Watch The Case Against Brooklyn For Free

You won't be disappointed!

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Darren McGavin plays Pete Harris, a young driven cop in "The Case Against Brooklyn" who goes undercover to smash a police corruption ring. Harris is a highly motivated character who believes that he can make a reputation for himself with this undercover assignment. Director Paul Wendkos, who later helmed "Guns of the Magnificent Seven" and "Cannon for Cordoba," doesn't pull any punches in this gritty, black & white, urban crime thriller. After a newspaper reporter complains during a television news broadcast that police are taking pay-offs to look the other way so that illegal gambling can flourish, the District Attorney takes graduates fresh out of the academy to work as plainclothes agents. The villains threaten to take everything that a gambler, Gus Polumbo (Joe De Santis of "The Professionals") owns if he doesn't pay-up. Instead, the hopeless gambler commits suicide so his wife, Lil Polombo (Margaret Hayes) will be taken care of. Meanwhile, Harris and his partner Jess Johnson (Brian Hutton of "Last Train for Gun Hill") set out to infiltrate the bookies. At one point, Johnson taps into the bookie's phone line to gather evidence. The wily villains smell a rat and they do everything that they can to discredit Harris. Later, the film takes a cue from the Fritz Lang classic "The Big Heat" when our hero's wife dies in an explosion. Harris was supposed to answer the phone. Earlier, a mob henchman (Joe Turkel) swapped Harris' old phone for one packed with explosives. Joe Turkel and Warren Stevens are terrific as the despicable villains who stop at nothing to thwart Harris. Eventually, the McGavin character completes his assignment, but it comes with a high cost. Before she died, McGavin's wife told him that he was letting his assignment get to him. Sure, it's a B-movie, but "The Case Against Brooklyn" is taut throughout its 82 minutes. Emile Meyers is fine as a corrupt N.Y.P.D. Captain who cannot stand the heat. Scenarists Bernard Gordon & Julian Zimet adapted newspaper reporter Ed Reid's expose book "I Broke the Brooklyn Graft Scandal" as the basis for this Columbia Pictures release. "The Case Against Brooklyn" is a rewarding, atmospheric undercover epic that is worth-watching.

The Case Against Brooklyn is a terrific 1958 movie based upon a real New York police scandal. It's a very well crafted crime drama, typical of the era. A classic piece for the times. And there's plenty of great acting (keeping in mind this was filmed in the 1950's where action moves were exaggerated).Darren McGavin is excellent as the chief undercover officer who tries to discover the highest levels of the corruption. If you're a fan of current day crime/dramas, movies like "The Case Against Brooklyn" are the movies upon which good quality crime/dramas have their foundation. That said, it was made in 1958. So it doesn't have the "gloss" of later films. None the less, it's fantastic to watch.

A real scandal involving several NYPD police officers stationed in Brooklyn was the basis for this crime and corruption story that became the plot for The Case Against Brooklyn. Cops are being paid off at an alarming rate to close their eyes and look the other way as illegal betting parlors open up for business all over the Borough of homes and churches. The District Attorney in Kings County who at that time in real life was a man named Edward Silver is determined to do something about it. In the film the character's name is Michael Norris and he's played by Tol Avery. What Avery's decided to do is literally hijack the whole graduating class at the Academy and have them work for him undercover. One of them, Darren McGavin is sent undercover to romance the recent widow of Joe DeSantis who committed suicide so his double indemnity clause could pay off Nestor Paiva the bookie who's sent some of his enforcers around to collect. As McGavin romances Margaret Hayes that certainly puts a strain on his marriage to Peggy McCay.And the triangle becomes four sided as Warren Stevens who does a bit of everything for Paiva, muscle, bagman, and even hit-man also starts courting Hayes to see what could spill to the cops, if she can find some that she can trust. Best performances in the film by far are from DeSantis and Hayes. As the victim you can feel things closing in for DeSantis as he makes that final gesture for his wife's solvency. And Hayes you can feel sorry for the fact she's being used by both sides. How it all ends, let me say that the climax takes a leaf from the Fritz Lang noir classic The Big Heat and if you know that film, you know about 80% of how the story will come out.McGavin himself is a ruthless sort looking to prove himself, knowing that a good job here will cement his reputation. In real life it would have gained him a long career in Internal Affairs.A year after the Dodgers left Brooklyn, The Case Against Brooklyn is a fine noir drama based on a real incident in the beloved former home of the Bums.

Opine that a film is noir, and the arguments will sprout up like mushrooms in a dark cellar. This gritty little feature, however, should cause contention only among those who designate noir in terms of directors, inclusive years, or other mercenary measures. The plot concerns police corruption, and the protagonist is an unsullied, but savvy rookie cop who is ready and willing to cast sentiment aside and get the goods by hook or crook. The Production Code is cracking, and characters talk of a woman putting out and a good guy's willingness to cheat on his wife. There's no soft soap or sappiness--only an oblique noir world that twists and turns and delivers flashes of light amidst the gloom.