USA 1948, 78 min.
DIR Abraham Polonsky
PROD Bob Roberts SCR Polonsky, Ira Wolfert CAM
George Barnes
ED Walter Thompson, Art Seid CAST John Garfield, Beatrice
Pearson,
Thomas Gomez, Marie Windsor PRINT SOURCE UCLA Film and
Television Archives
THE UNVANQUISHED
Nearly 50 years old now and only 78 minutes long, Force of Evil is a thing of lasting
mystery and beauty. On the one hand it's a terse, moody film noir about the mob, the
numbers racket and a know-all, crooked lawyer. On the other hand it is the debut film of a
writer-director, Abraham Polonsky (an avowed Marxist), and a scathing diagnosis of the
ills of capitalism. Polonsky was soon to be blackballed by the House Un-American
Activities Committee--he would not work again for 20 years. And yet, that's not all--not all
at all. Listen to the lawyer's brother, a small banker (Thomas Gomez, fat, sad and superb),
offered the chance to buy into the racket: "I am sensible, I am calm. I'll give you my
answer, calmly and sensibly--my final answer. My final answer is finally No. The answer
is No. Absolutely and finally, No. Finally and positively, No. No, no! N.O." When it's
written out, the eye sees what the ear has half-grasped: The whole film is in blank verse.
And thus, the hard-boiled subject, the clipped coldness of John Garfield as the lawyer,
are offset by the veiled formalism of the language. In the end, words and style mean
more than noir or Marxism. This is, finally and positively, one of the most eloquent
experiments in American film. But in its performances, its music (by David Raksin), and
its art direction (by Richard Day--look at the staircases), it is also a knockout entertainment
that deserves more, much more, than cult status.
The film is based on the novel by Ira Wolfert, Tucker's People.
Document URL:
http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/force-of-evil.html
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modified: Thursday, 31-May-2007 09:42:28 EDT