The Lineup (film)

Infobox Film | name =The Lineup


caption =The Lineup movie poster
director = Don Siegel
producer = Jaime Del Valle
writer = Stirling Silliphant
starring =Eli Wallach
Robert Keith
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = June 11, 1958 (U.S. release)
runtime = 86 min
language = English
budget =
imdb_id = 0051866

"The Lineup" is a 1958 feature film version of the police procedural series that ran on CBS radio from 1950 through 1953 and on CBS television from 1954 through 1960, directed by Don Siegel. The film has a number of scenes shot on location in San Francisco during the late 1950s including shots of Embarcadero Freeway.

Plot

An international drug-smuggling racket plants heroin on unsuspecting American tourists traveling in Asia, so that the dope traffic can pass through customs undetected. Two psychopathic killers (Eli Wallach and Robert Keith) and their driver Richard Jaeckel then collect the contraband.

In the film Warner Anderson reprises his role as Lieutenant Ben Guthrie from the TV series. However, Tom Tully's character, Inspector Matt Grebb, is replaced by Inspector Al Quine, played by Emile Meyer.

In popular culture

The film contains the line, "When you live outside the law, you have to eliminate dishonesty," of which Jonathan Letham writes that "Bob Dylan heard it…, cleaned it up a little, and inserted it into 'Absolutely Sweet Marie'" (as "To live outside the law you must be honest."). [Jonathan Lethem, "The Ecstasy of Influence", "Harper's", February 2007, 59–71. p. 59.]

Featured cast

Notes

External links

*imdb title|title=The Lineup|id=0051866
* [http://noiroftheweek.blogspot.com/2007/10/lineup-1958.html Film Noir of the Week review]