Great acting by Joseph Wiseman

I don't know - "campy", "hammy", "over the top" - they all seem to have worked beautifully in this role. Call Joseph Wiseman's performance what you will, but it was "effective". It added just the right amount of comic relief, and was a very fair portrayal of a cheap New York City "4-time-loser" crook, even if it was somewhat caricaturized. He was always one of my favorite actors and he got the most possible out of even relatively small roles, as in "Viva Zapata" where he was "potent" as Fernando.

I used to hate Joseph Wiseman's performance in Detective Story, but tonight I enjoyed it: campy, yes, and way over the top; but also dangerously unhinged mentally (drug abuse? bipolar?,--or maybe both). Wiseman's cat burglar is a loose cannon, and also a funny one at times. The dangerous edge that emerges in a very serious way at the end was highly effective, for me anyway, this time around. It's like Wiseman and his character were having some fun, and then things turned very serious. Over the top and melodramatic this may all have been, but then so, sometimes, is real life.

I was indifferent to JW until this film (I even thought his Dr. No was kind of disappointing). Giannini was very funny for most of the picture, before things start to take a scary turn. Soon after, I saw his Twilight Zone episode. A real one-two punch.

Wiseman's over the top acting spoiled what was an otherwise excellent film for me. I loved Lee Grant's performance by the way.

I think his performance ranks way up there with other memorable psychotics in film.