Force of Evil

 

 

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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) presents "FORCE OF EVIL" (25 December 1948) (78 min/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- Garfield is Joe Morse, a slick, self-centered lawyer who knows the law but feels he's above it --- He practices on Wall Street and has his eyes on millions, working on retainer for racketeer Ben Tucker (Roberts) --- The policy czar plans to have the number 776 come up on July 4; knowing that most people will bet on it, Tucker hopes to bankrupt and take over most of the city's smaller numbers operations --- Without spilling the beans, Joe attempts to get his kindly brother Leo (Gomez) to shut down for one day, but the stubborn older man feels obligated to let his regulars take their holiday chances --- Joe arranges for a police raid to break his brother's spirit, but to no avail --- After Tucker achieves his expected success on the Fourth, Leo's people, including bookkeeper Doris (Pearson), become nervous about the gangsters suddenly in their midst.

Dark and brooding, the film offers one of Garfield's greatest performances as the cynical, hard-as-nails lawyer --- A tour de force for gifted writer Polonsky, this film was the only film he directed before he was blacklisted for being an uncooperative witness before HUAC in 1951; he didn't direct another feature for 21 years --- At its best, the film achieves a style at once brutal and poetic, documentarian and noir.

Force of Evil is one of those rare film masterpieces in which the story, script, casting, acting, direction, photography, and sound design work in perfect harmony to create a taut and deeply enjoyable story.

Under the production staff of:
Abraham Polonsky [Director/Screenplay]
Ira Wolfert [novel "Tucker's People"/Screenplay]
Bob Roberts [Producer]
David Raksin [Original Music]
George Barnes [Cinematographer]
Art Seid [Film Editor]

BIOS:
1. Abraham Polonsky [Director]
Date of Birth: 5 December 1910 - New York City, New York
Date of Death: 26 October 1999 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California

2. John Garfield [aka: Jacob Julius Garfinkle]
Date of Birth: 4 March 1913 - New York City, New York
Date of Death: 21 May 1952 - New York City, New York

the cast includes:
John Garfield - Joe Morse
Thomas Gomez - Leo Morse
Marie Windsor - Edna Tucker
Howland Chamberlain - Freddie Bauer
Roy Roberts - Ben Tucker
Paul Fix - Bill Ficco

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 5 Stars
Performance: 5 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 5 Stars
Overall: 5 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 78 min on DVD ~ Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) ~ (05/11/2004)

Joe Morse (John Garfield) is a smart, cocky New York lawyer, and as corrupt as they come. "This is Wall Street," Joe tells us at the start of Force of Evil, "and today was important because tomorrow, July Fourth, I intended to make my first million dollars. An exciting day in any man's life. Temporarily, the enterprise was slightly illegal. You see, I was the lawyer for the numbers racket." Joe has a problem. His older brother, Leo (Thomas Gomez), runs a neighborhood numbers operation. Leo is a decent small-timer with a bad heart who worked his tail off so that Joe could go to law school. He knows his brother for what Joe is, a slick legal crook. Joe is in partnership with a tough gangster, Ben Tucker. They plan to break the banks of the small numbers operations, then move in and consolidate them under their own hand. They'll make millions. Joe realizes his brother will be ruined and tries to save him. Events begin to spin out of Joe's ability to control them. Joe finally finds a conscience, but only after people die.

There are a lot of elements that work in this movie. The screenplay by Abraham Polonsky and Ira Wolfert centers squarely on Joe's character and his dilemma. There's no let-up for Joe as his life of legal crime slides into real crime and tightens around him. The script is not exactly poetic, that would make it self-conscious, but it is tough, thoughtful and vivid. Polonsky's direction packs a lot of action into only 82 minutes. You need to pay attention, but it all makes sense. The movie looks gritty and bleak, from the crummy apartment where Leo runs his numbers operation to the empty New York streets at dawn to the sad but redemptive scene on the banks of the East River under the bridge. There are lots of low-angle shots that emphasize the essential emptiness of Joe's character. The movie also is well cast. Some of the actors I particularly enjoyed are Howland Chamberlain as a frightened, weak numbers accountant; Paul McVey as Joe's experienced law partner; Roy Roberts as Joe's business associate, Ben Tucker, a gangster who is more ruthless than Joe thought; and Marie Windsor in a small but memorable performance as Tucker's slow-talking, smoldering wife.

More than anything, the movie depends on the excellent performances of John Garfield and Thomas Gomez. Gomez has to play a sick, excitable, overweight small-time crook who has a bedrock decency. "The money I made in this rotten business is no good for me, Joe." he says. "I don't want it back. And Tucker's money is no good either." Joe just looks at him. "The money has no moral opinions," he tells Leo. Leo stares at his brother. "I find I have, Joe. I find I have." Gomez has to show his complete disdain for what his brother has become but still show us there's some strength left in the relationship. Garfield is the center of the movie. He was an actor who looked tough and sounded tough, yet he was able in his movies to show enough vulnerability not to alienate the audience. He not only had a lot of charm when he wanted to show it, he knew his craft and was good at it.

The movie also is resonant because we know what happened to Polonsky and Garfield as a result of the Communist witch hunts that overtook Hollywood during the late Forties and Fifties. Polonsky was an outspoken and enthusiastic Marxist. It's no accident that Force of Evil can be seen as a parable for Big Business squeezing out the hard-working little guys. When Polonsky refused to testify before the House un-American Activities Committee, his career vanished. He continued to write screenplays but only under assumed names. It took 21 years before he was permitted to direct another film. Garfield suffered perhaps a sadder fate. He came from a poor, working class background and had always been a strong supporter of the working man. He'd never been a Communist but he had supported liberal causes. Garfield was as politically naive as a deer who has a target tattooed on his side. He agreed to testify before HUAC but refused to offer any names of people the committee wanted to know were Communist sympathizers. He was unofficially blacklisted. He had become a major star in the Forties, but the job offers suddenly dried up. He made a couple of so-so movies, then tried to re-establish himself on Broadway. He was mystified and depressed at what was happening to him. He died of a heart attack in 1952 at 39.

The DVD transfer is just fine. There are no extras.

This was one of John Garfield's final films before he was wrongfully "blacklisted" & it's easy to see why it was a "major influence" on director Martin Scorsese's crime dramas. Garfield plays a wise young Wall Street lawyer who works for a mob boss in order to make money "the easy way". However, when Garfield forces his older (& weaker) brother to join the crooked organization, problems quickly arise, & there's plenty of backstabbing & double-crossing involved! I'll admit the movie starts off a little slow, but Garfield's incredible acting had me hooked in no time. The photography in this gripping film noir is simply amazing, & although Garfield's the only "big star" the cast is very good. Unfortunately, the dvd has absolutely no special features, not even a trailer or cast bios. Oh well, this classic is so awesome that I'm satisfied with the dvd release. Maybe someday a special edition will be released. If you're a John Garfield or film noir fan than this is a definite must!

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4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Garfield Noir
Force of Evil is a fine example of 1940s film noir. Polonsky's direction is crisp and the pacing perfect throughout. Read more

Published on May 18 2004 by dantes

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