Customer Reviews

Force of Evil [VHS]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Force of Evil is a fine example of 1940s film noir. Polonsky's direction is crisp and the pacing perfect throughout. John Garfield turns in an above average performance as Joe Morse, a lawyer turned enabler for mob boss Ben Tucker, who is played by a not entirely convincing Roy Roberts.

Force's plot turns around the effort of Tucker and Joe Morse to monopolize "policy" (i.e., the numbers racket) in New York, and Morse's effort to keep his brother, who runs a small-time numbers bank, from being crushed in the process. It is the brother-to-brother aspect of the plot that provides the real juice for this noir, with Thomas Gomez turning in a riveting performance as Joe's brother, Leo Morse. The female lead, Doris Lowry, is played well by Beatrice Pearson, but, in the end, the character stands to serve only as a sounding board for Joe as he struggles with what he has done to himself, and to his brother.

Technically, it looks as though Artisan, a perennial purveyor of poor quality dvds, has finally gotten a release right. The transfer here is crisp with solid blacks and a serviceable grayscale. The only obvious flaw on the disc can be found in the chapter selections, where the stills for the last two scenes are reversed. The audio is quite acceptable, and the score for this work is incrementally more memorable than most. As for features on this dvd, there are none -- it's the film, and just the film. However, because Artisan must learn to walk before it runs, the absence of special features is forgivable in light of the effort Artisan has finally put into getting the film right.

All things considered, I recommend this dvd to those wondering what film noir is all about, and strongly recommend it to confirmed fans of the genre. If you know what noir is about, and are not a fan, this dvd is decidedly not for you.

A richly provocative movie that could serve as a bible of film making, "Force of Evil" succeeds on a number of planes , establishing itself not only as classic noir, but as a reflection of its period. Visually, the compositions are exciting, from the elegant decor gilding the halls of power to the closeup of horror that punctuates Bower's brutal murder, the rich complexity seldom falters. There are echoes here of Eisenstein, and one can't help noticing the presence of Robert Aldrich as Assistant Director, an apprenticeship that would payoff in the visually similar "Kiss Me Deadly", suggesting that Aldrich served for a time as trustee of the blacklisted Polonsky estate. The script occasionally rises to the level of poetic Blank Verse, and is expertly intoned by John Garfield, Beatrice Pearson, and Thomas Gomez in a sweatily memorable performance. Thematically, Marxist Polonsky and co-scripter Ira Wolfert take a shot at the Darwinist world of capital, where big fish survive by eating smaller fish or by muscling in on the catch (Ficco's strategy), while working class minnows offer up dimes and quarters in hopes of instant metamorphosis. It's an ugly world where corruption and greed reach from top to bottom. Since the Production Code of the time couldn't leave matters in an unregenerate state, an upbeat ending is tacked on that defies the logic of what has gone before. Nevertheless, the sharply-etched images remain, vividly - memorably. And it's ironic that any intended remake will have to consider that the biggest fish of all has taken over the numbers racket and renamed it - the State Lottery. I wonder if Polonsky was amused.

Abrabham Polonsky's 1948 film Force of Evil is drenched with cynicism, corruption, greed, and love. Capturing the lure of noir, Force of Evil is a violent ballet which depicts the struggle of two brothers vieing for a rung on the urban ladder of existence. Joe Morse ( John Garfield) is a Wall Street lawyer with connections to an underworld kingpin. Morse is not content with being a straitlaced lawyer. Longing for a big score he becomes embroiled in a plan to drive the neighborhood number rackets out of business. Morse's greed is compromised by his protective instincts for his older brother Leo ( Thomas Gomez) who happens to operate one of the small policy games. Morse's morals and emotions are further stirred by Doris ( Beatrice Pearson) , Leo's secretary who innocently is scarred by the veil of crime. A dichotomy emerges as each brother's values about life come to the surface. Gomez is outstanding and upstages Garfield in a memorable performance. Although Leo runs a small numbers operation, he is a proud and honest man that remains loyal to his workers. He has provided poor neighborhood people with jobs and extra income and justifies the numbers racket as a simple five and dime game that might bring a windfall to a blue collar laborer. Conversely, Joe has it all- Wall Street law office, secretaries, and expensive suits. Yet Joe's success is partly due to his representation of his most influential client-mob boss Frank Tucker (Beau Bridges). Joe cannot break his ties with the mob and instead becomes more involved with them. Polonsky's location shooting in Manhattan adds the concrete testure and intimidation that shadows the film. In one scene, John Garfield's lone figure walking along a desolate Wall Street, with Trinity Church looming in the background creates a sense of urban alienation. Polonsky's camera work when Mr. Bower is shot is riveting. No film up to that time captured the brutality and urgency of mob gunmen at a hit scene as did Polonsky. That scene alone bridges some of the influences that Martin Scorsese speaks about in the film's prelude. Characters, scenes, and emotions from Mean Streets, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas are evident in Force Of Evil. Also Jeff Shannon's review incorrectly states that Leo Morse's secretary is played by Marie Windsor. The beautiful, buxom fixture of many noir films, Windsor played the role of Edna Tucker,the mob boss's wife. Upon release, Force of Evil was deemed a B crime flick. Recently, and rightfully so, Force of Evil has been re-evaluated as one of the most influential crime noirs in Amercian cinema.

