Force of Evil

Force of Evil (1948)

  • 100% of critics liked it
    (13 reviews)

  • 74% of users liked it
    (1,427 ratings)

John Garfield, in the best performance of his career, portrays Joe Morse, an ambitious attorney who has long since abandoned his scruples in favor of monetary reward. Morse now represents the interests of crime boss Ben Tucker (Roy Roberts), who plans to take over the numbers racket in New York.… More

PG,
Directed By
Written By
Abraham Polonsky, Ira Wolfert
Genres
Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Classics
In Theaters
Dec 25, 1948 Wide
MGM

Critic Reviews

  • Bosley Crowther, New York Times

    For all its unpleasant nature, it must be said that this film is a dynamic crime-and-punishment drama, brilliantly and broadly realized.

  • Don Druker, Chicago Reader

    A poetic, terse, beautifully exact, and highly personal re-creation of the American underworld, with an unpunctuated Joycean screenplay by Polonsky that is perhaps unique in the American cinema.

  • Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

    Force of Evil is a masterpiece, usually lumped in with films noir of the period, but unique.

  • Joseph Jon Lanthier, Slant Magazine

    Force of Evil shows how a middling movie can still be an exemplary noir.

  • Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

    One of the major themed films of the '40s.

Read all 9 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • William D


    "Force of Evil," starring John Garfield, is a serious and heavy noir depicting corruption in New York in the early days after WWII. It could have been a great film, but it drowns in muddled and overly complex storytelling. I could barely keep track of the characters. The… More

  • Randy T


    Here it is, 60 years after the release of this cinematic pearl, and I'm just now discovering it. The only thing that beats watching a film noir classic again and again is watching one for the very first time. Thank you John Garfield.

  • Michael G


    Didn't love it, didn't hate it. Force of Evil is just kind of bogged down with mediocrity in it's uneven acting (with the exception of an icy performance from Marie Windsor) and often horrific dialogue in this tale about organized crime taking on a numbers racket. In… More

  • Dimitris S


    Plausible facts on this one.Aggressive till it bleeds.I saw this film on a cine-club somewhere in Athens.All 5 of us who attended were shocked at the boldness of that period,no,wait: the undercover "beauty" of it.McCarthy was approaching and if Polonsky was given better… More

  • Anthony V


    Great piece of Film Noir.

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Cast

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