Pun Salad

A movie from back when they could get away with the tagline: "A hard cop and a soft dame!" 1953, to be specific. Directed by Fritz Lang.

Glenn Ford plays Dave Bannion, the aforementioned hard cop. He's not only hard, he's also one of the few honest cops in his city. Investigating the suicide of a fellow officer, he's suspicious that there's more to the pat case he's presented with. The victim's wife is obviously lying about her husband's motivation. A mysterious mistress shows up, talks to Dave, then is quickly whacked. And then it gets really bad for Dave.

Lee Marvin plays his role of smooth sadistic hitman well; Gloria Grahame (the "soft dame") plays his ill-fated girlfriend, and she has all the best lines. One is pretty famous: "I've been rich and I've been poor. Believe me, rich is better." The DVD includes appreciations from Martin Scorsese and Michael Mann.