The Enforcer
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Movie Reviews of The Enforcer
Movie Review: Heart Pounding Film of Murder for Hire
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my favorite Bogie film with our hero playing a tough Brooklyn District Attorney who has to find how and why witnesses are being killed. It is not a romantic film like "Casablanca", a cult-classic like "The Maltese Falcon," a social commentary like "Knock on Any Door." It is simply the most suspensful of all Bogie flicks. The depiction of Mendoza, the man who invented murder for profit, is terrifying. This is spine tingling film noir with a documentary nuance. Get scared...don't miss it.Movie Review: Bogart at his Best
Summary: 5 Stars
This is Bogart at his best. What a great movie. I have watched it over and over, it is that good. This movie was made before I was born, FILM NOIR, I love it. The old movies are made with such grace and style. Don't miss this movie.Movie Review: Overlords of the underworld ruled a dynasty of death!
Summary: 4 Stars
I was duped! Oh, not so much by the film The Enforcer (1951), but by my own expectations...you see, most all Humphery Bogart films I've seen have always had him playing a character on the wrong side of the law, or residing somewhere in the gray area...and given the title of this film, I had expected him to be some sort of underworld henchman type tasked with carrying out illegal tasks, but it was just the opposite...here he plays a district attorney, hot on the heels of a murderous gang for hire. Directed by Bretaigne Windust (Pretty Baby), and an uncredited Raoul Walsh - apparently, Windust fell ill a few days into shooting, and Bogart asked his friend Walsh (they worked together on such films like They Drive by Night and High Sierra) to step in until Windust could recover, which took several months, and by that time the film was finished. Walsh, seeing the film was meant to be Windust's big break, declined the directing credit. Also appearing in the film, along with the starring Bogart, are Ted de Corsia (The Killing, Baby Face Nelson), Roy Roberts (My Darling Clementine, House of Wax), Everett Sloane (Citizen Kane, Way of a Gaucho), and Zero Mostel (The Producers, The Hot Rock).
The story starts out with Dist. Atty. Martin Ferguson (Bogart) sitting on one of the most dangerous criminals of his career in one Albert Mendoza (Sloane). You see, Mendoza headed up a murder for hire gang, responsible for hundreds of missing persons, and Ferguson's star witness, the number two man in the operation, has just taken a dirt nap (that means he's dead...how did he die? Probably not the way you think). Stuck with the increasingly distasteful prospect of having to let Mendoza go (due to a recent shortage of witnesses), Ferguson revisits the files, determined to find something he can use to put Mendoza where he belongs, in the hot seat (no metaphor there, as the electric chair is often referred to this way). Thus begins a recounting of the story that lead up to where the film began, detailing how Ferguson, and his partner Capt. Frank Nelson (Roberts), came to be involved with Mendoza and his nefarious organization, and their efforts to take it down.
When the film first started, I was thrown by Bogart's role as someone on the right side of the law. It seemed so odd, and I was reluctant to accept it...also some of the dialogue seemed a bit jilted, especially the scene where Roberts character is waxing poetic about how the `system' favors the criminals in the need of actual evidence and witnesses to convict said criminals (this occurred after the untimely demise of their star witness). Yeah, I can see how that whole `evidence' thing can be a royal pain, especially if you know in your heart the person is guilty...shouldn't that be enough? I suppose I'd be more sympathetic if it wasn't for the fact you had a star witness, under heavily armed guard, within the actual courthouse, and despite all these measures, you were still unable to keep him alive. The film played up the `murder for hire' angle like no one had ever heard of it before, but was that just for the sake of the audience? I mean I would have thought this kind of criminal activity had been around for a while. Maybe I'm wrong (and it wouldn't be the first time). Mendoza's scenes where he's discussing his new business plans are interesting (especially to a budding criminal mastermind like myself), and he details positive elements like how after a murder, the police always look for a motive, or who's got the most to gain from the crime, but with murder for hire, the actual killer doesn't know the victim, has no apparent motive, and therefore should be almost impossible to catch...also, there's the aspect of having the goods on the person who put out the contract, as you have them in your pocket, so to speak, and can threaten to expose them if they don't acquiesce to any future demands. I also liked the somewhat detailed information on the inner workings of the gang, like why the avoided using guns, how the contracts were doled out, how the bodies were disposed (they had their own `undertaker'), etc. The film does start off a little slow, but soon picks up and barrels along at a good clip. The story is mostly told within flashbacks, and flashbacks within flashbacks, but expert directing manages to keep the viewer in tune with where the story is at, and what's going on...I've seen this technique used before, and it seems to me a pretty hairy thing to attempt, but if done successfully (like here), it works out really well, adding a lot of depth over your basic, linear plotting. This seemed an odd vehicle for Bogart, but maybe he wanted to try something a little different, but it felt like his presence was in a continual state of overpowering the role. By that I mean his abilities far outweighed the requirements of his particular character, but that's just my opinion. It doesn't really matter, as he carries the film beautifully, aided by a very strong, supporting cast including Roberts, who had quite a bit of spryness in his step given his age of about 50ish at the time the film was shot (watch for the scene when he chases down a wily criminal...he appeared to do most of the work himself, rather than using a stunt double). And keep watching, as the ending scenes are very thrilling. All in all a solid picture made better by great casting and a substitute director.
