Force of Evil

"Sensational Story Of a Numbers King Whose Number Was Up!"

1950 1h 19m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 147

CrimeDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Lawyer Joe Morse wants to consolidate all the small-time numbers racket operators into one big powerful operation. But his elder brother Leo is one of these small-time operators who wants to stay that way, preferring not to deal with the gangsters who dominate the big-time.

“Sensational Story Of a Numbers King Whose Number Was Up!”

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Cast

John Garfield
Joe Morse
Thomas Gomez
Leo Morse
Marie Windsor
Edna Tucker
Howland Chamberlain
Freddie Bauer
Roy Roberts
Ben Tucker
Paul Fix
Bill Ficco
Stanley Prager
Wally
Barry Kelley
Detective Egan

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Abraham Polonsky
Writers: Ira Wolfert, Abraham Polonsky
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 79-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

ERA

Did you know

76 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Abraham Polonsky, shot by George Barnes. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Art Seid shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

John Garfield and Thomas Gomez and Marie Windsor carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Sensational Story Of a Numbers King Whose Number Was Up!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0040366 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Abraham Polonsky directs. George Barnes behind the camera. Art Seid cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 79-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
276 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Abraham Polonsky, shot by George Barnes. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor Art Seid shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5John Garfield and Thomas Gomez and Marie Windsor carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Sensational Story Of a Numbers King Whose Number Was Up!".
7IMDB entry: tt0040366 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: George Barnes
Editing: Art Seid
Makeup / hair: Lillian Lashin
Runtime: 79 min · 1h 19m
Status: Released
Box office: $1,165,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Force of Evil (1950)

Also by

Abraham Polonsky

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-03-11
★ 8/10
Black sheep like to make everybody else look black. Force of Evil is directed by Abraham Polonsky, who also adapts the screenplay from the Ira Wolfert novel Tucker's People. It stars John Garfield, Thomas Gomez, Beatrice Pearson, Marie Windsor, Howard Chamberlain and Roy Roberts. Music is by David Raksin and cinematography by George Barnes. Plot finds Garfield as lawyer Joe Morse, who works for powerful gangster Ben Tucker (Roberts). Tucker has a plan to control all of the numbers rackets in New York, something that with the fix on the numbers up and coming for the 4th July, will see all of the smaller number rackets go bust. This is a problem for Morse because his big brother Leo (Gomez), is one such operator, an honest good guy who did everything he could to ensure that Joe had a proper start in life. It has come to be regarded as an influential and important movie in the film noir pantheon. Big critics, big film makers and film noir aficionados, all have queued up to salute Polonsky's film. If it's worthy of such elegant praise will always be debatable, but film does have a uniqueness about it, using stylised dialogue passages and in opening up a corrupt and socially bankrupt can of worms for the cinema loving world, Polonsky has crafted a thematically potent 1940's crime picture. The exchanges between Garfield and love interest Pearson, have an almost poetic flow to them, this in a film that for most of its running time shows that badness can not be beaten, or at best that it can't be railed against or broken away from so easily. While the biblical tones, both allusions and allegorically speaking, also give the picture some added power. Though mostly talky in the main, it does burst into shocking violence for its final quarter, with a finale that contains distress segueing into the possibility of spiritual regeneration…or maybe that, too, will prove futile? Added to the biting narrative are great cast performances and evocative music scoring, and with skilled location photography adding authenticity, it's not hard to see why it has come to be so revered. Not as bleak as the title suggests, and veering a bit close to being too arty for its own good sometimes, but still a fine experience and it rewards more on further viewings. 8/10

Production companies