Posted by KevinSeeing Otto Preminger's film Where the Sidewalk Ends recently has made me regard it as a very odd companion piece with his earlier, more well-known film Laura. With this film, Preminger was reunited not only with his two principal Laura actors, Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney, but also his director of photography, Joseph LaShelle. However, it's similarities end there. Laura with its urbane, sophisticated characters and its high society setting, succeeds as an elegant murder mystery. On the flipside, the crime in Where the Sidewalk Ends takes place in tenement apartments, police precincts, parking garages, and gambling dens. It is for this reason that, of the two films, Where the Sidewalk Ends better represents the classic noir period.
Dana Andrews plays Mark Dixon, a cop who finds himself in a compromising situation when he accidentally kills a man in self-defense. The victim is Ken Paine, a criminal who is suspected of murdering a gambler in a scuffle shown in an earlier scene. Already having been reprimanded by his superior, Inspector Foley, for his violent treatment of criminals, Dixon takes great pains to not only cover up his crime, but also to figure out a way to pin it on his nemesis, Tommy Scalise (played by Gary Merrill).
Enter Gene Tierney as Paine's estranged wife, Morgan. She adds even more complications to Dixon's struggle. Not only is she a new widow, but her father, Jiggs Taylor, is the number one suspect in the murder, because of Paine's physical abuse of Morgan, shown in an earlier scene. The combination of Dixon's growing attraction to the beautiful Morgan and his wanting to protect Jiggs from being accused create more pangs of guilt in him.
The unpredictable and unfair nature of fate is one strong indicator of film noir. In Where the Sidewalk Ends, there are many occurrences of characters who are tripped up by circumstances beyond their control. The whole movie hinges on Dixon's accidental killing of murder suspect Paine, that only the viewer witnesses. We see Paine lunging first at Dixon, then Dixon reacting by hitting him back only twice - once in the stomach, then again in the face, causing him to fall fatally on his head. How was Dixon to know that Paine has a metal plate in his head? That Dixon finds himself in hot water after showing restraint in his typical violence is the type of sad irony that can only be found in a true film noir.
Another instance of fate rearing its inconvenient head is in the scene following the accidental murder in Paine's apartment. Dixon tries to create a false lead by impersonating Paine leaving his apartment for Penn Station, ostensibly to blow town considering he's on the lam. When the cab driver picks him up at Paine's apartment, Dixon, by not waving to the old woman in the window of basement apartment below, unknowingly blows his cover. According to the old woman, in a later scene where she's interviewed by police, she swears that the man she saw go into the cab was not Paine because he didn't wave!
The evidence of guilt is another ingredient in Where the Sidewalk Ends that makes it such a worthy addition into the classic noir period. Andrews, who played such a stoic police detective in Laura, is allowed to be more expressive in this film. As a criminal and a cop, his Dixon has so much at stake, and this tension is constantly apparent to the viewer, and not to the other characters in the movie. This visible guilt is given more weight in Preminger's mise-en-scène and fluid long takes and camera movements. One scene that stands out is the one in which Dixon learns that Morgan is Paine's wife, thus a new widow. The camera reveals his stunned expression and arousal of guilt in the foreground, as Morgan is being interviewed by police in the background. To see these planes of internal and external action in the same shot is something that Preminger is known for.
While Where the Sidewalk Ends is not quite up to par with the extremely well-characterized and witty Laura, it's still a very worthy and exciting movie for film noir aficionados and for fans of Dana Andrews. This movie is all about him! It is a combination of his subtle acting style, Preminger's smooth and assured direction, and Joseph LaShelle's exquisite photography that makes Where the Sidewalk Ends a real treat for film noir aficionados!
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