tiffanie_says_stay_in_your_lane Review of Where the Sidewalk Ends

Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)

Powerful character study of a troubled detective

[10/10 · 20 April 2024]

I really enjoyed Where the Sidewalk Ends. The title sounded intriguing, and it didn't deliver anything short of my expectations. For such a poignant and deep noir, the story was actually quite simple to follow. The audience is introduced to Mark Dixon (Dana Andrews), an NYPD detective who often gets reprimanded for his violent tendencies. After a Texas tycoon, Mr. Morrison (Harry von Zell), is killed by another man named Ken Paine (Craig Stevens) during a floating crap game at a gangster's residence (Tommy Scalise, played by Gary Merrill) over a fight that started when the woman who was with Paine - his wife, Morgan (Gene Tierney) - said she wanted to go home (Morrison offered to take her home), what ensues for Dixon plunges him into furthering jeopardizing his career, and ruining his life overall. Morgan and Paine are not together, due to his physical abuse. Upon entering Paine's apartment, they get into an altercation, which results in Dixon hitting Paine, and he dies after falling to the floor. It becomes apparent just how much of a disturbed man he really is. The scene where him and his colleague are looking around the apartment, and he opens the closet, looks right at Paine's body, that he had put in there to hide, then tells his colleague the closet was empty, was so chilling. The film itself is creepy, but not in such a way that will cause one to feel unsettled. It's more or less an examination of a mentally unstable law enforcement professional, who teeters back and forth between wanting to do what's right, but also struggling not to become like his father, who was a criminal and mobster. He's not a character who you'll find yourself rooting for. His perpetration of murder and the tireless work he goes through to cover it up result in Morgan's father (Tom Tully) getting arrested for killing Paine. Most of that was his own fault, though. He was talking too much. If he hadn't of been such a blabbermouth - going on and on about how he wanted to put his hands on Paine, saying he had it coming to him - he probably wouldn't have activated Lt. Thomas's (Karl Malden) suspicion. But I think the filmmakers wrote that situation into the story to show how innocent people can suffer negative consequences at the hands of another person's misdeed. Morgan was living with her dad after having separated from Paine, and watching him go to jail, along with not being able to afford a lawyer, absolutely crushes her. It's a thought-provoking film, and I will be sure to watch it again. The performances from the whole cast are so believable. If you're a fan of noirs with urban settings, I highly recommend this.