Classic movie site with rare images, original ads, and behind-the-scenes photos, with informative and insightful commentary. We like to have fun with movies!
Archive and Links
grbrpix@aol.com
Search Index Here




Saturday, August 11, 2012


Force Of Evil and The End Of Enterprise --- Part One

Shady lawyer John Garfield's big idea in Force Of Evil is to turn the numbers racket into a legal lottery. In light of state(s)-sanctioned gambling since 1948, that sounds like a doable plan. In fact, pre-coding Warren William or Bill Powell could have managed it without getting off their barstools. For agenda-driven Abraham Polonsky however, Force Of Evil was serious business. Corruption inherent in numbers betting was shorthand for capitalism itself so far as he viewed it. Abe interview-said later that gangsterism is like capitalism, or the other way around. He was able to put that view across with Force Of Evil thanks to whopping success of Body and Soul, written by Polonsky and starring John Garfield. Now they were teamed under AP's first-time direction under the Enterprise Company banner, Enterprise being among independents started up to feed off a booming postwar picture market. A lot of us now call Force Of Evil some kind of great, but it tanked bad coming out of a late-40's gate. Erratic ownership dogged the negative since. In a move Polonsky might have filed under bitter ironies, even the Bank Of America seized Force Of Evil once.


Enterprise was a brainchild of David Loew and industry connected partners. David was a son of MGM founder Marcus Loew and so doors opened readily to him. He'd produced a half-dozen or so features since 1941, most arty, several outstanding (The Southerner, The Private Affairs Of Bel Ami) and one that hit big, A Night In Casablanca. Enterprise was to be a square-dealing outfit where employees were paid well, got perks (life insurance and fresh-squeezed orange juice in the morning!), plus creative freedom such as major studios never granted. Could Enterprise succeed? Only if individual pics did, for this was an outfit that lived or died on tickets a latest release sold. As things worked out, one massive flop, Arch Of Triumph, brought the curtain down so that by the time Force Of Evil was ready, Enterprise was all but a dying husk.


Force Of Evil is lately out on Blu-Ray from Olive, looking how we wish all noirs could given HD delivery. What reservations I had about the show dissolved straightaway thanks to Blu-rescuing, proof again that opinion (at least mine) upticks plenty when a rarity is at last decently viewed. 16mm and previous discs were pallid representation of what now seems a visual equal to any noir made. Quality does matter --- most of anything when it comes to a Force Of Evil. Distribution has been a Parcheesi board since MGM handled the 1948 (mostly '49) release. Enterprise being a sunk ship by 1953, unpaid creditor Bank Of America took their inventory and released FOE with others to early TV. The labyrinth that is independent pic ownership finally put Force Of Evil in Paramount's custody, enabling the Olive sub-let.


The only meaningful hit Enterprise had was Body and Soul, that a salvation and career boost for John Garfield as well. He'd left Warners, gone back on the stage, always looking for ways to escape type-casting. Few dared leave studio cocoons. Bogart would laugh when anyone suggested a return to live performance. They all knew posing for cameras, doing scenes over and again to get work right, sapped discipline if not confidence. Garfield to his credit kept wanting to be better and took chances toward that objective. He and producing partner Bob Roberts picked better properties than fellow Warner expatriates Bogart and Cagney, who were independently producing around a same time. Force Of Evil was reasonably made for $1.15 million, this according to an excellent studio history of Enterprise written by Allen Eyles for Focus On Film #35.


Force Of Evil was first to deal foursquare with the so-called "numbers racket." This was nickel-to-dollars wagering on three-number combinations that changed daily, winners being those who chose correctly on that particular day. It seemed a harmless bet to otherwise law-abiders, none of whom realized grand scales on which the system operated. By the late forties, numbers were said to be the largest ongoing racket in the US, a seeming cinch for picture-usage but for Production Code clamp on "racket" as a title or exploitation hook. In fact, Force Of Evil was tendered early as on-the-nose The Numbers Racket, a label that might have helped had it gone out so-named. While no official action has been taken, said Variety, it's understood that (the) studio is being quietly urged to find a better tag. Garfield + crime had been a fit on past occasions --- in fact, the majors courted he and Roberts for this property, but as Enterprise had extended creative freedom to Body and Soul, the team stuck with their independent partner.

