‘Detective Story’ Shows Gritty Talent

A script that launched a thousand hard-boiled cliches, Sidney Kingsley’s 1949 “Detective Story” gets a suitably hard-boiled revival at the Marilyn Monroe Theatre.

Set in a chaotic, coffee-stained Manhattan squad room (splendidly evoked by Michael Caza’s set), Kingsley’s shoulder-holster melodrama seriously questions the morality of police work through damaged, compromised Det. McLeod (Asher Brauner).

McLeod is a bruiser, a “law unto himself” so feared that defense attorneys complain about him as a preemptory strike. But after the arrest of a loathsome German con named Schneider (Robert Zachar, playing a cartoon Nazi), McLeod’s fanatical adherence to justice is revealed as the product of a twisted family history, one that continues to plague his present marriage to former gangster moll Mary (Susan Priver).

“Detective Story” must have seemed daring in its day, though to modern audiences the neatly packaged psychology and stock characters (including Michael McGuire’s gruff lieutenant-as-oracle, J.J. Johnston’s dick-as-decent-guy and Richard Zavaglia’s reporter-as-wise-fool) will seem awfully contrived. Even so, director Anthony Caldarella’s admirable production has a gritty, tough swagger, with its talented 27-person cast conveying a genuine patina of New York Irish.

* “Detective Story,” Marilyn Monroe Theatre, 7936 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends June 23. $15. (213) 650-7777. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.