Sgt. Whitey Brandon (after returning a scantily clad magazine photo of the model he is questioning): “You better close that, you’re liable to catch a cold.”
With working titles such as Woman Confidential, Pleasure Girl, and The Blonde in 402, each should give you a decent idea about what 1959’s Vice Raid is all about. A B-movie with some bite, director Edward L. Cahn brings scandal, racketeering, and corruption to the forefront of this late era film noir crime feature.
Meet Sgt. Whitey Brandon (Richard Coogan), an officer that is akin to a dog on a bone. Desperate to get to the root of a massive prostitution ring run by best dressed mobster Vince Malone (Brad Dexter), he and partner Ben Dunton (Joseph Sullivan) seem to constantly get ohsoclose, yet so very far from getting a true lead.
Malone, utterly annoyed by the persistent Sgt. and his constant prodding, sets up an intricate sting, calling in the brilliant and sultry Carol Hudson (Mamie Van Doren) to ensnare and entrap him. Though it technically doesn’t work, there is so much corruption in the force that Carol brings charges against him, and gets backup from bribed officials to get him fired.
Now out on his own, the embittered Brandon discovers a newfound freedom by not being beholden to the rules of the police force. Tinkering and prodding, he continuously hassles the gangster and his girls, somehow an even bigger thorn in his side than he was before.
Likewise, things get more complicated for Carol, as her natural seductiveness seems to capture the eye of nearly every man who gets caught in her web. . . including Malone and his rather violent number two, Phil Evans (Barry Atwater). It doesn’t help that her kid sister, Louise (Carol Nugent) shows up unexpectedly for a three month visit.
Finding herself stuck in the middle between Malone and Brandon – who has now set up a fake competing ring with his connections that causes issues with the gangster’s previously smooth running racketeering, it will get messy very fast.
By no means one of the gems of the film noir era, that doesn’t mean that Vice Raid isn’t successful in completing what it set out to do. Centered on its star, Mamie Van Doren is the perfect vehicle for this picture. Mesmeric in her beauty and confidence, she radiates off the screen, also showing off more smarts than may be expected compared to other later femme fatale noir roles. In fact, this movie wrapped up a nice collection of three film noirs in short order for the star – The Girl in Black Stockings (1957), Guns Girls and Gangsters (1959), and, of course, Vice Raid (1959) – making for an easily viewable trilogy of sorts.
Van Doren’s magic is only matched by the cinematography of Stanley Cortez (arguably best known for his work on Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons and Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter), the visuals often come across more like an A picture – impressive considering the movie’s ultra low budget. And though it hits most of the iconic film noir tropes along the way (voice over narration, femme fatale, organized crime in a big rotten to the core city, the black and white cinematography. . .), it takes a rather unique final turn, with this late fifties conclusion coming off more like a morality tale in the end rather than the prototypical cynical, unhappy ending. So, book a ticket to see this Vice Raid, just make sure you have your return trip stub booked as well.