Shield for Murder

Shield for Murder is a 1954 American crime drama about a police detective who turns criminal. Barney Nolan, a lieutenant on the force, shoots a bookmaker and takes a large sum of cash from the body, then presents the killing to his colleagues as a case of self-defence. He intends to use the money to build a different life for himself with his girlfriend, Patty. His plan runs into trouble when a gangster who also wanted the money begins to pressure him, and when a witness to what really happened in the alley becomes a problem. As the situation closes in on him, Nolan is left trying to escape both the criminals and the police.

The film was directed by Howard W. Koch, with Edmond O'Brien, who plays Nolan, sharing the directing credit; it was Koch's first feature as director, followed by Violent Road in 1958. John C. Higgins and Richard Alan Simmons wrote the screenplay, and Aubrey Schenck produced it for Camden Productions. Marla English appears as Patty, alongside John Agar, Emile Meyer, Carolyn Jones and Claude Akins. Running 82 minutes, it holds a rating of 6.8 on IMDb from around 2,200 votes and 6.7 on TMDB from a much smaller number of votes, indicating a reasonably well-regarded genre picture with a modest but persistent following.