply nibbling around the edges of evil with an unsmiling ex-matinée idol is not enough.

Too bad a studio like RKO or Warner Bros. of the 40's didn't get hold of the property first. They could have done it up right. MGM may have been great for lavish productions like costume drama and musicals, but crime drama simply did not fit their style. And not even Dore Schary could change that.

Robert Taylor stars as a crooked cop who's caught between a rock and a hard place when racketeer George Raft tells him his idealistic kid brother, rookie Steve Forrest, must recant his testimony in a murder investigation...

Big city police corruption and the Kefauver TV hearings on organized crime were hot-button headline-making issues in the early 1950s and they were inspiration to writer William P. McGivern who turned all the hoopla into a topical roman-à-clef trilogy: THE BIG HEAT, ROGUE COP, and SHIELD FOR MURDER. This one's the weakest of the three thanks to the MGM gloss given to an ageing star's "vehicle" and what could have been hard-hitting and gritty became something of a velvet glove with no iron fist beneath, unfortunately. It was distracting to notice how pristine the inner city streets were and even the lowliest character had a spacious and well-appointed abode. It was nice seeing Vince Edwards in an early role but the stand-out is Anne Francis as Raft's tipsy moll, a "sister under the mink" to Gloria Grahame in THE BIG HEAT. Not bad but it could have been much better as a UA or Columbia B.

This picture is an example of a perfect cast. The leading role is a possibility for Robert Taylor to prove that he is an allrounder as an actor. Hard, dirty and gritty - he even use "angelface" Janet Leigh for his interests. Miss Leigh as pretty and credible as always. The same to George Raft. He even could play his part asleep. Anne Francis, Steve Forrest and Vince Edwards are also convincing. Roy Rowland (he directs Taylor in the western-comedy-hit "Many rivers to cross") captures the atmosphere of policeman and gentleman-gangster. Writer Boehm also is the author of "The big heat" an movie which is similar in atmosphere and plot.

He will also do the same a couple of years later in Dick Brook's THE LAST HUNT, the anti hero character, I mean. He is here the lead cop character, but a corrupted heat, whom Olivier Marchal could have been inspired by for his cop stories. But I have already seen more disgusting, ruthless, vicious rogue cop roles, in Ray Liotta manner for instance. Here the Taylor's character is rather smooth for what he was supposed to be, but that crime movie remains very efficient and one of the better of Roy Rowland. Also a pretty good western specialist. And what a surprise to see Roy Barcroft in a small role, far from Republic Pictures serials best villains.

In "Rogue Cop" (1954) Robert Taylor did great.

Dev. Sgt. Chris Kelvaney (Robert Taylor) has a younger brother Eddie (Steve Forrest) who is a street cop. Eddie can identify a murderer he saw run from the scene of the crime.

Big brother Chris, who is "on the take", is contacted by gangster Dan Beaumonte (George Raft, of course) with bribery in mind. He's willing to pay Eddie $15,000 if he changes his testimony. Beaumonte's afraid the murderer (Vince Edwards) knows too much. He might sing and put them all in "Sing-Sing". Dishonest Chris wants him to take it for safety's sake. Eddie isn't his brother so his testimony stands.

Beaumonte has Eddie killed thus waking Chris up to a sad reality. After the death of his brother, Chris swears revenge and starts to track down his brother's killers. He has to get them out in the open and starts laying the groundwork. But Beaumonte wants to stop him and anyone he asks for help. Needless to say that may leave allot of excess bodies lying around...It also may not be as easy as he'd like it to be.

Other cast members include: Janet Leigh as Karen Stephanson (Eddie's fiancée); Anne Francis as Nancy Corlane (Beaumonte's alcoholic ex-girl); Robert Ellenstein as Det. Sidney Y. Myers (Bob does a great job as Chris's partner who is an honest cop); Vince Edwards as murderer Joey Langley (later "Ben Casey" of TV fame 1961-66); Olive Carey as Selma (Chris's connection to snitches) (wife of Harry Sr., mother of Harry Jr. and well-known character actress in her own right.)