Post by Brad Nelson on Jun 9, 2020 7:25:26 GMT -8
Here’s an appropriately-titled movie given the times: The Mob. However, this 1951 film has nothing to do with Black Lives Matter (and nobody’s else’s do).
Broderick Crawford plays police officer Johnny Damico. In the opening scene, he comes upon a shooting. A guy standing over the body shows him his badge. But it was a stolen badge. Damico gets in trouble for letting him run off. (He said he was going to phone in the shooting,)
Instead of suspending him, his superiors volunteer Damico to go undercover to root out corruption amongst the longshoremen. The previous undercover officer was killed doing the same job, so it’s a dangerous job.
They set up a phony background and resume for Damico, making him out to be a thug on the run from New Orleans. With his tough-guy talk and steaming bravado, Damico soon comes to the attention of the higher-ups in the waterfront gang.
Except for a bit of a fudged ending, this is a very watchable film. It’s smartly done. Damico runs into a familiar cast of characters including Richard Kiley as one of the longshoreman he first befriends, and Ernest Borgnine who plays one of the Mr. Bigs.
Fun. Generally smart. And Crawford is good carrying forward his tough-guy, smart-talking persona as he BS’s his way into the gang as quickly as he can. Charles Bronson makes a very brief appearance as well. The renowned John Marley, who has played more than a few criminal types, has a small role as one of the corrupt longshoreman bosses.
Broderick Crawford plays police officer Johnny Damico. In the opening scene, he comes upon a shooting. A guy standing over the body shows him his badge. But it was a stolen badge. Damico gets in trouble for letting him run off. (He said he was going to phone in the shooting,)
Instead of suspending him, his superiors volunteer Damico to go undercover to root out corruption amongst the longshoremen. The previous undercover officer was killed doing the same job, so it’s a dangerous job.
They set up a phony background and resume for Damico, making him out to be a thug on the run from New Orleans. With his tough-guy talk and steaming bravado, Damico soon comes to the attention of the higher-ups in the waterfront gang.
Except for a bit of a fudged ending, this is a very watchable film. It’s smartly done. Damico runs into a familiar cast of characters including Richard Kiley as one of the longshoreman he first befriends, and Ernest Borgnine who plays one of the Mr. Bigs.
Fun. Generally smart. And Crawford is good carrying forward his tough-guy, smart-talking persona as he BS’s his way into the gang as quickly as he can. Charles Bronson makes a very brief appearance as well. The renowned John Marley, who has played more than a few criminal types, has a small role as one of the corrupt longshoreman bosses.
