Night Beat

In some unnamed city, the District Attorney is frustrated in his attempts to stop the Scarpelli mob. When an old army buddy, Johnny Molinas, arrives in town, the D.A. knows Molinas is a gangster but convinces him to throw in his lot with law & order....or at least order. This is because conventional means to stop Scarpelli have failed...and Molinas has no problem doing what has to be done to stop Scarpelli. This means, essentially, executing Scarpelli and his gang! Molinas' little police force shoots first...period!

This notion of using thugs to wipe out other thugs comes from a suggestion by an Italian-American merchant who tells the D.A. "What you need in this country is Mussolini"....and that's essentially how they take care of the gang. It makes for some very exciting viewing...but is also appalling in the complete disregard for civil rights. As a result, the film is very interesting from a sociological/historical standpoint....that some folks in the USA thought the best way to deal with crime is Fascism.

While the acting and production values are only fair (after all, it's just a cheap B-movie with mostly no-name actors), the story is exciting and is a great example of Pre-Code law and order films.