Shield for Murder is a low-budget 1954 Film Noir crime drama co-directed by Edmond O'Brien (who also starred) and Howard W. Koch (who also co-produced.) Independently produced under the auspices of Aubrey Schenk, it was distributed by United Artists.
Lieutenant Barney Nolan (O'Brien) has spent 16 years on the force, becoming bitter with what he has seen and how little he has to show for it. He wants to retire from the force and settle into a model home with his naïve young girlfriend Patty Winters (Marla English).
At the film's very beginning he shoots a bookmaker in the back, fires two shots in the air to create a cover story, and takes $25,000 off of the body. The force, exemplified by his commander Captain Gunnarson (Emile Meyer) and friend/protégé Sgt. Mark Brewster (John Agar), believe the shoot to be justified. Beat reporter Cabot (Herb Butterfield) has his doubts, having seen many formerly good cops gone bad.
A bigger problem for Nolan is that the bookie worked for gangster Packy Reed (Hugh Sanders), who wants suspects that Nolan has his money and sends two goons (Claude Akins and Lawrence Ryle) to shake down him and Patty. On top of this, deaf beggar Ernst Sternmueller (uncredited David Hillary Hughes) saw the shooting. He doesn’t know who the shooter is, but his testimony could put the lie to Nolan’s story. While attempting to bribe and intimidate Sternmueller, Nolan kills the old man, causing his house of cards to crumble.
Tropes present in Shield for Murder:
- Accidental Murder: Nolan doesn’t intend to kill Sternmueller, but his carelessness and brutality wind up breaking the witness’s neck.
- Broken Pedestal: Brewster has always looked up to Nolan, who motivated him to join the force in the first place. He’s crestfallen to learn that his friend is a corrupt murderer.
- Deaf Composer: Sternmueller is deaf but plays accordion on the street for money. Likely he learned the fingering when he had hearing.
- Dirty Cop:
- Nolan is willing to commit theft and murder to further his ambitions, although his colleagues don’t know this.
- Packy Reed’s goons Fat Michaels and Laddie O’Neil are officially private detectives, and used to be cops. By implication they have this in their backstory.
- The Film of the Book: Based on an eponymous novel by William P. McGivern.
- Greek Chorus: Cabot doesn’t have much impact on the story, but he offers incisive commentary at points.
- Kavorka Man: Nolan is only a little on the heavy side, but his sweatiness and general unpleasantness make it notable that he has a pretty young girlfriend in Patty and makes out with attractive barfly Beth (Carolyn Jones).
- Pistol-Whipping: Nolan does this to Brewster when Brewster confronts him about killing Sternmueller, and his motives for doing so. He contemplates shooting him but is unwilling to cross that line.
- Villain Protagonist: Nolan is even more central to this film than the comparable character of Hank Quinlan is to Touch of Evil. (Also parallel in that Quinlan was played by the film’s director) He may also be an even darker character.
- Wife-Basher Basher: Implied with Nolan, who asks Beth how she got a prominent bruise on her shoulder, which makes her evasive. On the other hand he hits Patty later on when he finds out she’s been talking to Brewster.
