Force of Evil
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Movie Reviews of Force of Evil
Movie Review: "Force of Evil (1948) ... John Garfield ... Abraham Polonsky (Director) (2004)"
Summary: 5 Stars
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)
Movie Review: Everyone has missed the point
Summary: 5 Stars
Ohmigod - I read all the reviews - everyone has missed the point on Force of Evil"! The true reason to see this film is to note it's terrific dialogue "style" and one of the greatest "love scenes" on film. - There is a cadence to how the dialogue is said - which I have seen in no other film - the closest would be David Mamet - no one really talks this way - but the result - it is almost like poetry. I tried to analyze it - one of the ways this is done is through the repetition of lines, but that's not all of it - I remember first catching this film on TV - when it was over, I thought - "Wait a second - this is just a film about petty gangsters, why is it so special?" For me it is because of this terrific way of how things are spoken - and how wonderfully all the actors do "it." As for the love scene - it's the scene in the car between John Garfield and Beatrice Pearson - all talk - but what talk!!! Enormously sexy - again the dialogue is not only written wonderfully - listen to to how it is spoken. Forget all the nonsense in the reviews about the film noir aspect or the anti-capitalist nonsense - what Polansky did in writing and DIRECTION - is brilliant and unique - its style - and it was carried throughout the film. To me, the reviews just focus on ridiculous things - it is like saying watch "Citizen Kane" because it is a biography of William Randolph Hearst - I'm certainly not as erudite as many of the reviewers - but this is a great movie because of what I've said. So there. And yes, I know I've repeated the word "style" too many times - I don't know how else to convey what I mean - So I'm right and be quiet.Movie Review: The art of darkness
Summary: 5 Stars
Force of Evil was a massive disappointment to me when I first saw it, but on a much belated second viewing I'm amazed I got it so wrong. The script is superb, the cast excellent - with John Garfield and Thomas Gomez on top form - and the scam all too believable. The relationship between Garfield's numbers racket lawyer and Beatrice Pearson's `nice' girl is also beautifully realised: in most films, the `nice' girl offers the chance of redemption, but this turns that cliché completely on its head - his interest is just to see how easy it will be to corrupt her, and they're both well aware that she really DOES want to be corrupted but needs to be talked into it to give her conscience an excuse. Mirroring his similar efforts to talk his brother into the clutches of the mob, the dialog in these scenes is astonishingly good, carrying and complimenting the theme of the film but never hitting you over the head with it. And the explosive moment of panic-stricken murder is as powerful as it is unexpectedly intense.
No extras, but a decent though not outstanding DVD transfer.
Movie Review: Force of Evil
Summary: 5 Stars
A dark, cynical film about the culture of greed in America, "Force of Evil" helped earn director Polonsky and its talented star, John Garfield, a place on the Hollywood blacklist. With its edgy moral themes and exquisite angled lighting by George Barnes (who visited an Edward Hopper exhibit to achieve the look), "Evil" has influenced many, including Martin Scorsese. In his finest role, Garfield soars as a chiseled, hard-driving lawyer, abetted by Beatrice Pearson (as a secretarial voice of conscience) and Gomez, playing a stubborn businessman who equates his hated brother with gangsterism. Brutal and beautifully photographed.Movie Review: About as Noir as it gets
Summary: 5 Stars
Dark, dark, dark, like a symphony all in minor chord, this film really wrenches at your soul. The camera shots and uses of light and shade are classic film noir and this may well be the best noir ever produced. It's a horror film, but not a "horror film." The horror is Man's greed and corruption and what it does to men. Just mesmerizing and should be in the collection if you are a B&W lover.