So much average

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The plot of "Murder is My Beat" is one that really doesn't make a lot of sense. To enjoy the film you need to put this aside and just take it for what it is...and entertaining low-budget mystery.When the film begins, a detective is investigating a murder. The trail leads to a young woman whose current whereabouts are unknown. Eventually, though, he receives a lead that she's staying up in the mountains and despite it being a long and difficult trek there through deep snow, this dedicated cop goes to get her. Once there, she is captured but they have to remain there for several days due to bad weather. During this time, the cop falls for the lady and believes her story about not being involved. But he still does his duty and brings her in for questioning. Well, apparently everyone believes she is guilty and she is sentenced to prison. The same cop escorts her to prison and on the way, he lets her go and then goes to investigate the case as he's sure she's innocent. Eventually, he's captured by a coworker and eventually the coworker agrees to spend the next 24 hours looking for clues instead of arresting him. Together, they get to the bottom of everything.Okay...so a respected veteran cop throws his career away and lets a convicted murderer escape. Then, when a coworker finds him, instead of taking him to jail, they both investigate the case. Does this make any sense? Nope...none. But it IS entertaining and worth seeing despite this. Not a great film but for the money, not a bad one either considering it cost only a tiny bit to make.

Bargain basement filmmaker Edgar Ulmer offers up a fetish laden noir of probably a 10 day shooting schedule with reasonable facsimiles of moments from Laura, Shadow of a Doubt, Out of the Past and Chinatown to present the viewer with a rather breezy run through police corruption and procedural abuse. It's quite a bargain for the price.Straight arrow homicide detective Ray Patrick is on a winning streak and up for a promotion when his next case gets compromised by a dame he feels he railroaded and now wants to clear. But she wears him down with her plea of innocence and they illegally set off to find the guilty party his commanding officer in pursuit. In spite of the incredulous plot Ulmer once again, with little, works wonders with cast and crucial tight editing that offers momentary top tier suspense at fire sale prices. As no nonsense dick gone rogue Paul Langton is no Mitch or Dana Andrews in Laura but he expresses the same veneer and a nebulous incertitude that bedevils them; in this case by a blonde fatale, no Jane Greer but the tragic Barbara Payton, a walking noir reality as convincing innocent. There's also some solid small bits with Kate McKenna as witness Miss Sparrow stealing both her brief scenes.Ulmer for his part packs a tremendous amount of seedy backdrop to the story as Patrick steps on rights ( no one ever thinks to ask for a lawyer in the face of gross malfeasance) and goes through women's underwear draws with abandon in the pursuit of justice, making it clear he is not interested. Form wise Ulmer does not waste time and he offers up some fine montage, provocative inferences and enough subtle deceptions to make this a bit of an enjoyable overachiever.

Mr. Dean's body is found face down in the fireplace, his features burned beyond recognition. Detectives Patrick (Paul Langton) and Rawley (Robert Shayne) arrest nightclub-singer Eden Lane (Barbara Payton) and she is convicted of the crime. On the way to prison, Eden sees a man through the train window, identifying him as the murderer, and Patrick and Eden jump from the train to search for the man. In a series of plot twists, the murderer is found, and Eden and Patrick are reunited. Directer Edgar G. Ulmer uses flashbacks and elliptical editing to good effect, but the film lacks any strong visual or narrative center. Barbara Peyton delivers a great performance as the ambiguous, mysterious femme-fatale. While still of some interest, Murder is My Beat lacks the power and grim vision of Ulmer's bleak gem, Detour.

This is no masterpiece but is a modestly entertaining crime movie...not "noir" by any stretch either but the performances from a good group of "B" players are not bad, and anyway you don't get too much chance to see Barbara Payton in movies. Just don't expect any competition for The Big Heat or The Maltese Falcon and you should have a good time!