The film's story line - the kidnapping of a blind girl with the kidnappers using the huge Chicago Union Railroad Station as the contact point for the distraught father and dropoff for the ransom. William Holden is the "boss cop" { Lt "Willie Calhoun} of the station who working with Barry Fitzgerald {Inspector Donnelly} are going to use their knowledge of the layout of the Station to trap the kidnappers when they try to pick up the $200,000 ransome. Nancy Olson {Joyce Willcombe} knows the victim, works for her father and by a very convienent almost improbable plot twist has put the police on-to the kidnapping even before the initial ransom note is even delivered to the father.There are some good episolds in the movie - the tracking and pursuit of one of the kidnappers on the Chicago elevated, the murder of a police officer by the boss kidnapper Lyle Bettger {Joe Beacom} who leaves his wounded mistress Jan Sterling {Marge Wrighter} pleading in the gutter as he speeds away and best of all - the casual brutality- slaps ,kicks, punches and death threats used by Calhoun and Donnelly and their squad playing "good cop, bad cop" to "extract" information from an underling in the bowells of Union Station that in 2010 would consitute a 5-10 million dollar lawsuit and cost a few police their jobs besides. Of course the underling spills his guts and probaly wet his pants in this circa 1950 routine police interrogation. How times have changed!! The best performances are by Lyle Bettger who is excellent as the boss kidnapper cold stare, steely voice and mocking the blind girl as he slaps her around when she wimpers too much and by Jan Sterling as a trashy floozy who has some sympathy for the victim but luvs Beacom while he treats her like dirt. Nancy Olson playing to type as a wide eyed innocent with "Backbone" gives her role some depth and is pretty good. HOWEVER, Barry Fitzgerald reprising his 1948 role from "The Naked City" is too cute / coy as the loveable shrewd Irish " Full of Blarney" Inspector. Allene Roberts as the kidnap victim {Lorna Murchison} is an unsympathetic and whiney victim. Rudolph Mate was a great cameraman but his direction of the movie is pedestrian and the final chase thru the station's underground service tunnels is ok but could have been much better - it's to slowly paced and does'nt have enough tension and falls kind of flat. BUT the film's most serious flaw is the miscasting of William Holden as the hardbitten cop - his performance lacks the hard edge, he's not cynical or tough enough to pull it off. A far better choice for this role would have been Paramount's other male "biggie" - Alan Ladd whose tough guy image, dry voice and laconic manner would have played nicely against Nancy Olson's exasperated innocence. I guess after the successful teaming of Holden and Olson in "Sunset Blvd" Paramount rushed them into this picture to capitilize on their prievous teaming. I wanted to like this movie much more than I did but its elements just did/nt quite jell. Still, I give it a 3 1/2 star rating and would recommend its purchase.