ridiculous rating

Overrated

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Blistering performances.

John Garfield (Joe Lorenzo), Brenda Marshall (Laurie Romayne), William Lundigan Nick Lorenzo), Marjorie Rambeau (Mama Lorenzo), George Tobias (Tony Scaduto), Moroni Olsen (Judge Davis), Douglas Fowley (Cy Turner), Jack LaRue (Scarfi), Paul Guilfoyle (Balmy), Jack Carr (No-Neck Griswold), Russell Hicks (warden), Jimmy O'Gatty, Ralph Volkie (Turner's henchmen), Robert Homans (patrolman), Joe Conti (Joe, as a boy), O'Neill Nolan (Nick, as a boy), Murray Alper (Dink Rogers), Roy Barcroft, Pat O'Malley, Ralph Sanford (policemen), Eddy Chandler (railroad detective), Richard Clayton (delivery boy), Ann Edmonds (bridesmaid), Frank Faylen (tour guide), Frank Mayo, Jack Mower, Cliff Saum (prison guards), Sol Gorss (prisoner), Fred Graham (policeman that Joe punches), Edward Fielding (university president), Creighton Hale (casino manager), Arch Hendricks (Sergeant McNamara), George Lloyd (man with letter), Jerry Mandy (Lombardo), William Marshall (commencement usher), Howard M. Mitchell (detective), Armand "Curly" Wright (Bruno), Edwin Stanley (commencement speaker), Hector Sarno (Pop, a diner), Al Rhein (blackjack dealer), William Pawley (Dave Carter). Director: ALFRED E. GREEN. Screenplay: Fred Niblo, junior. Story: John Fante, Ross B. Wills. Photography: Sid Hickox. Film editor: Thomas Pratt. Art director: Hugh Reticker. Gowns designed by Howard Shoup. Make-up: Perc Westmore. Music: Adolph Deutsch. Music director: Leo F. Forbstein. Dialogue director: Hugh MacMullan. Technical adviser: Marie Jenardi. Assistant director: Lester D. Guthrie. Sound recording: Stanley Jones. Associate producer: Harlan Thompson. Producer: Bryan Foy. Copyright 9 November 1940 by Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Globe: 26 October 1940. Australian release: 30 January 1942. 8 reels. 6,739 feet. 74 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Two delinquent boys from the New York slums are given a second chance by a sympathetic judge. One goes straight, the other lands in jail.COMMENT: John Garfield gives his typical role a good try in this entry from Bryan Foy's "B" unit at Warner Bros. Unfortunately, he is badly let down by two of his fellow thespians. In fact, I would describe Marjorie Rambeau's efforts in this movie as one of the worst performances of all time. For sheer, unconvincing hamminess, it would be hard to beat. True, George Tobias makes a sterling effort to run her close, but Miss Rambeau (assisted by a remarkably indulgent director) has the game sewn up. No-one can roll their eyes and make with the ridiculously phony accent like Miss Rambeau. Mr. Tobias is just not in the same league. The other players, led by Brenda Marshall and William Lundigan, make a bit of effort to bring the story down to earth, but are often defeated by the corny script. Only the heavies, particularly Douglas Fowley and Paul Guilfoyle, really impress.

Two boys behave badly and are to be sentenced. The Italian mama of one implores the judge to let her take care of her son and he hesitantly agrees. The other one, though, is off to reform school. He has no parents. So mama says she will adopt him; and William Lundigan and John Garfield are raised as if they were brothers, above a restaurant in Little Italy.This movie begins stylishly, with a tour guide telling about New York. Not too different from what they say 80-some years later than the action is meant to take place. Orchard Street used to be an orchard and yes, Canal Street was once a canal.And the action is standard Warner Brothrs crime drama issue. Not at all bad. Brenda Marshall, furthermore, is very appealing as a moll who decides to walk the straight and narrow. She was a beautiful woman in a somewhat unusual way and, though not a great actress based on her performances, she could have been coached into one had she been so inclined.The problem is the casting. OK, John Garfield was not Italian. Neither was Edward G. Robinson, but they both played Italians at times. However, what really shocked me is the direction of the mother character, and her man friend as well, to use thoroughly implausible "he's-a my good- bambino"-type dialect. It's almost as if major characters were in blackface.I didn't notice who the secondary players in the cast at the beginning and was horrified to see that the marvelous character actress Marjorie Rambeau ("Primrose Path," "Scandal Sheet," among many superb performances) was playing this role.It was in keeping with the times to a degree but it comes across as offensive today. .

Gotta admit it, no studio was as good at making crime movies as Warner Brothers during the 1930's. With Cagney, Bogie, and, here, John Garfield, there were fewer actors at any one studio who were as good at being bad. And that's what makes "East of the River" so watchable. The performances help to turn what's basically a routine crime drama into a watchable, second-string noir treasure.As to the basic plot, that's been done again and again in endless variations. Warners even used it at least a half a dozen times. Boyhood best friends/brothers get into some sort of juvenile scrape. One goes "good," the other "bad." Both meet years later and thereby hangs the tale. However, when the boys are played by Garfield and popular 30's second-lead William Lundigan and the girl they both love by Brenda (Mrs. William Holden) Marshall, the good performances that result raise the story above the standard clichés. Almost as good, albeit with a lot of stock "Italian" mannerisms ("You a good-a boy!"), is Marjorie Rambeau as the boys' mother. Rambeau was one of those actresses who could shine in a broom closet, playing either the star's mother or a world-weary chippie (Catch her her in 1931's "The Secret Six" sometime) with equal finesse, transcending whatever stereotyped qualities may have been in the script. Also excellent are old Warners standby George Tobias as an excitable "Italian" waiter, Douglas Fowley as a particularly despicable heavy, and Moroni Olsen playing yet another of the authority figure roles he always did so well.Okay, "East of the River" may not be in the same league with "Little Caesar," "The Public Enemy," "Angels with Dirty Faces," or even "You Can't Get Away with Murder." What it IS, though, is an excellent little (75 minutes) crime melodrama of the old school that is definitely worth a look.

A disappointing screenplay hurt my full enjoyment of seeing John Garfield, one of my favorite actors. He behaves badly most of the time, so I found it hard to accept his rather sudden transformation into a self-sacrificing angel because his mother (Marjorie Rambeau) lectures him. He hadn't listened to her before, so why did he start? Similarly, Brenda Marshall, who we hear at the start was forging signatures on checks, is also transformed after she gets the taste of family life with Rambeau and falls in love with Garfield's adopted brother, William Lundigan. These plot elements didn't ring true. But worse, the final behavior of the revenge-seeking gangsters, led by Douglas Fowley, was too stupid to be believed, although it did create some suspense.The acting wasn't too bad. I got used to the thick (but understandable) Italian accents of both Rambeau and George Tobias, both of whom were very good. So is the child actor, Joe Conti, who plays Garfield as a boy. The rest of the cast did what they could with the material, but the film must have been very heavily edited. As one who is interested in credits, I noticed that Charley Foy never appeared, and both Robert Homans and Jimmy O'Gatty are barely seen and have non-speaking roles. All three get onscreen credit, while other actors with large speaking parts are uncredited. The three must have had good agents.