Incident in an Alley

1962 film by Edward L. Cahn

Incident in an Alley

Directed by| Edward L. Cahn
Screenplay by| Harry Medford
Orville H. Hampton
(as Owen Harris)
Based on| Rod Serling
(from a story by)
Produced by| Robert E. Kent
Starring| Chris Warfield
Erin O'Donnell
Harp McGuire
Cinematography| Gilbert Warrenton
Edited by| Robert Carlisle
Music by| Richard LaSalle
Color process| Black and white

Production
company

Harvard Film

Distributed by| United Artists

Release date

* May 16, 1962 (1962-05-16)

Running time

| 84 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English

Incident in an Alley is a 1962 American neo noir crime film directed by Edward L. Cahn and starring Chris Warfield, Erin O'Donnell and Harp McGuire.[1]

The film's premise rests on a legal precedent that police may use force against fleeing suspects if the suspect has committed a crime and is warned of the officer's intent to shoot. In 1985, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in the case of Tennessee v. Garner that deadly force may be used to prevent the escape of a fleeing felon only if the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a serious risk to the officer or to others.[2]

## Plot[edit]

After beat cop Bill Joddy shoots and kills a fleeing suspect, the victim is found to be a 14-year-old boy. Joddy is charged with manslaughter but is acquitted by a jury. He begins to question his own culpability while trying to prove that the boy was participating in a robbery just before he was shot.

## Cast[edit]

* Chris Warfield as Bill Joddy
* Erin O'Donnell as Jean Joddy
* Harp McGuire as Frank
* Virginia Christine as Mrs. Connell
* Willis Bouchey as Police Capt. Tom Brady
* Don Keefer as Roy Swanson
* Michael Vandever as Gussie Connell
* Gary Judis as Charlie
* Jim Canino as Mushie (as James Canino)
* Clancy Cooper as Police Sergeant

## Production[edit]

The film was based on a television play written by Rod Serling that had aired in 1955 as part of the US Steel Hour starring Farley Granger.[3] It was then announced as a film project by United Artists.[4] Clarence Greene and Russell Rouse were assigned to produce, with Serling adapting the screenplay,[5][6] but the film was not made until several years later.

## Reception[edit]

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Howard Thompson wrote: "For all its devious, transparent moralizing about the shooting of a young boy by a policeman, 'Incident in an Alley' belongs in one. The synthetic, floridly hewn little melodrama that opened yesterday on the circuits is strictly pulp stuff, conventionally posing a background of juvenile delinquency and the business of adult 'responsibility.'"[7]

## See also[edit]

* List of American films of 1962

## References[edit]

1. ^ Review at Film Monthly accessed 19 May 2013
2. ^ "Tennessee v. Garner". Retrieved August 12, 2015. "[Deadly] force may not be used unless necessary to prevent the escape [of a fleeing suspect] and the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others."
3. ^ J. P. SHANLEY (24 Nov 1955). "TV: True Life 'Incident': ' U. S. Steel Hour' Has Story of Policeman". New York Times. p. 59.
4. ^ THOMAS M. PRYOR Special to The New York Times. (28 Nov 1955). "M-G-M SIGNS TRIO FOR 'HIGH SOCIETY': Crosby, Sinatra and Grace Kelly to Star in New Film of 'Philadelphia Story'". New York Times. p. 27.
5. ^ THOMAS M. PRYOR Special to The New York Times. (9 Aug 1956). "FOX SIGNS WALD FOR 18 PICTURES: Producer to Set-Up His Own Organization at Studio Under 5-Year Contract Carnera Loses Bout Of Local Origin". New York Times. p. 22.
6. ^ GILBERT MILLSTEIN (2 Dec 1956). "'Patterns' of a Television Playwright: 'Patterns' of a TV Playwright". New York Times. p. SM13.
7. ^ Thompson, Howard (1962-05-17). "'Incident in an Alley' Dabbles in Morals". The New York Times. p. 31.

