The Enforcer

Bogart at his Best
This is Bogart at his best. What a great movie. I have watched it over and over, it is that good. This movie was made before I was born, FILM NOIR, I love it. The old movies are made with such grace and style. Don't miss this movie.

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.

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 ?

"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)

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.