Behind Green Lights (1946)

Behind Green Lights (1946)

„Behind Green Lights“ is a 1946 crime film directed by Otto Brower and written by Scott Darling and Charles G. Booth.

Police Lieutenant Sam Carson spots Walter Bard’s bullet-ridden corpse in a car brazenly left in front of the police station. Carson questions Janet Bradley after finding her name in the dead man’s appointment book. She admits that Bard had been blackmailing her friend, and that she went to see him, though she had been able to raise only half the money. When he refused to settle for that, she claims she took what she came for at gunpoint. Max Calvert, a newspaper owner, pressures Carson to arrest Bradley to hurt her father’s election campaign for mayor. Carson declines.

When Dr. G.F. Yager, the corrupt Medical Examiner, informs Calvert that Bard actually died from poison, Calvert orders him to get the body out of the police station and substitute another corpse for it before anyone else finds out.

Meanwhile, Carson interviews Bard’s estranged wife, Nora, who is accompanied by her lawyer and boyfriend, Arthur Templeton.

Complications ensue when a prisoner pulls his own switch, taking the place of Bard’s body to escape from the police station in an ambulance. Johnny Williams, the new reporter on the police beat, finds the missing body in a closet. He gets a scoop for his newspaper, and Carson gets his corpse back. The lieutenant notices there is very little blood for a fatal gunshot, so he orders another autopsy, by someone other than Yager.

Then Nora Bard and Arthur Templeton voluntarily confess to him that they lied before. Nora was in her husband’s apartment when he died. She had gone to plead for a divorce, and hid in another room when Janet Bradley arrived. After Janet left, Nora found Walter dying after drinking some liquor. When she ran out, she was seen by Templeton. He went into the apartment, assumed Nora had committed the crime, and staged the fake suicide to protect her.

Noticing a fresh flower among Bard’s effects, Carson questions flower seller Flossie. She mentions that when she went to try to collect what Bard owed her, she saw Yager unlock and enter Bard’s apartment. Carson confronts Yager. Knowing that Bard had been investigating Yager for a malpractice suit, the policeman guesses that Yager stole the evidence Bard had found and poisoned the liquor. Yager makes a break for it, but is caught. At Detective Oppenheimer’s suggestion, Carson then takes Janet Bradley out.

Bard’s appointment book showed he had an appointment with Janet Bradley on January 17, 10:30 PM.

Later, in the police headquarters, a paper wall calendar shows the date of „21“.

Cast:

• Carole Landis – Janet Bradley
• William Gargan – Lt. Sam Carson
• Richard Crane – Johnny Williams, Reporter
• Mary Anderson – Nora Bard
• John Ireland – Det. Oppenheimer
• Charles Russell – Arthur Templeton
• Roy Roberts – Max Calvert
• Mabel Paige – Flossie
• Stanley Prager – Ruzinsky, Milkman
• Charles Tannen – Ames, Reporter
• Harry Tyler – Bill, Crematorium Attendant
• Nick Stewart – Black Man
• John Glennon – Boy
• Ralph Hodges – Boy
• George McDonald – Boy with Head Caught in Space Helmet
• Perc Launders – Carey, Cop
• Barney Ruditsky – Cop
• Clarence Straight – Cop
• Charles Arnt – Daniel Boone Wintergreen
• Lane Chandler – Det. Brewer
• Robert Adler – Detective
• Don Beddoe – Dr. G.F. Yager, Medical Examiner
• William Forrest – Dr. Hastings
• Dolores Boucher – Girl
• Beverly Ruth Jordan – Girl
• Harry Seymour – Kaypee, Reporter
• Jimmy Cross – King
• Ted Jordan – Man
• Reginald Simpson – Man
• Tom Moore – Metcalfe
• Jack J. Ford – Mike O’Shea, Photographer
• Larry J. Blake – Morgue Ambulance Driver
• Steve Olsen – Morgue Attendant
• J. Farrell MacDonald – O’Malley, Morgue Attendant
• Lee Phelps – Police Desk Lieutenant
• Russ Clark – Radio Operator
• Bernard Nedell – Walter Bard
• Jack Davis – Webster
• Fred Sherman – Zachary, Prizefighter

„Behind Green Lights“ ist ein Kriminalfilm aus dem Jahr 1946, bei dem Otto Brower Regie führte und der von Scott Darling und Charles G. Booth geschrieben wurde.

Polizeileutnant Sam Carson entdeckt die von Kugeln durchlöcherte Leiche von Walter Bard in einem Auto, das schamlos vor dem Polizeirevier abgestellt wurde. Carson befragt Janet Bradley, nachdem er ihren Namen im Terminkalender des Toten gefunden hat. Sie gibt zu, dass Bard ihre Freundin erpresst hatte und dass sie ihn aufsuchte, obwohl sie nur die Hälfte des Geldes aufbringen konnte. Als er sich weigerte, sich damit zu begnügen, behauptete sie, sie habe sich mit vorgehaltener Waffe das Geld genommen, das sie wollte. Max Calvert, ein Zeitungsbesitzer, setzt Carson unter Druck, Bradley zu verhaften, um der Wahlkampagne ihres Vaters zum Bürgermeister zu schaden. Carson lehnt ab.