The Enforcer (1951)

There are Bogie movies and there are movies that star Humphrey Bogart. As any fan will tell you the difference between the two is vast, and, unfortunately for many, THE ENFORCER falls in the latter category. Don't let the young Bogie on the jacket cover, the one in trenchcoat and fedora, fool you. There aren't any Ingrid Bergmans and misty memories of Paris in this one, or even a hysterical Mary Astor for Bogie to refuse to take a fall for. Heck, THE ENFORCER doesn't even have a toothless and demented Walter Huston doing a cackle dance in the mad desert sun.

THE ENFORCER is a cop show, a police procedural starring Humphrey Bogart as Martin Ferguson, the `hard-hitting' Brooklyn district attorney who cracked the Murder Incorporated syndicate. Imagine Sam Spade waking up one morning and deciding he'd rather be Joe Friday and you know all you need to about his character. Understandably, Bogie films are as opium to his legion of fans, while Humphrey Bogart movies are always interesting even though they may be too easily dismissed, or something worse, by the hard core fan. Ever give an empty pipe to an opium eater? To put it another way, the answer is `yes,' and the question is: Could a Bogart movie be good if he plays a relatively bland character that wouldn't have stretched the acting skills of a William Bendix?

THE ENFORCER is a tough and sometimes brutal movie. If Bogart's character lacks the edgy testiness of his more memorable creations, the movie compensates with a cast full of rough and rude secondary characters played by some of Hollywood's best tough guys. Veteran actor Roy Roberts plays Ferguson's sidekick Capt. Frank Nelson, a no-nonsense cop who would have fit in comfortably in Clint Eastwood's 1976 Dirty Harry movie of the same name. Capt. Nelson doesn't savor his wickedness to the extent Dirty Harry does, but the movie does, with a straight face, give him these lines of dialogue "What's wrong with the law that we can't touch him? Our kinds of laws are designed to protect the innocent. It's not enough that we know a man is guilty. We have to prove it." I had to wind through that speech twice to make sure I heard it right. Later Nelson says this to a thug he'd just wrestled to the ground "Answer me straight or I'll blow your head off! Where are the bodies?" Dirty Harry would've been proud.

Capt. Nelson may be a tough guy, but he's got nothing on the syndicate crime boys. Veteran actor Jack Lambert plays an oft psychotic character named Philadelphia who fakes a nervous breakdown to hide out in a mental institution from the omnipresent, and omni-vengeful, Albert Mendoza (Everett Sloane), the progenitor of a new type of gangsterism that he calls Murder, Inc., a murder for hire outfit. One of the fun aspects of the movie is to see the police struggle -What are you talking about!? Speak English! when confronted with the then new thug terms for hired killings. Words like "hit" and "contract" had to be introduced somewhere, and it appears THE ENFORCER was their coming out film.

If there is such a thing, I'm an aficionado of old movie character actors, and Sloane and Lambert are very good in their limited screen time. Also adding welcome spice to the stew is a young Zero Mostel playing a naïve gunsel named Babe who finds himself out of his element, and over his head, in this brutal environment. The best performance, though, is given by Ted de Corsia as Rico, Mendoza's lieutenant and the only one with the direct evidence needed, as the movie puts it, to send Mendoza `to the chair.' De Corsia, who looks a bit like a beefy Robert Mitchum, steals every scene he's in, usually playing it brute-mean, but ratcheting it down when he learns that the jailed Mendoza is aware that the birds are singing and that he, Rico, is the ripest pigeon out there. Simply put, it's a tour-de-force performance.

I liked THE ENFORCER a lot. Bogart is certainly more than adequate in the undemanding role of the determined district attorney and the supporting cast is very strong. My only beef was with the movie's ending, which I thought was a little too climatic and Hollywood for an otherwise verite film. That aside, a very strong recommendation for this crime film.

This is a decent thriller circa 1950 with Bogart in the role of DA for the jurisdiction. Well acted with a decent script it delivers. With language such as "hit" and "contract" now commonplace in the action/thriller genre it's a little odd to hear them used as if they were new term (and they were then).

The story centers around the breaking of a crime syndicate whose work consists of murder for hire. Much of it is told in flashback with few flagging moments. This isn't Bogart's best, but you won't be disappointed. This is a water-down version of a real life event based in the mid-40's in NY City. Another film, Murder, Inc with Peter Falk is a grittier tale of the same incident.

Look for Zero Mostel in a supporting role and for the work of Raoul Walsh who has several uncredited directing scenes.

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This film gets a big 'thumbs-up' from me. I love it. I can see some Bogart fans being a little miffed, (not that I'm not one), because he does not stand out in his role as Dist. Atty. Martin Ferguson. Instead, it is a bit of an ensemble film; everyone here shines equally. In fact, in true noir style, much of the film is shot in flashback, and the back-story involves Bogart only tangentially.

But noir fans should be in their element as the 'look' of the film reminds me, in spots, of THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950), and it is no wonder, once we find that THE ENFORCER was shot by cinematographer Robert Burks. Perhaps that it is no coincidence that Alfred Hitchcock snatched Burks for his next film, STRANGERS ON A TRAIN ... and that Burks would remain Hitchcock's cinematographer for a long string of films, including; I CONFESS, DIAL M FOR MURDER, REAR WINDOW, TO CATCH A THIEF, VERTIGO, and NORTH BY NORTHWEST, among others.

THE ENFORCER is also blessed with a wonderful collection of noir actors; Zero Mostel (Raymond Fitch in PANIC IN THE STREETS), Everett Sloane (Arthur Bannister in THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI), Roy Roberts, Bob Steele (Canino in THE BIG SLEEP (1946)), and Jack Lambert (Dum-Dum in THE KILLERS (1946)). And this is one of Ted de Corsia's best, and largest roles.

It is difficult to know which parts were shot by director Bretaigne Windust before he took ill, and which ones were shot by Raoul Walsh. Apparently, Walsh went uncredited, because he knew this was Windust's 'big break' to prove himself as a director. Nice guy.

The story involves Dist. Atty. Ferguson's attempts to bring Albert Mendoza Everett Sloane) to the electric chair. Mendoza is in prison awaiting a trial the next day for running a business based on `murder for contract'. [In fact, the words 'contract' and 'hit' used in this context were new to moviegoers in 1951. Unfortunately, not only the words, but the plot too is based on a true story.] But Ferguson runs into last minute difficulties with his witness Joseph Rico (Ted de Corsia). So Ferguson has to head back to the case records, in search of another option, or Mendoza goes free in the morning....

I thought the image and sound quality were fine; but the Special Features are pretty scant: a Theatrical Trailer.

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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 ?

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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.

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