The full screen picture looks clean, although it seems the original aspect ratio was not preserved (there seems to be some minor clipping of the picture). The Dolby monaural audio comes through clearly, and the case lists English closed captioning. Included is a theatrical trailer for the film.
Cookieman108
Movie Review: "The Enforcer (1951) ... Humphrey Bogart ... Warners Bros. Film Noir"
Summary: 4 Stars
Warner Bros.Pictures present "THE ENFORCER" (1951) (87 mins/B&W) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- Starring Humphrey Bogart, Zero Mostel, Ted Corsia, Everett Sloane & Roy Roberts --- Directed by Bretaigne Windust and released in February 24, 1951, our story line and film, After years of pursuit, Assistant D.A. Martin Ferguson has a good case against Murder, Inc. boss Albert Mendoza. Mendoza is in jail and his lieutenant Joseph Rico is going to testify. But Rico falls to his death and Ferguson must work through the night going over everything to build the case anew --- Fabulous Bogie crime flick with a winning role from Zero Mostel as Babe Lazick, a two-bit hood who begins weaving a tale of a murder-by-contract ring and its head operator, Joe Rico --- take note this film has a hyper classic devise of a flashbacks inside of a flashbacks, there are three of them ... Humphrey Bogart and Capt. Roy Roberts reviewing their notes for a case against a murder for hire racket, during the review they recall the arrest Zero Mostel who tells a story about joining the gang of killers, next they listen to a dying man who tells a story of a failed hit ... in another flashback a man who we already know to be dead tells a story of the organizations first hit ... "THE ENFORCER" heads the list of noirs with flashbacks within flashbacks.
Under Bretaigne Windust (Director), Milton Sperling (Producer), Martin Rackin (Screenwriter), Robert Burks (Cinematographer), David Buttolph (Composer (Music Score), Fred Allen (Editor), Charles H. Clarke (Art Director), William L. Kuehl (Set Designer), Dolph Thomas (Sound/Sound Designer) - - - - the cast includes Humphrey Bogart (Martin Ferguson), Zero Mostel (Big Babe Lazich), Ted de Corsia (Joseph Rico), Everett Sloane (Albert Mendoza), Roy Roberts (Captain Frank Nelson), King Donovan (Sgt. Whitlow), Lawrence Tolan (Duke Malloy), Patricia Joiner (Teresa Davis/Angela Vetto), Don Beddoe (Thomas O'Hara), Tito Vuolo (Tony Vetto), John Kellogg (Vince), Jack Lambert (Philadelphia Tom Zaca), Adelaide Klein (Olga Kirshen), Susan Cabot (Nina Lombardo), Bud Wolfe (Fireman), Bob Steele (Herman) - - - - - Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe Hollywood crime dramas that set their protagonists in a world perceived as inherently corrupt and unsympathetic...Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography, while many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hard-boiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression...the term film noir (French for "black film"), first applied to Hollywood movies by French critic Nino Frank in 1946, was unknown to most of the American filmmakers and actors while they were creating the classic film noirs..the canon of film noir was defined in retrospect by film historians and critics; many of those involved in the making of film noir later professed to be unaware at the time of having created a distinctive type of film ... featuring top performances from the '40s and '50s with outstanding drama and screenplays, along with a wonderful cast and supporting actors to bring it all together ... another winner from the vaults of almost forgotten film noir gems
SPECIAL FEATURES BIOS:
1. Humphrey Bogart
Date of Birth: 25 December 1899 - New York, New York
Date of Death: 14 January 1957 - Los Angeles, California (throat cancer)
2. Zero Mostel
Date of Birth: 28 February 1915 - Brooklyn, New York
Date of Death: 8 September 1977 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
3. Bretaigne Windust (Director)
Date of Birth: 20 January 1906 - Paris, France
Date of Death: 18 March 1960 - New York, New York
Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on VHS, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials --- all my heroes have been cowboys!
