Force of Evil

Classic Garfield Noir
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...

A Look At Big City Corruption
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 Force Indeed
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...

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