Force of Evil (1948)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Abraham Polonsky

Writers:

Abraham Polonsky (screenplay) and
Ira Wolfert (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 December 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Drama

Plot:

An unethical lawyer, with an older brother he wants to help, becomes a partner with a client in the numbers racket.

Plot Keywords:

Gangster | Lawyer | Numbers Racket | Policeman | Betrayal

Awards:

1 win

Cast

John Garfield	...	Joe Morse
Thomas Gomez	...	Leo Morse
Marie Windsor	...	Edna Tucker
Howland Chamberlain	...	Freddie Bauer (as Howland Chamberlin)
Roy Roberts	...	Ben Tucker
Paul Fix	...	Bill Ficco
Stanley Prager	...	Wally
Barry Kelley	...	Det. Egan
Paul McVey	...	Hobe Wheelock
Beatrice Pearson	...	Doris Lowry

Also Known As:

Tucker's People (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Enterprise Productions

Trivia:

This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1994.

Goofs:

Continuity: During a climactic montage set at an East Coast racetrack on the Fourth of July, people in the stock footage crowd scenes are dressed in winter garments nobody would wear in the middle of summer.

Quotes:

[last lines - voice over]
Joe Morse: I found my brother's body at the bottom there, where they had thrown it away on the rocks... by the river... like an old dirty rag nobody wants. He was dead - and I felt I had killed him. I turned back to give myself up to Hall; because if a man's life can be lived so long and come out this way - like rubbish - then something was horrible and had to be ended one way or another... and I decided to help.

Movie Connections:

Featured in New York at the Movies (2002) (TV)

Influential Film

The VHS version I own of Force of Evil is one with a forward by Martin Scorsese. In it Scorsese says that this film was the first one that depicted a world he knew, growing up in New York City. Scorses was mesmerized by it as a kid and studied it frame by frame as when he grew up. He pays tribute to Force of Evil saying that you can see the influence of it Mean Streets, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas.

Of course the fact that the film was shot totally on location in scintillating black and white noir in New York City, gave it a dimension that no other noir films have, save possibly Night and the City which was also shot on location in London.

John Garfield who was as quintessential a New Yorker as you could get plays Joe Morse, smooth lawyer for a big time racketeer Roy Roberts who is looking to either take over or muscle out the small time policy banks in the numbers racket. One of those banks is owned by Garfield's brother, Thomas Gomez.

Garfield is as ruthless as Roberts, but with a velvet glove. He tries to get Gomez to go along with the syndicate, but Gomez balks. There's also a prosecutor looking into the numbers racket and a tapped phone which figures prominently in the climax.

Given the leftwing polemics of both the star and director Abraham Polonsky, Force of Evil got the attention of the ultra rightwing House Un American Activities Committee. Polonsky was blacklisted for over 20 years and Garfield died under the strain of the investigation.

Given what has happened to the Soviet Union, I wonder if Garfield and Polonsky were alive today what they would say and how they would feel about their work here. It's interesting to speculate.

But as entertainment Force of Evil is a great success and that is the first rule of film. Also look for a good performance by Marie Windsor as Roberts's wife with a yen for Garfield. One of her first femme fatale roles and one of her best.