The Lineup (1958)
Indicator

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Don Siegel (Madigan) directs The Lineup, a brutal film noir loosely based on the radio and television series of the same name.

Beginning as a straightforward police procedural, the film shifts into much darker territory as Julian and Dancer, two sociopathic gangsters played by Robert Keith (The Wild One) and Eli Wallach (The People Next Door), must retrieve a parcel of heroin that has ended up in the possession of unwitting tourists.

With a screenplay by Stirling Silliphant (Murphy’s War), The Lineup’s influence stretches from Bob Dylan, who quoted its dialogue in ‘Absolutely Sweet Marie’, to Quentin Tarantino, whose erudite gangsters bear a close resemblance to Julian and Dancer.