Claim: Kirk Douglas is a person who acts.

Detective Story is a 1951 film noir that tells the story of one day in the lives of the various people who populate a police detective squad . It features Kirk Douglas , Eleanor Parker , William Bendix , Cathy O'Donnell , and George Macready . Both Lee Grant and Joseph Wiseman perform in their film debuts . The movie was adapted by Robert Wyler and Philip Yordan from the 1949 play of the same name by Sidney Kingsley . Nominated for four Academy Awards , it was directed by William Wyler .   An angry New York detective is one of a precinct of cops in grim daily battle with the city 's lowlife . Little does he realize that his obsessive pursuit of an abortionist is leading him to a discovery closer to home . The characters who pass through the precinct over the course of the day include a young petty embezzler , a pair of burglars , and a naive shoplifter .