Among Force Of Evil Highlights: Detailed Look at How the Numbers Racket Worked

Garfield and crew spent two April '48 weeks doing location in Brooklyn and Manhattan, this made easier for Gotham having eased "impossible conditions" discouraging filmmakers. Applications to shoot were now being same-day approved, a mayor's office pointing to recent The Naked City as proof NYC would extend cooperation. Force Of Evil was completed on Hollywood stages Enterprise sublet from producer Harry Sherman (of Hopalong Cassidy association) during start-up 1946. Enterprise was in trouble what with Arch Of Triumph failing and only one other film in production, Caught, directed by Max Ophuls. David Loew used his family (and other) connections to make a distribution deal with MGM, a real coup as that firm generally stood on policy not to handle outside pics. Metro's deal was for No Minor Vices, a comedy with Dana Andrews and Lilli Palmer, Force Of Evil, and Caught, these representing the last of Enterprise's output.

Part Two of Force Of Evil is HERE.

5 Comments:

Anonymous mido505 said...

Am I the only film geek who loathes Force of Evil? Abraham Polonsky should have been grateful for the blacklist; it is the only reason he's remembered now. He was a hack, whose one trick pony was Body and Soul. Full of resentment of his betters, like most Communists, Polonsky made a career out of slandering and vilifying Elia Kazan, a man touched by genius, and one of the greatest film directors of all time.

I once watched an interview with a withered Polonski, spittle forming in the corners of his mouth, snarling that "in the old days, in my neighborhood, we knew what to do with a snitch", i.e. kill him. Nice. Of course, anyone who has ever visited a country run by the Communists knows who the real gangsters are. Kazan got it right.

Watching Force of Evil is like reading Das Kapital in blank verse. Pretentious, unbearable and, finally, wrong. Were it not for John Garfield's performance, and George Barnes's expert lensing, no one would remember it.

1:16 PM  
Anonymous Griff said...

I'm not sure this is the sort of venue for this sort of discussion. I gather mido505 is no fan of Abraham Polonsky and FORCE OF EVIL. Fine. I have no words for the remainder of his comments.

4:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Force of Evil is great entertainment and definitely as good as its reputation suggests. A fine noir.

While Paramount technically owns it, Force of Evil along with the rest of the Enterprise holdings are lumped into a separate Republic catalog holding that Paramount leases to other companies rather than release from themselves.

5:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I visit Greenbriar Picture Shows often-- once or twice a week, as a rule. I have only rarely been moved to post a comment.

I feel moved to say that, while I do not endorse political witch hunts, and while I cannot speak to the talent of Abraham Polonsky one way or another, I wholeheartedly agree with the comments of mido505 regarding communism and communist dictatorships.

Communism is a cauldron of misery.

For the record, my name is MIKE BALLEW.

3:55 AM  
Anonymous Richard said...

Your column made me recall a section from Ingrid Bergman's autobiography in which she wrote about how she realized every studio with whom she made a picture in the late 1940's subsequently went out of business. In each case, their collapse was attributed to the lackluster performance of her films. Until I read this fine column, I never made the "Enterprise" connection between Arch of Triumph and Force of Evil.

I have not seen either Force of Evil in years, however while I cannot recall the plot, my impression was that Force Of Evil was a very powerful film, and Garfield's performance still resonates with me to this day.

I find it interesting that when so many acclaimed films, both new and old, just fade away, it is interesting to read the passionate comments this film still seems to inspire.

I am eagerly awaiting the second part!

