The Man Who Cheated Himself

Felix E. Feist's 1950 film is about a policeman who commits a crime against his own trade. Ed Cullen, who has given years to homicide, witnesses his society girlfriend Lois shoot her husband; to protect her he moves the body and arranges the scene. The trouble is that the investigation is given to his newly married and eager younger brother Andy, and Ed has to watch him approach the right trail at every step. The film takes its tension from that double position: the viewer knows the killer from the start and the suspense is about when the brother will see it. It was shot on real locations in San Francisco and the closing section plays out in an abandoned military fortification. Lee J. Cobb plays the part tired and silent. Who it's for: viewers who like noir and crime cinema of the fifties. Who it's not for: anyone expecting a plot built on surprise; the film shows the murder at the start.