Surprisingly incoherent and boring

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

A corrupt lawyer Joe is hired by a rich gangster. A scam is concocted to ensure that all of the small numbers banks in New York will be bankrupted, leaving the way open for the gangster's syndicate to move in and buy them over. Joe's elder brother Leo runs one of these numbers banks, so Joe feels compelled to warn him of the situation which in turn puts him in an extremely compromised position.Under the surface, Force of Evil was an allegory of the corrupting nature of capitalism. All of the characters go thorough moral dilemmas and change their positions due to the possibilities of monetary gain. The way that big business works in a very underhand and amoral way in this film was meant as a comment on how actual business practises in post-war America could often be somewhat nefarious. The movie itself was not successful at the time. It may have been because of these themes but it might simply have been that this was a pretty complex movie that doesn't have clear heroes or villains. This very ambiguity has made it more cherished as the years have gone by but most probably contributed to it not being box office dynamite at the time. Force of Evil has, therefore, gone on to become one of the cult movies of film-noir.The acting and script are very good. But so is the look. There is some great New York location photography, particularly in the final third. While good expressionist use is made of light and shade. So, in summary, this is a serious-minded film-noir with a well crafted aesthetic. It's certainly a less well-known example of the genre but it's definitely one with quite a bit more going on under the surface than most.

interesting. pledge for basic things. picture of seduction root. drawing about limits of truth. and touching testimony about force of feelings.after so many years, it is , in many senses, naive and common. part of series with gangsters, family tragedies, damned heroes and innocent girls who saves soul of a Raskolnikov. in fact, it is profound search of reality forms. the levels of crisis, the life as dangerous game, the family abysses, the need to save your conscience far from mud of compromises, desire to give / have beauty not as symbol of normal existence but as proof of run against evil. a strange film, seductive, dark and full of shadows. lesson about deep night and first light of morning. must see it ! for discover few good questions.

Joe (John Garfield) plays a corrupt lawyer who is in partnership with gangster Ben Tucker (Roy Roberts) to control the "numbers" game. Joe tries to help his brother Leo (Thomas Gomez) who operates an illegal small bank for betting who is going to be made bankrupt by a fixed scam that will make banks pay out more than they have. The idea is for the gangsters to then come in and take things over. Leo refuses to listen, but is forced to draw himself into the new conglomerate that Ben Tucker is organizing. A rival gangster turns up wanting a share of the spoils from this particular scam and as a result of a killing and a kidnap, and phones being tapped by the prosecutor's department, the whole set-up is brought before a court.This is a boy's film about gangsters and it can get pretty confusing if you don't pay attention throughout. The female roles are irrelevant to the plot which is a shame in the case of Marie Windsor who plays "Mrs Tucker". She is the best of the cast in her scenes and she completely outshines the rather feeble and bland Beatrice Pearson who plays "Doris". I also found the love interest between John Garfield and Peatrice Pearson difficult to believe. The acting is generally good with Thomas Gomez also deserving a mention. I didn't like him at the beginning but he managed to change my opinion so that I was sympathetic to him towards the end.In fact, the end section of the film is the most memorable with several good scenes including a set-up in a cafe, a confrontation between the main bad guys, clever use of the telephone bugging operation and a discovery on some rocks under a pier. Unfortunately, I lost interest in the film whenever Beatrice Pearson was on screen, which seemed like way too much, and the story can get confusing, so the film loses points on those accounts.It's a film that has a message similar to "On The Waterfront" in saying that the only way to topple powerful gang cartels is to stand up to them legally.

Cards on the table, John Garfield is probably my favourite movie actor bar none and this gripping late 40's film noir benefits yet again from another bravura performance by its star. That said, this movie also benefits from some great supporting roles particularly Thomas Gomez as Garfield's more honest older brother and Howland Chamberlain as Bauer, a little cog in a big wheel who won't go along with the mob and pays a heavy price for his conscience.Garfield's nattily dressed ambitious young lawyer casts no shadow in his pursuit of riches, nailing his colours to the mast of big-time racketeer Tucker, but never quite forgetting his obligation to his workaday brother Leo, who you suspect doesn't work his own small "numbers" operation for personal gain, but almost as an altruistic obligation to his neighbours a motley crew of which he employs as his staff.Both brothers worlds have to collide and pride will lead each of them to a downfall before the end. There's some love interest for Garfield, new face Beatrice Pearson, effective as Garfield's brother's young ward, falls for Garfield's looks and tough charm, her innocence and morality contrasted with Mr Big Stuff Tucker's wife who attempts to use her more worldly wiles to ensnare Garfield in her own designs.The story races along, punctuated by some superb camera set-ups, some of the city-scapes especially memorable, equally sharp dialogue and some abrasive for its time, on-screen violence - Bauer for example meets his end by getting shot point-blank in the face.In summary, a densely plotted, brilliantly characterised noir which smacks of low-life realism throughout.