Force of Evil
Composite Score: 82.87
Starring: John Garfield, Thomas Gomez, Marie Windsor, Howland Chamberlain, Roy Roberts, Paul Fix, and Beatrice Pearson
Director: Abraham Polonsky
Writers: Abraham Polonsky and Ira Wolfert
Genres: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
MPAA Rating: Passed
Box Office: $1.17 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Force of Evil is a classic film-noir about a corrupt lawyer trying to help the New York gangs legitimize their numbers racket into a state-sponsored lottery and his brother who works as a small-time banker in said numbers racket. It exemplifies many of the highlights of quality film-noir, including voiceover narration, a morally gray antihero, questionable romantic entanglements, and a psychological undertone, studying the characters’ motivations for their moral misgivings. This film also adds to the typical film-noir formula by utilizing some on-location shooting in New York, allowing the filmmakers to highlight even more the smallness of its characters against the vastness of the city where they live. It’s a quick, fun watch that will leave you with plenty to ponder at the end.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
Because of its abbreviated run-time (under an hour and a half), Force of Evil’s story suffers at times from simplifications, plot holes, and conveniences. The film’s romantic plotline between Joe and Doris feels a bit shoehorned in with very little actual chemistry between the two characters aside from their being the two most attractive people in the film. Additionally, the decisions about which characters receive on-screen deaths feel a bit less-than-thought-out, as one of the arguably most impactful character deaths occurs fully off-screen and is only mentioned as a device to motivate Joe’s character development. Granted, it does set up a powerful final scene, but I feel that the scene could still have had the same impact even if Joe had gotten some final moment with the character prior to their death.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
For starters, Force of Evil has some of the best cinematography that I’ve ever seen in a film-noir of its era. Utilizing locations in New York to highlight Joe’s smallness in the grand scheme of things, it brings an air of realism to the film that is sometimes missing from other films of its genre. Watching the final sequence of Joe racing all over town, I was reminded more of the films of De Sica and Fellini than of Wilder or Huston, and it truly forces the audience to consider the scope of what they have watched over the rest of the film. Joe’s smallness against the real world resonates with the powerlessness he feels in that moment as he comes to terms with the absurdity of his ambitions from the film’s opening. It’s a rare moment in film-noir where not only the characters but the setting and visualization as well cause the audience to stop and think.
Underwritten as the film’s story is, its characters contain simple richness that helps the film overcome its abbreviated narrative. Joe’s desire for riches and success at any cost, causing him to fall in with the wrong people, easily resonates with audiences witnessing the complex and often corrupt economics of late-stage capitalism, as we are now. Leo – Joe’s brother – being an honest crook provides an ideal foil to Joe, having gotten involved in crime well before Joe but out of necessity rather than ambition. His tragic life story resonates perhaps even more deeply than Joe’s. Even Doris, Joe’s love interest, has a level of complexity almost unimaginable considering the film’s run-time. Her surface level innocence is betrayed by her open knowledge of Leo’s business practices and, against her better judgment, her romantic feelings for Joe. Though she serves as the moral compass for the two brothers, she cannot stay unsullied by her foray into their world and comes away more world-wise for it.
The richness of its characters, crafted in so little time, in addition to its relatively unique cinematographic choices has cemented Force of Evil as one of the Greatest Films of All Time. Its abbreviated story will undoubtedly frustrate some audiences (and rightly so), but the relatability and complexity of the characters within that story should be enough to bring most viewers around on the film. This film is currently available to stream with ads on Plex or to rent on most streaming services.
