When gambler Ted Morrison is murdered, Mark Dixon, a New York police detective, goes to interview Ken Paine, a suspect in the killing. Dixon, in fact, knows that Paine is innocent and that the real killer, a gangster named Tommy Scalise, is trying to frame him. (Scalise was trying to avoid paying a gambling debt he owed to Morrison). Dixon tries to explain what he knows, but Paine, a drunkard and gambler, distrusts all cops and attacks him violently. Dixon attempts to defend himself, and in the ensuing scuffle Paine is accidentally killed.A number of films noirs from this period featured tough, uncompromising cops; Jim McLeod, Kirk Douglas's character in "Detective Story" can be seen as a predecessor of Clint Eastwood's "Dirty Harry". When men like McLeod and Glenn Ford's Dave Bannion in "The Big Heat" go outside the law, however, they generally do so in their zeal to put the bad guys behind bars. "Where the Sidewalk Ends", however, goes further than this. It's "hero", if he can be called such, is a cop who commits a crime in furtherance of his own interests. The crime is not the killing of Paine- Dixon never meant to kill him and only struck him in self-defence. The crime is his attempt to interfere with the course of justice by covering up what he has done. Dixon does not tell anyone what has happened but simply dumps Paine's body in the river. The main reason for his actions seems to be that he is already in trouble with his superiors for his heavy-handed treatment of suspects and is afraid to lose his job.A complicating factor is that Dixon meets, and falls in love with, Paine's estranged wife Morgan. Things become even more complicated when Morgan's father Jiggs Taylor becomes the chief suspect in Paine's death. Taylor certainly would have had a motive for such an act because he hated his son-in-law who had often been guilty of domestic violence against Morgan. When Dixon's boss Lieutentant Thomas becomes convinced that Taylor is the killer, Dixon tries to protect the old man, not by confessing to his own involvement but by trying to place the blame on Scalise.(A case of "the framer framed"). The film is sometimes regarded as a "classic of film noir", but it is not really one of my favourites. A degree of moral ambiguity was a common feature of noir, but here we are never sure whether we are supposed to be cheering Dixon on as a fearless crime-fighter or condemning him as a villain who kills a man and then cynically tries to hide the evidence. As a result the film goes well beyond mere ambiguity and ends up in moral confusion. This confusion is not resolved by Dixon's last-minute confession, a confession which seems to have been inspired less by genuine contrition on the part of Dixon (or by a desire to protect Taylor, who has already been cleared of the charges) than by a concern on the part of the film-makers not to breach the Production Code requirement whereby criminals could never be seen to get away unpunished.The screenplay does make some attempt to explain Dixon's behaviour in psychological terms; his hatred of criminals, for example, is said to derive from the fact that his own father was himself a criminal. To make psychoanalysis of this sort work, however, would require a much finer acting performance than we get from Dana Andrews who plays Dixon with stony-faced impassivity throughout. None of the other cast members make much of an impression. The lovely Gene Tierney is wasted as Morgan, a largely passive character who is the object of other characters' emotions but does not do much in her own right.The reason why I have given the film an above-average mark is that Otto Preminger's direction is considerably better than either the script or the acting. The genre was known as "noir" for two reasons, both very evident here. This first is that films noirs were generally shot using by expressionist photography, with strong contrasts of light and dark, and many scenes set at night. ("Where the Sidewalk Ends" probably has more night-time scenes than most noirs). The second is that (in contrast to many Hollywood films of the period) noir was marked by a sense of pessimism and of an ineradicable strain of violence and criminality lurking beneath the outwardly optimistic surface of American society, and this sense is particularly strong here. In common with some other noirs, this is a film we watch as much for its atmosphere as for its story. 6/10

I just watched this film for the first time, never having heard of it before. When I saw the names Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney in the opening credits, I paused. Was this "Laura"? Thank goodness it wasn't. "Laura" is a film that has always left me cold and underwhelmed. This film was engaging, gritty, and there was real chemistry between the leads. Dana Andrews is a guilt-ridden cop torn between right and wrong, love, and hate. Gene Tierney has a warmth and humanity that makes her a sympathetic victim and the only hope Mark has of redemption. I found myself rooting for these star crossed lovers who need each other despite the secret between them. I loved the scenes at Martha's restaurant.... And Mark's moral dilemma had me at the edge of my seat until the very end. Loved it!

I'm in the minority but this is a turgid noir entry. Andrews is so deadpan he's boring. Dialogue is borderline comical. Tierney's role is thankless & wasted. Lightning & street scenes are good but they can't compensate for how pretentious this film becomes. Special nod to a very young Neville Brand.The script is so far-fetched it leaves you incredulous. Cops did not converse in this manner. Who did? Karl Malden does the best he can with crass material. Curio film to see Gary Merrill too. Who soon married Bette Davis after working with her in All About Eve.No spoiler alert here but simply a summary to say this is a very odd film. I'm a fan of noir but there are so many better options than WTSE. In fact, I couldn't wait for this film to end.

"Where the Sidewalk Ends" is film noir at its best: entertaining, well-acted and directed, with a very good plot and outstanding cinematography and character depiction. Based on the hardboiled crime novel "Night Cry" by William L Stuart (which I have not read), the film tells the story of 16th precinct New York police detective Mark Dixon (Dana Andrews). Dixon is somewhat unconventional in his working methods. He seems to want to punish criminals in addition to investigating them, an attitude that apparently springs from his relationship with his father who was a thief and who died when Dixon was 17 years old while trying to escape from jail. At the beginning of the film, Dixon is not only passed over for promotion because of his disruptive approach to his work but is also demoted. While investigating the death of a wealthy patron of an illegal crap game, he accidentally murders the principal suspect while trying to get information from him. He covers his tracks but, in doing so, inadvertently casts suspicion on an innocent taxi driver, who happens to be the victim's father-in-law. To complicate matters further, Dixon falls in love with Morgan (Gene Tierney), the taxi driver's daughter and the estranged wife of the man he has killed. Matters continue from there (but it would be inappropriate to say anything more about them).The acting in "Where the Sidewalk Ends" is superb. Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney give excellent performances and are ably supported by Karl Malden (who plays the detective who is promoted at Dixon's expense) and Gary Merrill (who plays Scalise, the crook who organised the illegal crap game that brought about the events depicted in the film). Andrews's performance skilfully elicits sympathy from the viewer for a character who is dogged by his antecedents and by the anguish and injury that his unconventional behaviour causes. The screenplay is very good indeed. And one of the many effective aspects of the film is its judicious use of its excellent score. Indeed, one of the notable features of "Where the Sidewalk Ends" is the comparative absence of music in important parts of the film. The opening credits, which consist primarily of a picture of a pair of feet walking along a pavement (sidewalk), have no musical accompaniment at all. There are some faults. A fight scene involving Dixon and Scalise and his fellow hoodlums seems amateurish in execution (many of the seemingly effective punches thrown make no contact whatsoever with their intended targets), even for a film made in 1950. And the optimistic tone of the conclusion jars somewhat. But, despite its faults, "Where the Sidewalk Ends" is a very clever, enjoyable and entertaining film. 8/10.