## External links[edit]

* Incident in an Alley at IMDb
* Incident in an Alley at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
* Incident in an Alley at the TCM Movie Database

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Edward L. Cahn

1930s/1940s|

* The Homicide Squad (1931)
* Law and Order (1932)
* Radio Patrol (1932)
* Afraid to Talk (1932)
* Emergency Call (1933)
* Laughter in Hell (1933)
* Death Drives Through (1935)
* Confidential (1935)
* Bad Guy (1937)
* Redhead (1941)
* The Omaha Trail (1942, uncredited)
* Main Street After Dark (1945)
* Dangerous Partners (1945)
* Born to Speed (1947)
* The Gas House Kids "in Hollywood" (1947)
* The Checkered Coat (1948)
* I Cheated the Law (1949)
* Prejudice (1949)

1950s|

* The Great Plane Robbery (1950)
* Destination Murder (1950)
* Experiment Alcatraz (1950)
* Two-Dollar Bettor (1951)
* Creature with the Atom Brain (1955)
* Betrayed Women (1955)
* Silent Fear (1956)
* Girls in Prison (1956)
* The She Creature (1956)
* Shake, Rattle & Rock! (1956)
* Runaway Daughters (1956)
* Flesh and the Spur (1957)
* Voodoo Woman (1957)
* Zombies of Mora Tau (1957)
* Dragstrip Girl (1957)
* Motorcycle Gang (1957)
* Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957)
* Jet Attack (1958)
* Suicide Battalion (1958)
* Curse of the Faceless Man (1958)
* It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)
* Hong Kong Confidential (1958)
* The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959)
* Guns, Girls and Gangsters (1959)
* Inside the Mafia (1959)
* Invisible Invaders (1959)
* Pier 5, Havana (1959)
* Riot in Juvenile Prison (1959)
* A Dog's Best Friend (1959)

1960s|

* Vice Raid (1960)
* Cage of Evil (1960)
* Gunfighters of Abilene (1960)
* The Music Box Kid (1960)
* Noose for a Gunman (1960)
* Oklahoma Territory (1960)
* Three Came to Kill (1960)
* Twelve Hours to Kill (1960)
* The Walking Target (1960)
* Boy Who Caught a Crook (1961)
* Frontier Uprising (1961)
* Five Guns to Tombstone (1961)
* Police Dog Story (1961)
* Operation Bottleneck (1961)
* Gun Fight (1961)
* The Gambler Wore a Gun (1961)
* When the Clock Strikes (1961)
* You Have to Run Fast (1961)
* Secret of Deep Harbor (1961)
* Gun Street (1962)
* The Clown and the Kid (1962)
* Incident in an Alley (1962)
* Beauty and the Beast (1962)

* v
* t
* e

Films produced by Edward Small

1910-20s|

* Who's Your Neighbor? (1917)
* The Sporting Lover (1926)
* The Cohens and Kellys (1926)
* The Gorilla (1927)
* McFadden's Flats (1927)
* Ladies' Night in a Turkish Bath (1928)
* The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris (1928)
* My Man (1928)
* Companionate Marriage (1928)
* Song of Love (1929)

1930s|

* Clancy in Wall Street (1930)
* Igloo (1932)
* I Cover the Waterfront (1933)
* Palooka (1933)
* The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)
* Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934)
* Let 'Em Have It (1935)
* Red Salute (1935)
* The Melody Lingers On (1935)
* The Last of the Mohicans (1936)
* The Bride Walks Out (1936)
* We Who Are About to Die (1937)
* Sea Devils (1937)
* New Faces of 1937 (1937)
* Super-Sleuth (1937)
* The Toast of New York (1937)
* The Duke of West Point (1938)
* King of the Turf (1939)
* The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)

