The Enforcer (1951)

Humphrey Bogart stars as a crusading district attorney working against the clock to prosecute a mob boss in this suspenseful picture that should appeal to crime completists and fans of the iconic actor. Based on actual court cases, the plot unfolds largely in flashback as Bogart reviews his case against vicious racketeer Everett Sloane, who has killed off anyone that has threatened to testify against him. Capably directed by Bretaigne Windust (with uncredited help from Raoul Walsh, who shot most of the film's most suspenseful moments, including the nail-biting conclusion), The Enforcer's standard law vs. the mob plotline benefits greatly from its unusual structure, as well as Bogart's solid presence and a terrific supporting cast, which includes an early turn by Zero Mostel. The opening narration is provided by Estes Kefauver, who was chairing a Senate investigation into organized crime at the time of the picture's release. --Paul Gaita Amazon.com

second string bogie

Elsewhere in this space I have noted my love for film noir. The black and white photography, the story lines, the sparse and functional language. However, not all film noir is created equal and that is the case here. Humphrey Bogart was a classic match for the genre-tough, rugged, resolute, resourceful and always loyal to a pal come what may. Here he plays a little against type as the do good but hard-headed assistant district attorney sworn to break up what at the time was called Murder, Incorporated, a seemingly motiveless murder for profit operation. I suppose if one wanted to stretch the point it might seem a metaphor for the capitalist system. But even as metaphor it is rather ham-handed. The only thing that saves this one is that as the plot unfolds in a flashback you get a look at how all the pieces fit together about how the bad guys did it and how justice was done in the case. But mainly put this one on the back burner.



July 29, 2007

Great Bogie-NO, Good Bogie-YES

After viewing Casablanca or Key Largo, this flick lets the audience down slowly. If Bogie never made a bad movie, and he probably didn't, the acting doesn't come up short, but the plot does. Ifthe viewer just wants to view as many of Bogies movies as possible, then this film is worth a look-see, but don't epect the classic Humprey Bogart here ? May 23, 2007

"The Enforcer (1951) ... Humphrey Bogart ... Warners Bros. Film Noir"

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) March 27, 2007

Heart Pounding Film of Murder for Hire

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. February 7, 2006

Intriguing Thriller Inspired by the Infamous "Murder, Inc."

"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. August 14, 2005

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