Tuesday's Overlooked Films: The Lineup Starring Eli Wallach

This rather late entry in the film noir genre was directed by the stalwart Don Siegel in 1958 and stars a manic Eli Wallach and a suave Robert Keith as partners and hit men. I've enjoyed Don Siegel's other crime pictures, and this one didn't leave me disappointed either. The cops-and-robbers chase scene finale on the unfinished Embarcadero Freeway is alone worth the time spent watching The Lineup. Wallach and the older Keith (playing Wallach's mentor) show up in San Francisco where the film is shot on location as a pair of psychopathic hit men. Their task is to make a pick up of heroin smuggled into the country by unsuspecting tourists who just disembarked from a cruise ship back from the Orient. What makes the hit men so fascinating (remember this picture is from 1958) is how their casual violence is portrayed. For some screwy and creepy reason, Keith always wants to know the dying words of their victims. One thing I noticed was the cops having to use the police call boxes on the streets to reach the station house except for the motorcycle cop who uses the radio on his bike. Also, I saw a dirigible (or is it a UFO?) floating above the Golden Gate Bridge in one of the scenes. The thing hovering in the sky really bugged me. didn't the film editors catch it before releasing the movie to the public? Stirling Silliphant (he once won an Edgar Award from MWA) wrote the sturdy script. Anyway, I enjoyed watching The Lineup, and you might, too.