The Enforcer
|
DVD Cover Information Actor: Everett Sloane, Humphrey Bogart, Roy Roberts, Ted de Corsia, Zero Mostel Brand: BOGART,HUMPHREY DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language) Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC Picture Format: 1.33:1 Running Time: 87 minutes DVD Release Date: 2003-12-16 Audience Rating: Unrated Studio: Republic Pictures |
| New | New Usually ships in 1-2 business days | $9.90 | ||
| Used | Used Usually ships in 1-2 business days | $7.75 | ||
| Collectible | Collectible Usually ships in 1-2 business days | $21.99 |
Your purchase is protected by the A-to-z Safe Buying Guarantee. Amazon.com automatically transfers your payment to the merchant so you'll never need to pay a merchant directly. Amazon.com A-to-z Safe Buying Guarantee covers both the delivery of your item and its condition upon receipt.
Movie Reviews of The Enforcer
Movie Review: Intriguing Thriller Inspired by the Infamous "Murder, Inc."
Summary: 4 Stars
"The Enforcer" stars Humphrey Bogart as a prosecutor Martin Ferguson, who tried for 4 years without success to build a case against gangster Albert Mendoza (Everett Sloan) until one of Mendoza's underlings, Joseph Rico (Ted de Corsia), agreed to testify against him. The night before he is to take the witness stand, and in spite of every effort to protect him, Rico dies. Now, without a star witness, Ferguson is determined to find something on Mendoza before the case is dismissed. He and Police Captain Nelson (Roy Roberts) spend the night sifting through volumes of case files they have collected on Mendoza. The film flashes back to the beginning of the investigation into the many murders committed by Mendoza and his "troupe", and works its way forward, eventually bringing us back to the present.
"The Enforcer" was inspired by the real-life Murder, Inc., the arm of the organized crime syndicate that did contract killing in the early 1930s through mid-1940s. In fact, the film was released under the title "Murder, Inc." outside of the United States. Murder, Inc. was founded by the infamous Bugsy Siegal and Meyer Lansky as an efficient way of eliminating problems in the syndicate, in particular police informants. At its height, the organization employed hundreds of hit men recruited from Brooklyn neighborhoods. Good pay and excellent benefits, including legal representation, made the men loyal. Murder Inc.'s success depended on the murderers having no connection to the victims and no apparent motive, which made it nearly impossible for authorities to find the killers, let alone convict them. Murder Inc.'s downfall began when Abe "Kid Twist" Reles decided to squeal to King's County District Attorney William O'Dwyer in return for a light sentence. The character of Joseph Rico seems to be based loosely on Reles, who fell to his death from a Coney Island hotel window in 1941. Martin Ferguson seems to have been inspired by William O'Dwyer, whose successful prosecution of organized crime made him a celebrity and then Mayor of New York 1946-1950.
Often categorized as film noir, "The Enforcer" does start out that way, but quickly becomes a more straightforward crime thriller, only hinting at cynicism and devoid of introversion. Joseph Rico is the most noir of the characters, on the run from his past, but caged and in more danger from his own impulses than anything else. Martin Ferguson is stoic, single-minded, and strikingly cruel when he wants to be. His methods of getting information allude to the extortion that O'Dwyer and others used to break Murder, Inc. "The Enforcer" is famous for being the first film to use the words "contract" and "hit" and to address the subject of "murder for profit". Bretaigne Windust is credited as the film's director, but he fell ill during the shoot and was replaced by Raoul Walsh, who is believed to have directed some key scenes, including the ending. The film's only real fault is some temporal confusion after the first act. I found it difficult to tell whether some scenes were flashbacks or in present time. But "The Enforcer" is an intense thriller inspired by intriguing events that were in recent memory when the film was made.
The DVD (Republic 2003): Picture and sound quality are good on this print. The only bonus feature is a theatrical trailer (2 1/2 minutes). No subtitles.