One of the great post-war noir/crime movies. The bleak cityscapes of cinematographer George Barnes, spot-on performances by John Garfield and Thomas Gomez, spare score by David Raksin, the script, the direction---everything comes together into a film that's somehow both an archetypal genre piece and also a highly individual entertainment. One wonders what kind of career Abraham Polonsky would have had if it weren't for the blacklist. Good to see, though, that this once-neglected film has lately been getting some of the recognition it deserves. Fans of John Garfield should not miss one of his most indelible performances, but just as an example of high-quality Hollywood product from the late studio era, or as one of the great "New York" movies of the forties, this film is a must-see.

This 1949 Film Noir classic directed by Abraham Polonsky, later a victim of the Hollywood blacklist, is based on the dense and convoluted novel "Tucker's People." The script, by Polonsky and author Ira Wolfert, clearly shows the influence of James Joyce with its repetition and elaborate unpunctuated sentences. This rather unique dialogue gives the film a feel decidedly like other noted films in this genre. John Garfield plays lawyer Joe Morse, who wants to consolidate all the small-time numbers racket operators into one big powerful operation run by his boss. But his elder brother Leo, in a riveting performance by Thomas Gomez, is just a small-time operator who does not want to move up to the big leagues in which he will become a nobody. This makes "Force of Evil" a highly personal drama of the American underworld. Garfield has several excellent scenes with Beatrice Pearson as Doris Lowry, but it is Gomez's character, a large and grotesque figure whose violence is always on the edge who dominates the screen, ominously pointing out at one point, "All that Cain did was kill Abel." Marie Windsor as Edna, Leo's secretary, provides the sense of common decency that reminds Joe of when he had a conscience, although neither she nor anyone else can provide the moral anchor that will stop Joe from descending into Hell. The most memorable sequence in the film--with all due credit to George Barnes's stark cinematography--is the brutal murder of the bookkeeper Freddie Bauer (Howland Chamberlain) in the cellar, his glasses broken and his face covered in blood as his voice rises higher and higher in terror. By the time "Force of Evil" ends, with Garfield walking down flights of steps into an absolutely hopeless existence, the film has achieved an almost poetical potency.

The majority of the credit for this classic film clearly goes to Polonsky, who had written the screenplay for "Body and Soul" and provides clear evidence in his directing debut of great things to come. However, because he refused to name names to HUAC he was blacklisted. Uncredited as the director of the 1957 version of "Oedipus Rex," Polonsky did not direct/write another Hollywood film until "Tell Them Willie Boy is Here" in 1969. Polonsky is one of the lesser known names on the infamous blacklist, but "Force of Evil" strongly suggests there might not have been a greater loss in terms of the films that were never made than those he would have written and/or directed. This was a first class talent, cut down after his first giant step in the industry. Polonsky died from a heart attack in 1999. Final Note: "Force of Evil" was also released in the United States as "The Numbers Racket," "Tucker's People" and "The Story of Tucker's People."

I was pleasantly surprised to discover "Force of Evil" is a top-shelf film transfer. It has been properly restored, even surpassing John Garfield's companion film "Body and Soul" -- which was and is considered more marketable. "Force of Evil" casts Garfield as a corrupt lawyer who faces a conscience crisis over illegal lottery operations in a dispute with his older brother (Thomas Gomez). There's an irony in the fact that the film foreshadowed the current climate of government-sponsored lotteries, with their concomitant corruption of societal values. And "Force of Evil" was released in 1948.

- Al Hooper, Edmonds, WA

Not quite on a par with the best film noirs such as Touch of Evil, Double Indemnity, and Sunset Blvd., FORCE OF EVIL is still a fine film starring John Garfield. Garfield is an attorney, caught up in a drama with an older brother, the numbers racket, and a life spiraling out of control. Excellently made, it only lacks in topnotch performances.

