- I was surprised to learn that Don Siegel's The Lineup was based on a TV/radio program of the same name featuring two of the same actors (Warner Anderson and Marshall Reed) playing police officers. The show apparently ran for six seasons and roughly 200 episodes, but I had honestly never heard of it. Anyway, the reason I was so surprised is that the police in this film are eminently forgettable when compared to the criminals, a pair of killers named Dancer (Eli Wallach) and Julian (Robert Keith) and their driver McLain (Richard Jaeckel). Although I might remember the gruff police inspector (Emile Meyer) for a while, too, the characters taken directly from the TV show hardly left any impression on me at all.
- So let's talk about those memorable criminals instead. The relationship between Dancer and Julian is a complex one, to say the least. Certainly Julian would describe Dancer as his protégé, although it's not immediately obvious why Julian's lessons should extend to sophisticated grammar lessons. Additionally, Julian refers to Dancer in the third person when he's around, much as a scientist might describe an object of research. For his part, Dancer plays the role of a dutiful student, although the possibility of violent rebellion is always simmering just beneath his surface. Although a film from this era would never go far in implying a sexual relationship between the two men, Julian's tirade about women certainly lends itself to that possibility, too. McLain mostly serves as an audience surrogate, wondering out loud what makes a guy like Dancer tick.
- The plot of The Lineup is simply that Dancer and Julian are part of an international heroin trafficking operation that exploits travelers (Raymond Bailey, Mary LaRoche) as unwitting drug mules by hiding packages in their souvenirs. When one such package is intercepted by the police after its recipient is involved in a deadly car accident, they initiate a desperate search for leads. In the meantime, Dancer and Julian methodically work through their passenger list, stealing heroin-laden packages from innocent travelers who don't even understand what has happened. Although none of their plans initially involve murder, nearly all of them wind up with Dancer using his silenced pistol to squeeze out a few memorable last words for Julian to record in his notebook. Hey, I said their relationship was messed-up, right?
- From its terrific San Francisco location filming to its mesmerizing performances from Wallach and Keith, there is much to recommend The Lineup. As good as the film's first hour is, though, its final 30 minutes are even better and more exciting. When one of the heroin packages is accidentally ruined, Dancer finds himself in the awkward position of having to explain himself to the unseen crime boss known only as "The Man" (Vaughn Taylor), whom he finally tracks down in the Sutro Baths. With two simple words - "You're dead!" - the film quickly transforms from a slow boil to a scalding explosion of unexpected violence and mayhem. It concludes with a convincing car chase across unfinished freeways but no memorable last words from Dancer and Julian.
