Between Midnight and Dawn

Rocky and Dan are friends from the war and now two policemen on a night patrol car. Dan counts anyone who breaks the law as scum; Rocky is softer. Both of them have fallen for Kate's voice on the radio. Kate, for her part, does not want to get involved with men who could be shot at any moment. One day the pair wreck the business of a powerful racketeer. Gordon Douglas's noir is built on the difference between the two policemen: one takes violence as a tool, the other draws a line. The film leaves that difference open as an argument and, for its period, looks directly at police violence. Mark Stevens and Edmond O'Brien take the leads, with Gale Storm as Kate. The night photography is among the good examples of the form.