Tough detectives, pretty women, ace reporters. All staples of the film-noir genre and exemplified by these two films. In Homicide, what seems like a routine suicide sparks the interest of LAPD Detective Michael Landers (Robert Douglas) when he sees something suspicious at the scene. Delving further into the case leads him to the heart of SoCal's farm country. Posing as an insurance investigator, Landers meets several unsavory types and an attractive hotel cigarette girl, Jo Ann (Helen Westcott) as he slowly unravels the case.The reporter-turned-sleuth takes the lead in The House Across the Street. When managing editor Dave Joslin (Wayne Morris) writes several articles blasting the police with incompetence after a witness in a fraud trial is killed, the paper's owner, who is worried about a libel suit, reassigns the editor to an advice-to-the-lovelorn columnist. This causes Joslin to become inadvertently involved in the fraud case against racketeer Keever (Bruce Bennett). With fellow reporter Kit Williams (Janis Paige) as his accomplice, Joslin starts putting together the puzzle pieces to get the criminal indicted.
