The Man Who Cheated Himself (1950)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

The Man Who Cheated Himself (1950) – F. E. Feist

Solid noir that sees San Francisco Police Detective Lee J. Cobb making a fatal error when he catches his rich girlfriend (Jane Wyatt) shoot her (second) husband (who was sneaking into their house pretending to be a burglar but with the intention to kill her) – instead of taking her in, he covers up the crime.  Enter John Dall, playing Cobb’s younger brother, who has just been promoted to detective himself and is eager to solve the crime to which he has been assigned. So, he intrepidly uncovers all the clues that Cobb accidentally left behind when disposing of the body (at the airport) and therefore gradually closes in on his brother who tries his best to throw him off the trail, even if he doesn’t want to hurt Dall’s career.  It’s complicated but pretty standard fare.  But it does end in a nicely shot final stand-off at Fort Point under the Golden Gate Bridge.