{{Short description|1956 American film by Edward Bernds}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox film | name = Calling Homicide | image = Calling_Homicide_Poster.jpg | alt = | caption = Poster for the film | director = Edward Bernds | producer = Ben Schwalb | writer = Edward Bernds | screenplay = | story = | based_on = | starring = Bill Elliott<br />Don Haggerty<br />Kathleen Case | narrator = | music = Marlin Skiles | cinematography = Harry Neumann | editing = William Austin | studio = Allied Artists Productions | released = {{Film date|1956|9|30|''US''|ref1=<ref name=AFI>{{cite web | url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=51776 | title=Calling Homicide: Detail View | publisher=American Film Institute | accessdate= September 4, 2017 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905060517/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=51776 | url-status=live | archivedate=September 5, 2017}}</ref>}} | runtime = 61 minutes | country = United States | language = English }}

'''''Calling Homicide''''' is a 1956 American crime drama film directed by Edward Bernds and starring Bill Elliott, Don Haggerty and Kathleen Case. The picture was the third of five films in the Lt. Andy Doyle series, all starring Elliott.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/51483?sid=10b00e81-0ece-45e0-bec4-629dacdd469b&sr=6.618636&cp=1&pos=0 | title=Dial Red O | publisher=American Film Institute | accessdate=February 18, 2018 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180218210812/https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/51483?sid=10b00e81-0ece-45e0-bec4-629dacdd469b&sr=6.618636&cp=1&pos=0 | url-status=live | archivedate=February 18, 2018}}</ref>

==Plot== 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.

==Cast== * Bill Elliott as Lt. Andy Doyle * Don Haggerty as Sgt. Mike Duncan * Kathleen Case as Donna Graham * Myron Healey as Jim Haddix * Jeanne Cooper as Darlene Adams * Thomas B. Henry as Alan Gilmore * Lyle Talbot as Tony Fuller * Almira Sessions as Ida Dunstetter * Herb Vigran as Ray Engel * James Best as Arnie Arnholf * John Dennis as Benny Bendowski * Robert Bice as Phipps * John Close as Deputy Warren * Mel Wells as Valensi * Dee Carroll as Rita * Stanley Adams as Peter Van Elda * Mary Treen as Flo Burton * Jack Mulhall as Pierson * William Meigs as Ted Allen * Harry Strang as Deputy Wall

==See also== *''Dial Red O'' (1955) *''Sudden Danger'' (1955) *''Chain of Evidence'' (1957) *''Footsteps in the Night'' (1957) *List of American films of 1956

==Production== The working title of the film was ''House on Lookout Mountain''.<ref name=AFI /> Production began in the first week of April 1956,<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=Motion Picture Herald | title=This Week in Production | date=April 14, 1956 | page=25 | url=https://archive.org/stream/motionpictureher203quig#page/n115/mode/2up/search/%22House+on+Lookout+Mountain%22 | accessdate=February 18, 2018}}{{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | newspaper=Motion Picture Daily | title=Nine Pictures Start Production on Coast | date=April 13, 1956 | page=3 | url=https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturedai79unse_0#page/n85/mode/2up/search/%22House+on+Lookout+Mountain%22 | accessdate=February 18, 2018}}{{Open access}}</ref> and was completed before the end of the month.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=Motion Picture Herald | title=This Week in Production | date=April 28, 1956 | page=30 | url=https://archive.org/stream/motionpictureher203quig#page/n215/mode/2up/search/%22House+on+Lookout+Mountain%22 | accessdate=February 18, 2018}}{{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | newspaper=Motion Picture Daily | title=Production Falls Off To 34; Only 3 Start | date=April 26, 1956 | page=3 | url=https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturedai79unse_0#page/n171/mode/2up/search/%22House+on+Lookout+Mountain%22 | accessdate=February 18, 2018}}{{Open access}}</ref> In July, the release date was announced as September 30, 1956.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=Harrison's Reports | title=Release Schedule for Features:Allied Artists Features | date=July 7, 1956 | page=2 | url=https://archive.org/stream/harrisonsreports38harr#page/n125/mode/2up/search/%22Calling+Homicide%22| accessdate=February 17, 2018}}{{Open access}}</ref> The National Legion of Decency gave the film a Class A Section II rating, indicating that it was morally unobjectionable but for adults only.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=Motion Picture Herald | title=Legion Approves 9 of 16 New Films | date=December 15, 1956 | page=17 | url=https://archive.org/stream/motionpictureher205quig#page/n587/mode/2up/search/%22Calling+Homicide%22 | accessdate=February 18, 2018}}{{Open access}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=Motion Picture Daily | title=Book 'Persuasion' in 8 Detroit Second-Runs | date=December 3, 1956 | page=2 | url=https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturedai80unse_0#page/n351/mode/2up/search/%22Calling+Homicide%22 | accessdate=February 18, 2018}}{{Open access}}</ref>

==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.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=Motion Picture Daily | title=Calling Homicide | date=October 15, 1956 | page=5 | url=https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturedai80unse_0#page/n91/mode/2up/search/%22Calling+Homicide%22 | accessdate=February 18, 2018}}{{Open access}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb title|0049044}} * {{TCMDb title|70119}} * {{AFI film|51776}} {{Edward Bernds}}

Category:1956 films Category:American drama films Category:1956 drama films Category:Allied Artists films Category:Films directed by Edward Bernds Category:1956 English-language films Category:1956 American films Category:American black-and-white films Category:Films scored by Marlin Skiles Category:English-language drama films