The Sniper
Directed by Edward Dmytryk
Written by Harry Brown, Edna Anhalt and Edward Anhalt
1952/USA
Stanley Kramer Productions/Columbia Pictures Corporation
First viewing/Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics DVD
[box]Tagline:Hungrily, he watched her walk down the street…and then he squeezed the trigger![/box]
Returned war vet Eddie Miller (Arthur Franz) is one sick puppy. By day he is a mild-mannered delivery driver for a San Francisco dry-cleaning company. By night, he obsesses over the wrongs done to him by women and the high-powered rifle he keeps locked in his bureau drawer. He knows he is twisted, even holding his right hand over a hot plate to prevent himself from using the rifle. His efforts to get caught and get help come to nothing however.
Then Eddie begins shooting brunettes. The ironically named Police Lt. Frank Kafka (Adolphe Menjou) is on the case but the killings continue despite the best efforts of the police department. Can Eddie be stopped? With Frank Faylen as a police inspector, Richard Kiley as a police psychiatrist/profiler, and Marie Windsor as one of the victims.
The film begins with a title card explaining the research done into the social problem of the sex criminal and urging understanding to combat its growth. It is a mixture of a psychological thriller with a police procedural. Unfortunately, the story grinds to a halt during many of the police segments. There is one particularly ludicrous lineup parading offenders from peeping toms to poison pen writers before the eager press. The officer resembles no one more than Howard Cosell! All the writers can come up with to “solve” the problem is to lock up any one exhibiting signs of perversion in an asylum for life.
That said, the negatives are overcome by the very strong and suspenseful scenes with the sniper. The location photography in San Francisco is also quite evocative and beautiful. On balance, I would recommend the film.
Menjou appears clean-shaven and in a rumpled suit. If not for his voice, he would be unrecognizable. One of the little ironies in the back story of the production is the pairing of director Dmytryk, one of the Hollywood Ten, with Menjou, one of the foremost red-baiters in Hollywood during the McCarthy era.
Edna and Edward Arnhalt were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Story.
Trailer – cinematographer Burnett Guffey
