TO: Students in CJ 50 - Sections 005
FROM: R. B. Taylor
DATE: 10/28/02
RE Paper assignment 2
Private Hell 36 (Republic, 1954) is a classic film noir and also one of the best films about the psychological dynamics behind police corruption. The film itself stars Ida Lupino, playing a nightclub singer. She appeared in many noirs, is probably best known for her role opposite Bogart in High Sierra (1941). She co-wrote the script for this movie, along with Collier Young, her then ex- husband and ex-co-owner of their film production company "The Filmmakers." As head of her own production company she directed and wrote several well-known film noirs and social problem pictures including Not Wanted (1949). The Bigamist (1953), and The Hitchhiker (1953), the latter based on a true story about a crazed hitchhiker who kidnapped two men. She was the only woman directing in the all-male Hollywood of the 1950s and 1960s. Later in the 1950s and 1960s she did directing of TV westerns for shows like Gunsmoke
"Her work for The Filmmakers," says Carrie Rickey, "could serve as a model of modern feminist moviemaking. Not only did Lupino take control of production, direction and screenplay, but each of her movies addresses the brutal reprecussions of sexuality, independence, and dependence." [ http://www.reelwomen.com/lupino.html ]
Don Siegel, the director, is best known for his action films including Riot in Cell Block 8 (1954), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1955), and, much later, Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry (1971) where he returned to the topic of police corruption, the same topic as Private Hell 36, but in a more political context. When the great French "new wave" director Jean Luc Godard met Siegel he told him he liked his work. Siegel later admitted he had seen none of Godard's work at that time.
The general plot is as follows: There is an elevator murder in NYC. An off duty experienced cop (Cal Bruner) sees something funny as he is passing the drug store on the way home. He intrudes on a robbery, kills a man, is shot at, and subdues the other robber, who, it appears is some kind of drug addict. So we know Bruner is brave. Back at the precinct we meet Bruner's partner, Farnham, who is upset because another officer, Charlie, Bowman, has just been shot and killed. Bowman had just made his last payment on the car. They interview the suspect, and the druggist, and learn that the counterfeit $50 bill came from a bartender with a bad gall bladder. The police leave. We see Farnham getting home late, his wife worried, the baby making noise and fussing. It is clear his wife is worried, they have money problems, and cops are underpaid. The next day Farnham and Bruner visit the Emerald Club, interview the barkeep, and the singer, Ida Lupino as Lilli Marlowe, who loaned the 50 to the bartender. She refuses to disclose much information to the officers. On the way out Bruner palms her cigarette lighter, then shows up later at her apartment to try and get her to talk. She won't. She goes to the police station to look at mug shots. No dice. They decide to take her to the track because the guy who gave it to her plays the horses. They stake out the track for several days. At the track we learn that Lilli likes diamonds, and Farnham is amazed to see so much money being wasted. Bruner and Lilli start hanging out at night together. On the last day at the track there is a chase of the counterfeiter who wrecks his car and is killed. Bruner pockets some dough and before Farnham can object he splits to call for police. Things start to unravel from there between Farnham and Bruner. When Bruner and Lilli come to the Farnhams for dinner Jack is drinking too much and put out. Their captain starts to get suspicious, as does Lilli, and then it looks like another counterfeiter is trying to get the dough back. Bruner makes plans with Lilli to split in a crucial meeting at her apartment. This meeting is important because in it we see how Lilli and Bruner, through code, "normalize" their deviance - what they are doing seems perfectly reasonable. Farnham says they gotta turn the dough in at a crucial conversation at a coffee shop.
The film ends, as it starts, with a voice over, a typical noir feature. The voice of the captain tells us:
"A policeman, unlike most men, lives close to evil and violence. He can, like all men, make his own private hell. The good pass through it with minor burns, the evil stumble and fall and die in strange places."
http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue05/reviews/idalupino.htm
http://www.reelwomen.com/lupino.html
| Cast & Role | |
|
|
| Ida Lupino | Lilli Marlowe |
| Steve Cochran | Cal Bruner |
| Howard Duff | Jack Farnham |
| Dean Jagger | Captain Michaels |
| Dorothy Malone | Francey Farnham |
| Bridget Duff | Farnham Child |
| King Donovan | Burglar |
| Jerry Hausner | Night Club Boss |
| Crew & Credit | |
|
|
| Don Siegel | Director |
| Collier Young | Producer |
| Burnett Guffey | Director of Photography |
| Robert Eggenweiler | Associate Producer |
| Sam Peckinpah | Dialogue Director |
 |
 |
 |
ASSIGNMENT 2
DUE: NOVEMBER 6, 2002
PARAMETERS: ABSOLUTELY NO MORE THAN TWO PAGES INCLUDING references
In Chapter 7 you have read about different models of police attitudes, such as "Socialization" and "predispositional." You also have read about different explanations of police corruption: the "rotten apple" theory, the "departmental" explanations, such as the "deviant police subculture hypothesis," and external factors including political climate and/or weak local government. I think you could expand political climate to also include the broader materialistic culture of post-WW II urban America, if you wanted to. A recent report on police corruption (Newburn 1999) concluded:
the ‘causes’ of corruption include: factors that are intrinsic to policing as a job; the nature of police organisations; the nature of ‘police culture’; the opportunities for corruption presented by the ‘political’ and ‘task’ environments; and, the nature and extent of the effort put in to controlling corruption ... (p. 6)police corruption cannot simply be explained as the product of a few ‘bad apples’ ...
In your paper do the following:
Describe one of the main factors leading Bruner to take the counterfeit money. Provide one supporting movie quote.
Describe one of the main factors leading Farnham to go along with him on this. Provide one supporting movie quote.
Describe how the corruption seen in the movie supports one of Newburn's general conclusions. Be specific.
The movie's concluding voiceover statement (see above) can be seen as an endorsement of the "rotten apple" theory of corruption which Newburn rejects. Do you agree or disagree: Bruner was a "rotten apple" and that explains his corrupt behavior?
GRADING RUBRIC
| A | Clearly answer each of the above four points. Provide one relevant movie quote for each point you make. Include references |
| B. | Clearly answer three of the above four points, with relevant movie quote for the three, and references. |
| C | Clearly answer two of the above four points, with two relevant movie quotes. |
| D/F | Clearly answer only one of the above points; minimal relevant movie quotes |
References
The Bigamist (1953, Filmakers)
Dirty Harry
(1971, D. Siegel, D.)
Images Journal, Ida Lupino [ONLINE: http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue05/reviews/idalupino.htm;
retrieved 10/27/02]
Ida Lupino: Biography [ONLINE: http://www.reelwomen.com/lupino.html;
retrieved 10/28/02]
Invasion of the
Body Snatchers (1955, D. Siegel, D)
Newburn, T. (1999). Understanding and preventing
police corruption.. Home Office: London. Police Research Series Paper 110.
[ONLINE: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/prgpubs/fprs110.pdf]
Not Wanted (1949, Filmmakers)
Private Hell 36 (1954; Republic)
Riot in Cell Block 8 (1954, D. Siegel, Dir.)