12:43 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home

grbrpix@aol.com
  • December 2005
  • January 2006
  • February 2006
  • March 2006
  • April 2006
  • May 2006
  • June 2006
  • July 2006
  • August 2006
  • September 2006
  • October 2006
  • November 2006
  • December 2006
  • January 2007
  • February 2007
  • March 2007
  • April 2007
  • May 2007
  • June 2007
  • July 2007
  • August 2007
  • September 2007
  • October 2007
  • November 2007
  • December 2007
  • January 2008
  • February 2008
  • March 2008
  • April 2008
  • May 2008
  • June 2008
  • July 2008
  • August 2008
  • September 2008
  • October 2008
  • November 2008
  • December 2008
  • January 2009
  • February 2009
  • March 2009
  • April 2009
  • May 2009
  • June 2009
  • July 2009
  • August 2009
  • September 2009
  • October 2009
  • November 2009
  • December 2009
  • January 2010
  • February 2010
  • March 2010
  • April 2010
  • May 2010
  • June 2010
  • July 2010
  • August 2010
  • September 2010
  • October 2010
  • November 2010
  • December 2010
  • January 2011
  • February 2011
  • March 2011
  • April 2011
  • May 2011
  • June 2011
  • July 2011
  • August 2011
  • September 2011
  • October 2011
  • November 2011
  • December 2011
  • January 2012
  • February 2012
  • March 2012
  • April 2012
  • May 2012
  • June 2012
  • July 2012
  • August 2012
  • September 2012
  • October 2012
  • November 2012
  • December 2012
  • January 2013
  • February 2013
  • March 2013
  • April 2013
  • May 2013
  • June 2013
  • July 2013
  • August 2013
  • September 2013
  • October 2013
  • November 2013
  • December 2013
  • January 2014
  • February 2014
  • March 2014
  • April 2014
  • May 2014
  • June 2014
  • July 2014
  • August 2014
  • September 2014
  • October 2014
  • November 2014
  • December 2014
  • January 2015
  • February 2015
  • March 2015
  • April 2015
  • May 2015
  • June 2015
  • July 2015
  • August 2015
  • September 2015
  • October 2015
  • November 2015
  • December 2015
  • January 2016
  • February 2016
  • March 2016
  • April 2016
  • May 2016
  • June 2016
  • July 2016
  • August 2016
  • September 2016
  • October 2016
  • November 2016
  • December 2016
  • January 2017
  • February 2017
  • March 2017
  • April 2017
  • May 2017
  • June 2017
  • July 2017
  • August 2017
  • September 2017
  • October 2017
  • November 2017
  • December 2017
  • January 2018
  • February 2018
  • March 2018
  • April 2018
  • May 2018
  • June 2018
  • July 2018
  • August 2018
  • September 2018
  • October 2018
  • November 2018
  • December 2018
  • January 2019
  • February 2019
  • March 2019
  • April 2019
  • May 2019
  • June 2019
  • July 2019
  • August 2019
  • September 2019
  • October 2019
  • November 2019
  • December 2019
  • January 2020
  • February 2020
  • March 2020
  • April 2020
  • May 2020
  • June 2020
  • July 2020
  • August 2020
  • September 2020
  • October 2020
  • November 2020
  • December 2020
  • January 2021
  • February 2021
  • March 2021
  • April 2021
  • May 2021
  • June 2021
  • July 2021
  • August 2021
  • September 2021
  • October 2021
  • November 2021
  • December 2021
  • January 2022
  • February 2022
  • March 2022
  • April 2022
  • May 2022
  • June 2022
  • July 2022
  • August 2022
  • September 2022
  • October 2022
  • November 2022
  • December 2022
  • January 2023
  • February 2023
  • March 2023
  • April 2023
  • May 2023
  • June 2023
  • July 2023
  • August 2023
  • September 2023
  • October 2023
  • November 2023
  • December 2023
  • January 2024
  • February 2024
  • March 2024
  • April 2024
  • May 2024
  • June 2024
  • July 2024
  • August 2024
  • September 2024
  • October 2024