dougdoepke Plot—a shady character turns up dead in front of a police station. Looks like the cops have their man, oops, woman, but then the corpse disappears and fingers begin to point in different directions.Okay time-passer from TCF. The format suggests a transition period between the comedic who-dun-its of the 1930's and the noirish police procedures of the late 40's. The two blend awkwardly here with an obstreperous group of crime reporters and antic characters providing the humor, and a no-nonsense police Lt. (Gargan) the procedure. Unfortunately, the moods contrast rather than complement, a tricky combo, at best. As other reviewers point out, the movie's standout aspect is influence peddling among city officials and police that suggests deals can be made without much regard for guilt or innocence. Perhaps the humorous side was intended to soften this harder message.Rather disturbing to see promising actress Landis just two years before her tragic suicide, one of Hollywood's more lamentable. Too bad her sparkling personality remains subdued in a rather dour role. Still, she remains a distinctive presence and not just for us guys. Unfortunately, tough guy Ireland is wasted in a supporting role. But with his distinctive looks, he's clearly on his way up.Anyway, the mystery's surprise solution is told in multiple flashbacks, so be prepared for the cut-aways. All in all, the movie's a journeyman piece of work, perhaps reflecting a coming change in post-war mood.(In passing—Like reviewer arfdawg, I was puzzled by the clumsily edited opening scene of Janet {Landis} holding a gun on Bard, which doesn't appear to fit with what follows. However, the scene is picked up later in flashback. My guess is the idea was meant to be a teaser. Unfortunately, it looks like dull scissors were used to cut it.)

arfdawg-1 Police lieutenant Sam Carson investigates a political murder after the victim is dumped at the door of police headquarters.I watched this movie on Cafe Noir and right in the beginning there was a splice and a piece of film missing. Didn't bode well since it seemed to be a critical scene that was chopped.In fact, the running time on Cafe Noir is 60 minutes even. This means 4 minutes were chopped off the movie! I wonder if that's the only print available. The quality was good. Bu it was missing 4 minutes!Anyway, I didn't especially like the movie. Thought it was slow and talkie.

gregormandella William Gargan and Carole Landis star in Behind Green Lights, a police drama set in one night in the police station. Gargan is Lt. Sam Carson, the head officer of the night shift and Landis is Janet Bradley, the prime suspect in the murder of a shady Private Eye who is blackmailing her. Both of their performances are excellent.Several of the supporting cast put in a good performance as well, such as Roy Roberts as Max Calvert, the owner of a newspaper who tries to influence Lt. Carson into railroading Janet Bradley into a murder conviction, whether she's actually guilty or not. Newspaper politics and corruption is well depicted here. The only part of this movie that lacks is when they spend too much time with the newspaper reporters who work out of an office at the police station. Too often they delve into a little too much slap stick and corny behavior. That and the character of Flossie, the "nutty woman who sells flowers" who becomes a somewhat too frequent presence in the later part of the movie, although she does help the Lt. figure out who the killer is. That and they over did her use of the phrase "A dollar six bits", which got to be a little annoying. All of this happens in the last half of the film. If you keep in mind when the film was made it's easier to simply look past these few distractions.Never the less, this is a fun, albeit short (64 minutes) movie. It was entertaining to watch Gargan and Landis, who normally got supporting roles in a lot of the movies they're in, get to be the leads. Oh, and you'll never figure out who actually killed the Private Eye until the end! Good overall, worth 7 stars for the excellent and entertaining story.

Alex da Silva Sam Carson (William Gargan) has a murder to solve when a dead body turns up outside his police station. We are introduced to various characters throughout the course of the night before the crime is solved.Unfortunately, there is no passion in this film. Whilst the story isn't bad, the film has a rushed feel to it which encourages a lack of emotional involvement in what is happening. There is also the terrible mistake of introducing a comedy character in Flossie (Mabel Paige) and having a slapstick sequence that involves the switching and hiding of the body of the victim. The film doesn't recover from these low points. You won't guess the murderer but you will get annoyed with the name of John Doe.