Force of Evil

Force of Evil
by Abraham Polonsky

List Price: ~~$14.98~~
Our Price: $13.49
You Save: $1.49 (10%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $6.68 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases

Compare Prices for Force of Evil

Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD Cover Information

Actor: Howland Chamberlain, John Garfield, Marie Windsor, Roy Roberts, Thomas Gomez
Director: Abraham Polonsky
Brand: Lions Gate
Cinematographer: George Barnes
Writer: Abraham Polonsky
Editor: Art Seid
Producer: Bob Roberts
Writer: Ira Wolfert
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 78 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-05-11
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Republic Pictures

Movie Reviews of Force of Evil

Movie Review: No Force Here !
Summary: 3 Stars

Force Of Evil just doesn't measure up to its press clippings. The convuluted plot lacks action and the acting of Garfield is strictly wooden. He produces no empathy for the character and can spark no chemistry with his female lead. Marie Windsor is used as a throw in and completely wasted here. Garfield delivers every line as if he's invoking some speech for the ages and the dialogue is just plain stupid. As Film Noir, it is neither good noir nor a good film and lacks the necessary force to make the grade. Overall, I will be kind and give it a C-.

Write your own review

More Force of Evil reviews:
1 2 3 4

Summary of Force of Evil

A lawyer feels he is getting squeezed from all sides in the rackets & decides to go straight when his racketeer broher gets killed. Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 05/11/2004 Starring: John Garfield Thomas Gomez Run time: 85 minutes Rating: R

Based on an obscure crime novel titled Tucker's People, Abraham Polonsky's Force of Evil has attained classic status since its release in 1948, when film noir was thriving on the fringes of the Hollywood studio system, where the shadowy attributes of noir were allowed their fullest expression. Which is to say, this gritty drama is drenched in greed, cynicism, and corruption of the soul, as embodied by John Garfield in one of his most memorable roles. He's perfectly cast as Joe Morse, a lawyer whose connection to a ruthless racketeer has nearly destroyed his sense of morality. His participation in a rigged numbers racket could prove disastrous for his high-strung older brother (superbly played by Thomas Gomez), whose small-time policy bank stands to go broke when the rigged numbers pay off--a financial windfall for Joe's powerful boss at everyone else's expense.

Joe's corruption is tempered only by remnants of guilt and his redeeming attraction to Edna (Marie Windsor), his brother's secretary, whose common decency gnaws at Joe's rotten conscience. But before Joe can rise from his self-made hell, Force of Evil takes him to the darkest pit of tragic humanity--a downward spiral perfectly expressed through George Barnes's exquisitely stark cinematography. In style and substance, this is quintessential noir, its plot unfolding with uncompromising toughness and intelligence. More's the pity, then, that director Polonsky was later victimized by the Hollywood blacklist, curtailing a promising career for two decades until Polonsky directed Robert Redford in 1969's Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here. It seems only fitting, then, that Polonsky's remarkable debut is now recognized as one of the finest dramas of its kind. --Jeff Shannon

Drama DVD Video

Mystery & Suspense

DVD Video

Movies most talked about in Danny Peary's CULT MOVIES 1 (Part 1)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Lions Gate; Release date: 1998-07-01; DVD
Best price: $8.42
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

The Val Lewton Horror Collection with Martin Scorsese Presents Val Lewton Documentary (Cat People / The Curse of the Cat People / I Walked with a Zombie ... / The Seventh Victim / Shadows in the Dark)
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-01-29; DVD
Best price: $43.00
Price in other shops: ~~$59.98~~

I Married a Monster From Outer Space
Release date: 2004-09-14; DVD
Best price: $19.95

House of Wax
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2003-08-05; DVD
Best price: $4.08
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

The Honeymoon Killers - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2003-07-22; DVD
Best price: $15.94
Price in other shops: ~~$29.95~~

Harold and Maude
Release date: 2000-06-27; DVD
Best price: $52.98

The Harder They Come - Criterion Collection
Release date: 2000-10-31; DVD
Best price: $49.99

The Beatles A Hard Day's Night
DVD
Price in other shops: ~~$39.99~~

Halloween (Divimax 25th Anniversary Edition)
Release date: 2003-08-05; DVD
Best price: $13.03
Price in other shops: ~~$29.97~~

Gun Crazy
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2004-07-06; DVD
Best price: $6.75
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

Similar DVD Movies

They Made Me a Criminal
Release date: 2002-07-30; DVD
Best price: $2.40
Price in other shops: ~~$7.98~~

Kiss of Death (Fox Film Noir)
Release date: 2005-12-06; DVD
Best price: $6.57
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

Road House (Fox Film Noir)
Release date: 2008-09-02; DVD
Best price: $5.94
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

Where the Sidewalk Ends (Fox Film Noir)
Twentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2005-12-06; DVD
Best price: $7.55
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

The Postman Always Rings Twice
CRONYN,HUME; Release date: 2004-01-06; DVD
Best price: $9.49
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

Touch Of Evil (50th Anniversary Edition)
Universal; Release date: 2008-10-07; DVD
Best price: $12.97
Price in other shops: ~~$26.98~~

The Big Heat
Sony; Release date: 2001-12-18; DVD
Best price: $13.27
Price in other shops: ~~$19.94~~

The Woman in the Window (MGM Film Noir)
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2007-07-10; DVD
Best price: $10.33
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~