Rogue Cop

Rogue Cop

Theatrical Film Poster
Directed by Roy Rowland
Produced by Nicholas Nayfack
Screenplay by Sydney Boehm
Based on the novel 
by William P. McGivern
Starring Robert Taylor
Janet Leigh
George Raft
Music by Jeff Alexander
Cinematography John F. Seitz
Edited by James E. Newcom
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates
  • September 17, 1954 (1954-09-17) (United States)
Running time
 92 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $695,000[1]
Box office $2,509,000[1]

Rogue Cop is a 1954 film noir directed by Roy Rowland, based on the novel by William P. McGivern, and starring Robert Taylor, Janet Leigh, and George Raft.[2]

Plot

Christopher Kelvaney is a crooked police officer who takes bribes and payoffs from criminals and other nefarious folk. His brother Eddie is a young member of the police force who is honest and loyal.

In a penny arcade, a drug dealer is stabbed to death by a man who claims the territory for himself, and Eddie witnesses a gangland murder. Mob boss Dan Beaumonte gives orders to Kelvaney to buy his brother's silence. Eddie refuses, and Kelvaney is unable to persuade Eddie's sweetheart, nightclub singer Karen Stephenson, to change his mind.

The ruthless Beaumonte brutally mistreats his moll Nancy Corlane, who then tries to help Kelvaney do what he has to do. Kelvaney exposes the fact that Karen was once a mobster's girlfriend in Miami. He gets her to admit that she's not in love with Eddie and is willing to let him go if it will save his life.

An out-of-town button-man named Langley is brought in to kill both brothers, but succeeds only in killing Eddie. His conscience aroused, Kelvaney goes after the mob leaders himself. He admits his corruption to superiors, but asks for a chance to bring them evidence that will put Beaumonte and others behind bars, particularly after Nancy is also found murdered. Kelvaney succeeds in gaining revenge for his brother.

Cast

Reception

According to MGM records the film earned $1,417,000 in the US and Canada and $1,092,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $920,000.[1]

Critical response

Film critic Bosley Crowther gave the film a positive review and wrote, "This is not a new thesis. They've been making movies on it for years. And Rogue Cop is not so exceptional in its construction or performance that it is likely to cause surprise. But it is a well-done melodrama, produced and directed in a hard, crisp style, and it is very well acted by Robert Taylor in the somewhat disagreeable title role...For what it is in the line of crime pictures, there's a lot to be said for Rogue Cop."[3]

Awards

Nominations

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. ↑ Everett Aaker, The Films of George Raft, McFarland & Company, 2013 p 159
  3. ↑ Crowther, Bosly. The New York Times, film review, September 18, 1954. Last accessed: January 18, 2008.

Tony Tracy, 'Unnatural Law: William McGivern's Rogue Cops' in James Rodgers, Matthew O'Brien (eds), After the Flood: Irish America 1945-1960. Dublin, Irish Academic Press, 2009

External links

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