The Lawless (1950)

Director:

Joseph Losey

Writer:

Daniel Mainwaring (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 June 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A newspaper editor in a small agricultural town finds himself going against the people in the town when he gets involved in the plight of the area's fruit pickers, who are mostly Mexican.

Plot Keywords:

Mexican | Editor | Newspaper | Beautiful Woman | Small Town

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Macdonald Carey	...	Larry Wilder
Gail Russell	...	Sunny Garcia
Johnny Sands	...	Joe Ferguson (as John Sands)
Lee Patrick	...	Jan Dawson
John Hoyt	...	Ed Ferguson
Lalo Rios	...	Paul Rodriguez
Maurice Jara	...	Lopo Chavez
Walter Reed	...	Jim Wilson
Herbert Anderson	...	Jonas Creel (as Guy Anderson)
Argentina Brunetti	...	Mrs. Rodriguez
William Edmunds	...	Angie Jensen
Gloria Winters	...	Mildred Jensen
John Davis	...	Harry Pawling
Martha Hyer	...	Caroline Tyler
Frank Fenton	...	Mr. Prentiss

Also Known As:

Outrage (USA) (working title)
The Dividing Line (UK)

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Grass Valley, California, USA

Company:

Pine-Thomas Productions

Quotes:

Sunny Garcia: I met you years ago.

culture clashes with workers

Pretty impressive description of the culture struggles between the white bread caucasians and Mexican workers in 1950. Right from the start, we see a confrontation between the young upper class Joe Ferguson (John Sands... where did he go, anyway...?) and the blue-collar worker Lopo Chavez (Maurice Jara in his first role.), trying to make ends meet Also in his first role is 20 year old Tab Hunter as "Frank". Nice performance by the attractive 25-year- old Gail Russell as the lead Sunny Garcia; unfortunately Russell died before 40 from a heart attack and alleged alcoholism. The story is that when reporter Jonas Creel (Herb Anderson) meets up with Sunny at a dance, he turns in a story on the fight that breaks out, and the poop hits the fan. Macdonald Carey is the union rep "Wilder" caught in the middle, along with Creel, the reporter. Then we see the fathers and sons discussing who gets what punishment, and the chase is on for one of the workers Paul Rodriguez (Lalo Rios) who may or may not have committed a serious crime. Good story. Many of these same issues are still hot-button issues today in southern California, and all along the U.S. border.