Pre-dating "Dragnet" (the TV show, not the radio version) BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND DAWN is an alright early police buddy cop film. Patrol car coppers Edmond O'Brien and Mark Stevens do everything together: work together, live together and even romance the same woman. That's kinda strange, but entire
feel to BMAD is strange. It's almost like two films were awkwardly crammed into one film. On the one hand you have the goofy antics of O'Brien and Stevens trying to pick up radio operator Gale Storm and then on the other hand you have the violent story of the police versus a local gangster. The gangster story is interesting, but the comedy stuff is badly dated.
Average acting, well-filmed car chase, very little tension, weak romance angle, dated humor, nice lighting, informative procedural scenes. It was interesting to see an earlier Edmond O'Brien film, but I doubt I'll ever watch it again. If you're limited on time, I'd watch
D.O.A. or
711 OCEAN DRIVE instead.
