I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Also love all the characters that show up on tv, in years to come Mr Drexler is Mr Drysedale on Beverly Hillbilly's As a car guy, great selection of cool 50's cars JT: Orlando

Great B flick. Love the location shooting. One error however. It's 9020 Jackson, not 2090. In earlier scene ship side, you'll catch the mistake in dialog concerning the address.. This film grew out of the TV series, Lineup, which also starred Warner Anderson and Tom Tully. Lineup was also tagged San Francisco Beat. In the TV series the detectives drove Fords. In the movie, they drove Plymouths.

The Tag Film-Noir is associated with this Don Siegel Film because of the Psychopathic, Sociopathic Criminals, Atypical Brutality for its Time, and the Unflinching Underbelly of a Heroin Syndicate.The Shadows of First Wave Noir were mostly Gone by the Turn of the Decade Replaced with Gleaming Daytime Milieus containing Freeway Infrastructures that Reflected Eisenhower Era Optimism as Backdrop. But if it was a Noir, it was a Road to Nowhere.This is another of Director Siegels Unforgettable Forays into Crime, Presenting Powerful Punctuating Murders committed by the Psychologically Disturbed but Pathologically Interesting and the Criminally Insane.Eli Wallach is the Totally Bonkers "Dancer", a completely Detached Personality that like an Animal can only Track One Thing at a Time. If You Cross His Path an Upset His Method of Attaining the Task at Hand, it's Curtains. He can be Restrained by His "Handler", if in Close Proximity, but Otherwise.For 1958, these Characterizations were not found on TV Shows and this kind of thing was Rare even for the Movies. "The Lineup" was based on a Long Running Series but it was brought to the Big Screen with a Bravado of Realism. There are many Set-Pieces that are Striking and Unforgettable, one Involving a Mother and Child in Peril that is Gut-Wrenching.One of Don Siegel's Best Efforts containing a Good Sterling Silliphant Script and Impressive Cinematography.

This unspectacular cops and robbers chase through the streets of San Francisco sees the City's Finest hot (actually more lukewarm) on the trail of a network of heroin traffickers, finally cornering them on the unfinished Embarcadero Freeway, still under construction in 1958. To its credit the film (based on an early television series) neatly incorporates several Bay Area locations into the plot, but the style is as dated as the gray hats and suits worn by the uncharismatic paragons of law and order in their unblinking pursuit of evidence. The villains, thankfully, are given more attention, making an attractive assortment of psychopaths and social misfits.