1940s|

* My Son, My Son! (1940)
* The Son of Monte Cristo (1940)
* South of Pago Pago (1940)
* Kit Carson (1940)
* International Lady (1941)
* The Corsican Brothers (1941)
* A Gentleman After Dark (1942)
* Twin Beds (1942)
* Miss Annie Rooney (1942)
* Friendly Enemies (1942)
* Up in Mabel's Room (1944)
* Abroad with Two Yanks (1944)
* Brewster's Millions (1945)
* Getting Gertie's Garter (1945)
* Temptation (1946)
* The Return of Monte Cristo (1946)
* T-Men (1947)
* The Black Arrow (1948)
* The Fuller Brush Man (1948)
* Raw Deal (1948)
* Walk a Crooked Mile (1948)
* Black Magic (1949)

1950s|

* Davy Crockett, Indian Scout (1950)
* The Iroquois Trail (1950)
* Valentino (1951)
* Lorna Doone (1951)
* The Texas Rangers (1951)
* Indian Uprising (1952)
* Scandal Sheet (1952)
* The Brigand (1952)
* Cripple Creek (1952)
* Kansas City Confidential (1952)
* The Bandits of Corsica (1953)
* Captain John Smith and Pocahontas (1953)
* Dragon's Gold (1953)
* Gun Belt (1953)
* The Neanderthal Man (1953)
* 99 River Street (1953)
* Raiders of the Seven Seas (1953)
* Sabre Jet (1953)
* The Steel Lady (1953)
* Wicked Woman (1953)
* Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl (1954)
* Khyber Patrol (1954)
* The Lone Gun (1954)
* Overland Pacific (1954)
* Return to Treasure Island (1954)
* Southwest Passage (1954)
* Down Three Dark Streets (1954)
* New York Confidential (1955)
* The Naked Street (1955)
* Top Gun (1955)
* Comanche (1955)
* Gun Brothers (1956)
* UFO (1956)
* Chicago Confidential (1957)
* 5 Steps to Danger (1957)
* Gun Duel in Durango (1957)
* The Iron Sheriff (1957)
* Monkey on My Back (1957)
* Curse of the Faceless Man (1958)
* Hong Kong Confidential (1958)
* It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)
* Toughest Gun in Tombstone (1958)
* Witness for the Prosecution (1958)
* The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959)
* Guns, Girls and Gangsters (1959)
* Inside the Mafia (1959)
* Invisible Invaders (1959)
* Pier 5, Havana (1959)
* Riot in Juvenile Prison (1959)
* Solomon and Sheba (1959)
* Timbuktu (1959) (had name removed from credits)
* Vice Raid (1959)

1960s|

* Cage of Evil (1960)
* A Dog's Best Friend (1960)
* Gunfighters of Abilene (1960)
* The Music Box Kid (1960)
* Noose for a Gunman (1960)
* Oklahoma Territory (1960)
* Three Came to Kill (1960)
* The Walking Target (1960)
* Boy Who Caught a Crook (1961)
* The Cat Burglar (1961)
* Doctor Blood's Coffin (1961)
* Frontier Uprising (1961)
* Five Guns to Tombstone (1961)
* The Flight That Disappeared (1961)
* The Gambler Wore a Gun (1961)
* Gun Fight (1961)
* Mary Had a Little... (1961)
* Operation Bottleneck (1961)
* Police Dog Story (1961)
* Secret of Deep Harbor (1961)
* The Snake Woman (1961)
* Three on a Spree (1961)
* When the Clock Strikes (1961)
* You Have to Run Fast (1961)
* The Greengage Summer (1961)
* Beauty and the Beast (1962)
* The Clown and the Kid (1962)
* Deadly Duo (1962)
* Gun Street (1962)
* Incident in an Alley (1962)
* Jack the Giant Killer (1962)
* Saintly Sinners (1962)
* Tower of London (1962)
* Diary of a Madman (1963)
* Twice Told Tales (1963)
* I'll Take Sweden (1965)
* Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966)
* Frankie and Johnny (1966)
* The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz (1968)
* The File of the Golden Goose (1969)
* The Christine Jorgensen Story (1970)

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