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Scene of the Crime

Play trailer Poster for Scene of the Crime 1949 1h 34m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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When assigned to investigate the murder of a fellow plainclothes policeman, Los Angeles cop Mike Conovan (Van Johnson) follows his hunches straight to a burlesque dancer named Lili (Gloria DeHaven). With a tip from Lili, Conovan trails and arrests a mysterious man spotted at the scene of the crime. After the suspect is gunned down, Conovan's wife (Arlene Dahl) convinces her husband to quit the force -- but can the detective stay away from the case after another fellow officer is murdered?

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Scene of the Crime

Critics Reviews

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Paul Chambers Movie Chambers 01/21/2013
B-
"Scene of the Crime" is full of familiar faces from the movies of decades past. It's not all that exciting. But, it's worth a look, if for no other reason, than to see Gloria DeHaven's smoky performance. Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 10/12/2004
B-
One of the few film noirs attempted by MGM. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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RICHARD S Mar 16 Okay film noir. Always fun to see the familiar faces of this cast -- especially in a drama. Character development not very authentic - Johnson is happily married to the beautiful Dahl, but, with her approval, courts trashy DeHaven to get information from her. This makes him an unlikeable heel who dumps her once he has used her. Dahl puts up with all this with an understanding attitude. Hard to buy all of this. The plot itself is just average. BUT - lovely to see these beautiful glamour images from the bygone MGM era. Also, Leon Ames is excellent in his brief role, and Tom Drake (Meet Me in St. Louis) surprisingly good as a rookie cop. See more Mark T 12/06/2024 Classic 1940 's film noir. Great script and great performances from Van Johnson and Gloria Dehaven. Realistic portrait of a LA police detective. Full of twists and turns and an ending you never see coming. My favorite Van Johnson movie and I'm a big fan of the late actor. - See more Ted B @Movieaddicted 08/07/2024 The late 1940s and early 1950s were home to some pretty good film noir detective movies. MGM took it up a notch with this film. A stellar cast including Van Johnson, Arlene Dahl, and Gloria DeHaven added the necessary character to the underbelly of the mob side of town, the cop who fights them, and his wife whose support he needs. In this case, Van Johnson plays a police detective whose former partner is murdered by a hitman. His endeavor to find the killer is a constant battle between justice and revenge. It seems every corner he takes seems to lead to a dead end. Ms Haven plays a bar blues singer who has a romantic(?) interest in Van Johnson. Added to this pressure is a wife who is getting tired of hearing the phone ring to call him out on another investigation and the fear that he might not come back home. She's no longer sure this is the life for her. I thought this movie was pretty compelling on both fronts: solving the mystery and keeping his marriage together. See more Angelo C 06/27/2024 Very good crime movie with a surprising performance by Van Johnson. I love these oldie but good movies because there’s no gratuitous sex or blood spattering violence. Just enough of the both to make you think what happened, but I actually seeing it. I wish they would make movies like this again. See more 12/28/2018 Under-appreciated film noir with solid performances and storyline. Check out Gloria de Haven's femme fatale-type performance and her "reverse strip": scene. See more ashley h @ashleyhobgood87 11/04/2018 Scene of the Crime is an excellent film. It is about a homicide detective who investigates the shooting of fellow detective. Van Johnson and Arlene Dahl give amazing performances. The screenplay is good but a little slow in places. Roy Rowland did a great job directing this movie. I enjoyed watching this motion picture because of the drama and mystery. See more Read all reviews
Scene of the Crime

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Movie Info

Synopsis When assigned to investigate the murder of a fellow plainclothes policeman, Los Angeles cop Mike Conovan (Van Johnson) follows his hunches straight to a burlesque dancer named Lili (Gloria DeHaven). With a tip from Lili, Conovan trails and arrests a mysterious man spotted at the scene of the crime. After the suspect is gunned down, Conovan's wife (Arlene Dahl) convinces her husband to quit the force -- but can the detective stay away from the case after another fellow officer is murdered?
Director
Roy Rowland
Producer
Harry Rapf
Screenwriter
Charles Schnee
Distributor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 28, 1949, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 22, 2016
Runtime
1h 34m
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