Force of Evil (1948)

100% of critics liked it
(12 reviews)
74% of users liked it
(1,365 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 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. Morse has devised a way of doing this legally and above-board, with no violence: Tucker's people will bring about the collapse of the illegal numbers racket in the city, using a race track-betting scam that will bankrupt the small-time underworld numbers banks; an investigation will ensue, along with a call for a legal numbers operation in the form of a lottery, which Tucker will control through Morse's machinations. The whole plan hinges on Morse's estranged brother, Leo (Thomas Gomez), a small-time numbers banker who is to be shielded from the collapse, and who will serve as the "legitimate" front for Tucker. Leo is the flaw in the plan, however, because not only can't he stand the sight of Joe, but he is also too honest to participate in the plan -- he doesn't want his employees, all decent people just looking to earn a living, forced into the employ of real gangsters. Joe orchestrates a series of police raids that force Leo into his corner, and Joe's plan seems to be working out, but then the whole enterprise is threatened when a rival mob, run by Tucker's former Prohibition-era partner, Fico (Paul Fix), starts pressuring Leo, trying to get to Joe and Tucker. Fico and his men aren't any different from Tucker's mob, except that they're prepared to start shooting sooner to get what they want. Tucker decides to hang tough and expects everyone, including Leo, to do the same, even when Fico starts sending thugs around to frighten everyone. Soon Joe is beset by problems on three fronts -- he wants his brother out of Tucker's combination and safe; he is trying to romance Leo's bookkeeper (Beatrice Pearson), who is too nice a girl for who he is; and his own well-being is threatened by both Fico and Tucker, and a state investigator who has already tapped the phone of Joe's otherwise respectable partner. All of these threads are pulled together in the final section of the film, which is as violent and disturbing, yet poetic and graceful a resolution as any crime film of the 1940s ever delivered. Force of Evil was star-crossed almost from the start, as many of the people involved, including star John Garfield and director Abraham Polonsky (a writer making his debut behind the camera, with help from assistant director Don Weis in doing the camera set-ups and blocking), were suspect at the time for their leftist political views. Indeed, the company that made Force of Evil, Enterprise Productions, was also in trouble for the leftist leanings of its films in the midst of the Red Scare, and went out of business just as the movie was finished -- dropped by United Artists and picked up by MGM, of all studios, Force of Evil made it into theaters during Christmas week of 1948, not the ideal schedule for something as grim (albeit great) as this film was. As it turned out, it was Polonsky's last chance to direct for more than 20 years, and Garfield's last completely successful film. And a movie that should have been a triumph for all concerned ended up a cult favorite. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 20 min.
Directed By: Abraham Polonsky
Written By: Abraham Polonsky, Ira Wolfert
Genres: Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Classics

In Theaters: Dec 25, 1948 Wide
On DVD: May 11, 2004
Studio: 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.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
One of the major themed films of the '40s.
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan
Top notch Garfield vehicle
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
At its best, Force achieves a style at once brutal and poetic, documentarian and noir.
Dan Lybarger, Nitrate Online
A gripping thriller with a terrific performance by Garfield. It seems only the good peformers and directors got blacklisted (in this case Garfield and Polonsky).
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
A thinly-veiled outright damnation of capitalism and its merger-heavy practices. Heavy-handed but quite intriguing and poetic.

Read all 7 critic reviews

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

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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
"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 story threads I could keep track of were phenomenal. Also great was the titanic performance from supporting actor Thomas Gomez, who plays the brother of Garfield. I had never heard of Gomez until this, but I see that he was nominated for an Oscar the year before "Force of Evil" came out (for "Ride the Pink Horse," a film I've never heard of). So clearly he was a heavy hitter in his day. It's a shame that his reputation faded over time. Unfortunately, alongside everything that's great in "Force of Evil" is a ton of overly complex storytelling that must have left 98% of the audience in 1948 scratching their heads. No wonder this film garnered no Oscar nominations.
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
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 its defense, Polonsky's direction is superb as is the cinematography, namely during the climax. When it ended, I just didn't care about any of the characters. Not quite essential film noir, but not a bad place to go if you hit all the major films already.
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
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 chances,he'd do miracles with noir stories like this.The edge of small-time con-men as an alternative title.
Anthony V

Great piece of Film Noir.

Cast

            John Garfield as Joe Morse

            Thomas Gomez as Leo Morse

            Marie Windsor as Edna Tucker

            Roy Roberts as Ben Tucker

            Beatrice Pearson as Doris Lowry

            Howland Chamberlain as Freddy Bauer

            Paul McVey as Hobe Wheelock

            Jack Overman as Juice

            Tim Ryan as Johnson

            Barbara Woodell as Mary

            Raymond Largay as Bunte

            Stanley Prager as Wally

            Beau Bridges as Frankie Tucker

            Allen Mathews as Badgley

            Barry Kelley as Egan

            Sheldon Leonard as Ficco

            Georgia Backus as Sylvia Morse

            Sid Tomack as "Two & Two" Taylor

            Murray Alper as Comptroller

            Jessie Arnold
            
            Sam Ash as Man

            Margaret Bert
            
            Larry J. Blake as Detective

            Mildred Boyd as Mother

            Ralph Brooks
            
            John K. Butler as Banker

            Douglas Carter Beane as Man

            William Challee as Gunman

            Cliff Clark as Police Lieutenant

            John Collum
            
            Jimmie Dundee as Dineen

            Ralph Dunn as Policeman

            Jay Eaton
            
            Helen Eby-Rock as Secretary

            Budd Fine as Butcher

            Paul Fix as Ficco

            Joel Fluellen as Father

            Sherry Hall
            
            Chuck Hamilton as Policeman

            Ray Hyke as Policeman

            John Indrisano as Henchman

            Perry Ivins as Mr. Middleton

            Milt Kibbee as Richards

            Will Lee as Waiter

            George Magrill as Policeman

            Bill Neff as Law Clerk

            Paul Newlan as Policeman

            Arthur O'Connell as Link Hall

            Edward Peil Sr. as Counterman

            Joey Ray as Gunman

            Richard Reeves as Policeman

            Shimen Ruskin as Sorter

            Carl Saxe as Policeman

            Esther Somers as Mrs. Lowry

            Bobby Stebbins as Norval

            Jim Toney
            
            Phil Tully as Policeman

            Max Wagner as Policeman

            Joe Warfield as Collector

            Stanley Waxman as Manager

            Mervin Williams as Goodspeed

            Robert B. Williams as Elevator Starter

            Margo Woode as Receptionist

            Jim Davies
            
            Paul H. Frees as Elevator Operator

            Bert Hanlon as Cigar Man

            Frank O'Connor as Bailiff

            Mickey Rooney as Boy

            Frank Pharr as Bootblack

            Bert Davidson as Attorney

            Jim Drum
            
            Estelle Etterre as Secretary

            Richard H. Gordon
            
            Bob Reeves
            
            Carl Sklover
            
            Diane Stewart as Girl

            Robert Strong as Court Reporter

            James Brick Sullivan as Policeman

            William H. O'Brien as Dancer

            Roger Cole
            
            Richard Elmore
            
            Carl Hanson
            
            Ray Hirsch as Newsboy

            David McKim as Cashier

            Louise Saraydar as Hatcheck Girl

            Fred Somers
            
            Bud Wiser as Policeman

            Charles Evans as Judge

            Dave Fresco as Gunman
See full cast