Total Time: 87 min on DVD ~ Republic Pictures Video ~ (12/16/2003)
Movie Review: The Enforcer
Summary: 4 Stars
There are Bogie movies and there are movies that star Humphrey Bogart. As any fan will tell you the difference between the two is vast, and, unfortunately for many, THE ENFORCER falls in the latter category. Don't let the young Bogie on the jacket cover, the one in trenchcoat and fedora, fool you. There aren't any Ingrid Bergmans and misty memories of Paris in this one, or even a hysterical Mary Astor for Bogie to refuse to take a fall for. Heck, THE ENFORCER doesn't even have a toothless and demented Walter Huston doing a cackle dance in the mad desert sun.
THE ENFORCER is a cop show, a police procedural starring Humphrey Bogart as Martin Ferguson, the `hard-hitting' Brooklyn district attorney who cracked the Murder Incorporated syndicate. Imagine Sam Spade waking up one morning and deciding he'd rather be Joe Friday and you know all you need to about his character. Understandably, Bogie films are as opium to his legion of fans, while Humphrey Bogart movies are always interesting even though they may be too easily dismissed, or something worse, by the hard core fan. Ever give an empty pipe to an opium eater? To put it another way, the answer is `yes,' and the question is: Could a Bogart movie be good if he plays a relatively bland character that wouldn't have stretched the acting skills of a William Bendix?
THE ENFORCER is a tough and sometimes brutal movie. If Bogart's character lacks the edgy testiness of his more memorable creations, the movie compensates with a cast full of rough and rude secondary characters played by some of Hollywood's best tough guys. Veteran actor Roy Roberts plays Ferguson's sidekick Capt. Frank Nelson, a no-nonsense cop who would have fit in comfortably in Clint Eastwood's 1976 Dirty Harry movie of the same name. Capt. Nelson doesn't savor his wickedness to the extent Dirty Harry does, but the movie does, with a straight face, give him these lines of dialogue - "What's wrong with the law that we can't touch him? Our kinds of laws are designed to protect the innocent. It's not enough that we know a man is guilty. We have to prove it." I had to wind through that speech twice to make sure I heard it right. Later Nelson says this to a thug he'd just wrestled to the ground - "Answer me straight or I'll blow your head off! Where are the bodies?" Dirty Harry would've been proud.
Capt. Nelson may be a tough guy, but he's got nothing on the syndicate crime boys. Veteran actor Jack Lambert plays an oft psychotic character named Philadelphia who fakes a nervous breakdown to hide out in a mental institution from the omnipresent, and omni-vengeful, Albert Mendoza (Everett Sloane), the progenitor of a new type of gangsterism that he calls Murder, Inc., a murder for hire outfit. One of the fun aspects of the movie is to see the police struggle -What are you talking about!? Speak English! - when confronted with the then new thug terms for hired killings. Words like "hit" and "contract" had to be introduced somewhere, and it appears THE ENFORCER was their coming out film.
If there is such a thing, I'm an aficionado of old movie character actors, and Sloane and Lambert are very good in their limited screen time. Also adding welcome spice to the stew is a young Zero Mostel playing a naïve gunsel named Babe who finds himself out of his element, and over his head, in this brutal environment. The best performance, though, is given by Ted de Corsia as Rico, Mendoza's lieutenant and the only one with the direct evidence needed, as the movie puts it, to send Mendoza `to the chair.' De Corsia, who looks a bit like a beefy Robert Mitchum, steals every scene he's in, usually playing it brute-mean, but ratcheting it down when he learns that the jailed Mendoza is aware that the birds are singing and that he, Rico, is the ripest pigeon out there. Simply put, it's a tour-de-force performance.
I liked THE ENFORCER a lot. Bogart is certainly more than adequate in the undemanding role of the determined district attorney and the supporting cast is very strong. My only beef was with the movie's ending, which I thought was a little too climatic and Hollywood for an otherwise verite film. That aside, a very strong recommendation for this crime film.
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