Warner Bros. Film Noir Double Feature: Homicide / The House Across the Street (DVD)

Tough detectives, pretty women, ace reporters. All staples of the film-noir genre and exemplified by these two films. In Homicide, what seems like a routine suicide sparks the interest of LAPD Detective Michael Landers (Robert Douglas) when he sees something suspicious at the scene. Delving further into the case leads him to the heart of SoCal's farm country. Posing as an insurance investigator, Landers meets several unsavory types and an attractive hotel cigarette girl, JoAnn (Helen Westcott) as he slowly unravels the case. The reporter-turned-sleuth takes the lead in the House Across the Street. When managing editor Dave Joslin (Wayne Morris) writes several articles blasting the police with incompetence after a witness in a fraud trial is killed, the paper's owner, who is worried about a libel suit, reassigns the editor to an advice-to-the-lovelorn columnist. This causes Joslin to become inadvertently involved in the fraud case against racketeer Keever (Bruce Bennett). with fellow reporter Kit Williams (Janis Paige) as his accomplice, Joslin starts putting together the puzzle pieces to get the criminal indicted.

Starring: Robert Douglas, Wayne Morris, Helen Westcott, Janis Paige, Bruce Bennett, Robert Alda, Alan Hale, Monte Blue, James Mitchell, Warren Douglas, Richard Benedict, Barbara Bates, John Harmon, James Holden, James Flavin, Ray Montgomery, Cliff Clark, Lila Leeds, Esther Howard, Alex Gerry, Sarah Padden, Jack Wise, William Gould, Eddie Foster, Jack Mower, Charles Lane, Charles Jordan, Doreen McCann, Zon Murray, Philo McCullough, George Chandler, Ray Largay, Jack Davis, Billy McLean, Fred Kohler Jr., Ian Wolfe, Fred Stromsoe Jr., Abe Dinovitch, Creighton Hale, Ray Walker, Frank Dae, Phyllis Coates, Chick Chandler, Ralph Dunn, Eddie Parks, Frank Ferguson, Fred Kelsey, John Elliott, Billy Gray, Harlan Warde, Tristram Coffin

Rating: NR