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Detective Story (1951) (1951)

Kirk Douglas , Eleanor Parker , William Wyler  |  NR |  DVD
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)


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Product Details

  • Actors: Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Cathy O'Donnell, George Macready
  • Directors: William Wyler
  • Writers: Robert Wyler, Philip Yordan, Sidney Kingsley
  • Producers: William Wyler, Lester Koenig, Robert Wyler
  • Format: Black & White, Full Screen, NTSC
  • Language: English, French
  • Subtitles: English
  • Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: NR (Not Rated)
  • Studio: Paramount
  • DVD Release Date: October 25, 2005
  • Run Time: 103 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000ANVPUG
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,988 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • Learn more about "Detective Story (1951)" on IMDb

Special Features

None.

Editorial Reviews

An embittered cop leads a precinct of characters in their grim battle with the city's lowlife while wife Parker suffers from neglect. Based on Sydney Kingsley's Broadway play, this seminal movie was a prototype for everything from "Hill Street Blues" to "NYPD Blue." Academy Award Nominations: 4, including Best Director, Best Actress--Eleanor Parker, Best Screenplay.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Kirk Douglas Movie August 23, 2005
Format:DVD
Detective Story, based on a Broadway play, is one of Kirk Douglas' finest performances. Playing a New York city police detective, the movie plays out like a day-in-the life of Douglas' character and his precinct, with an assorted cast of characters.

But Douglas dominates the proceedings. His detective is full of razor-sharp anger and vitriol, which has carried over into his personal life. Douglas plays it to the hilt,and his supporting cast is excellent, including Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Joseph Wiseman, and Horace McMahon.

A mixture of police procedure, comedy, drama, and outright tragedy, Detective Story has been long overdue for DVD release.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Raw Depiction of Policework November 24, 2005
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Though adapted from a stageplay "Detective Story" feels neither stagey or dated. I attribute that to an excellent script that is centered on character developement and not as a straight police procedural. It's interesting as an examination of policework pre-Miranda. What is also interesting is that it is the earliest film to tackle, though implicitly, the issue of abortion that I can recall. Kirk Douglas' account of Jim McCloud, a detective so myopic that he sees no gray areas in fighting crime and allows it to spill into his personal life, gives one of the best performances of his career here. The underappreciated Eleanor Parker is excellent as McCloud's wife. William Bendix as McCloud's hard-drinking yet compassionate partner is also outstanding. Lee Grant and Joseph Wiseman give colorful turns as a shoplifter and burglar, respectively. Also noteworthy is the presence of George MacCready who later appeared with Douglas in Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece, "Paths of Glory", in the cast.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Detective Story June 25, 2007
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Before "Homicide" or "Hill Street Blues" came this gritty, hard-hitting cop drama based on Sidney Kingsley's play. Honed to tense perfection by Wyler, the film is a showcase for fine, colorful ensemble acting by William Bendix (as the no-nonsense lieutenant), Lee Grant (reprising her role as a mousy shoplifter), Bert Freed (as McLeod's sensitive partner), and Joseph Wiseman (as a hilariously "innocent" Italian burglar). But it's Douglas's fierce, tragic performance as a modern lawman who still sees the world in stark black and white terms that provides the gut-twisting dramatic ironies. Absorbing and devastating, this "Story" gets under your skin and stays there.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Detective Story
Interesting Characters, rapid fire dialogue, and one very intense Kirk Douglas. Loved it! Great attention to details. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Chris Pratt
5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed It--Good for the era
Its fair to judge a movie's quality based on the era in which it was made.
So, I give the movie 5 stars--because the production is a very good one. Read more
Published on May 12, 2011 by Kafishna
4.0 out of 5 stars "Detective Story (1951) ... Kirk Douglas ... William Wyler (2005)"
Paramount Pictures presents "DETECTIVE STORY" (1951) (103 min/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- "Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play Detective Story was praised for... Read more
Published on January 10, 2011 by J. Lovins
4.0 out of 5 stars The 21st Precinct In All Its Glory
This is a review of Paramount Pictures 1951 release, DETECTIVE STORY directed dby William Wyler and released in 2005 on DVD. Read more
Published on September 12, 2010 by Tom Without Pity
4.0 out of 5 stars Destructive Story
I really enjoyed this film. Even if it is shown to be a revamping of Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House", the revision itself is what is important; it makes this film a seminal one. Read more
Published on September 2, 2010 by ronzo
5.0 out of 5 stars NYPD BLUE, The Prequel
Before NYPD BLUE, before LAW & ORDER and before there was the Miranda Decision., there was DETECTIVE STORY, Sidney Kingsley's Broadway smash hit that took you inside the squad room... Read more
Published on February 1, 2009 by Michael B. Druxman
2.0 out of 5 stars IF IBSEN HAD WRITTEN A PLAY CALLED "A DETECTIVE'S HOUSE" . . .
Ever had the feeling you've seen something before--and that it was better before? Like the main plot of THE LION KING is a rip-off of HAMLET--and HAMLET is better? Read more
Published on March 20, 2008 by David R. Eastwood
4.0 out of 5 stars A gritty prototype. I see bits of Hill Street Blues in it.
This classic police mellow-drama is a perfect fit for the talents of young Kirk Douglas. He is an inflexible, angry cop. Read more
Published on January 9, 2008 by JOHN GODFREY
4.0 out of 5 stars Great vehicle for Kirk Douglas' acting talents
Kirk Douglas has always excelled in roles where he plays the maverick loner, walking the fine line between anger and insanity. Thus his role as Det. Read more
Published on March 14, 2007 by calvinnme
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Movie
Kirk Douglas as usual is very powerful. All the actors are exceptional!

There is great angst,drama and humor in this movie. Read more
Published on January 5, 2007 by Terryln Fulton
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