Truly this is not a film noir, because our protagonist is corrupt from the beginning. Still, it often gets classified as a noir; it has much in common with the famous film noirs, and I would recommend it to any fan of the noir genre, as well as fans of 1940s cinema.

I loved it. 90 minutes well spent, and I'm recommending it to all my friends.

five stars

This film feels a bit low-budget in places and some of the peripheral actors are just okay but the film overall is one of the toughest, smartest, most realistic film noirs ever made. Garfield is incredible in the lead and you feel for him even as he gets his hands dirty for a fast buck. No one is safe in this film, especially the innocent. Martin Scorsese has pointed out that this was the first film he ever saw that captured the world in which he grew up--the low-rent hoods, the numbers racket, and the ordinary people who either played along or got run over. A vastly underrated picture that deserves more attention.

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.

Joe Morse (John Garfield) is a smart, cocky New York lawyer, and as corrupt as they come. "This is Wall Street," Joe tells us at the start of Force of Evil, "and today was important because tomorrow, July Fourth, I intended to make my first million dollars. An exciting day in any man's life. Temporarily, the enterprise was slightly illegal. You see, I was the lawyer for the numbers racket." Joe has a problem. His older brother, Leo (Thomas Gomez), runs a neighborhood numbers operation. Leo is a decent small-timer with a bad heart who worked his tail off so that Joe could go to law school. He knows his brother for what Joe is, a slick legal crook. Joe is in partnership with a tough gangster, Ben Tucker. They plan to break the banks of the small numbers operations, then move in and consolidate them under their own hand. They'll make millions. Joe realizes his brother will be ruined and tries to save him. Events begin to spin out of Joe's ability to control them. Joe finally finds a conscience, but only after people die.

There are a lot of elements that work in this movie. The screenplay by Abraham Polonsky and Ira Wolfert centers squarely on Joe's character and his dilemma. There's no let-up for Joe as his life of legal crime slides into real crime and tightens around him. The script is not exactly poetic, that would make it self-conscious, but it is tough, thoughtful and vivid. Polonsky's direction packs a lot of action into only 82 minutes. You need to pay attention, but it all makes sense. The movie looks gritty and bleak, from the crummy apartment where Leo runs his numbers operation to the empty New York streets at dawn to the sad but redemptive scene on the banks of the East River under the bridge. There are lots of low-angle shots that emphasize the essential emptiness of Joe's character. The movie also is well cast. Some of the actors I particularly enjoyed are Howland Chamberlain as a frightened, weak numbers accountant; Paul McVey as Joe's experienced law partner; Roy Roberts as Joe's business associate, Ben Tucker, a gangster who is more ruthless than Joe thought; and Marie Windsor in a small but memorable performance as Tucker's slow-talking, smoldering wife.

More than anything, the movie depends on the excellent performances of John Garfield and Thomas Gomez. Gomez has to play a sick, excitable, overweight small-time crook who has a bedrock decency. "The money I made in this rotten business is no good for me, Joe." he says. "I don't want it back. And Tucker's money is no good either." Joe just looks at him. "The money has no moral opinions," he tells Leo. Leo stares at his brother. "I find I have, Joe. I find I have." Gomez has to show his complete disdain for what his brother has become but still show us there's some strength left in the relationship. Garfield is the center of the movie. He was an actor who looked tough and sounded tough, yet he was able in his movies to show enough vulnerability not to alienate the audience. He not only had a lot of charm when he wanted to show it, he knew his craft and was good at it.

The movie also is resonant because we know what happened to Polonsky and Garfield as a result of the Communist witch hunts that overtook Hollywood during the late Forties and Fifties. Polonsky was an outspoken and enthusiastic Marxist. It's no accident that Force of Evil can be seen as a parable for Big Business squeezing out the hard-working little guys. When Polonsky refused to testify before the House un-American Activities Committee, his career vanished. He continued to write screenplays but only under assumed names. It took 21 years before he was permitted to direct another film. Garfield suffered perhaps a sadder fate. He came from a poor, working class background and had always been a strong supporter of the working man. He'd never been a Communist but he had supported liberal causes. Garfield was as politically naive as a deer who has a target tattooed on his side. He agreed to testify before HUAC but refused to offer any names of people the committee wanted to know were Communist sympathizers. He was unofficially blacklisted. He had become a major star in the Forties, but the job offers suddenly dried up. He made a couple of so-so movies, then tried to re-establish himself on Broadway. He was mystified and depressed at what was happening to him. He died of a heart attack in 1952 at 39.

The DVD transfer is just fine. There are no extras.