When a policeman is murdered by a car bomb, Lt. Andy Doyle is given the case to investigate. On the victim he finds the name of a woman, Francine Norman, who is murdered shortly thereafter, strangled and mutilated. Doyle determines that there is a connection between the two deaths. Norman was a former actress who owned a modeling agency that is now run by Darlene Adams.
Doyle finds many suspects, as Norman was universally hated. He uncovers that the agency was being used as a front for a blackmailing racket most likely run by Norman's love interest Jim Haddix, the owner of a local construction company. However, all the evidence of the blackmail ring is destroyed when the modeling school is destroyed by fire, with the janitor as the main suspect.
The working title of the film was House on Lookout Mountain.[1] Production began in the first week of April 1956,[3][4] and was completed before the end of the month.[5][6] In July, the release date was announced as September 30, 1956.[7] The National Legion of Decency gave the film a Class A Section II rating, indicating that it was morally unobjectionable but for adults only.[8] In December, it was announced that Calling Homicide would be part of a two-film deal, along with Friendly Persuasion, booking first-run films directly into "second-run" theaters. It was the first such deal in the nation.[9]
Reception
Motion Picture Daily gave the film a good review, enjoying its action and pace. It complimented the complexity of the plot, the screenplay and Bernds' direction.[10]
