Force of Evil

Abraham Polonsky (USA, 1948)

Dark shadows dominate the screen, constricting people to tiny spaces in the periphery. Men in hats with guns in their pockets roam back alleys and smoky back rooms, gangsters aiming to land the big coup that will either make or break them.
Abraham Polonsky’s 1948 film Force of Evil comes along as eerie mixture of film noir and melodrama in which the tempting cool blonde has been replaced by naked greed. In its centre is mob-lawyer Joe Morse (John Garfield) who has a plan to manipulate the number rackets, thereby driving little gambling joints into bankruptcy, resulting in a gambling monopole for his boss Ben Tucker (Roy Roberts). The only problem is, that Leo Morse (Thomas Gomez) run’s one of those little businesses and refuses to be saved by his brother. Joe’s loss of control consequently sends him on a cathartic yet painful journey paved with substantial collateral damage.
The film is laden with religious symbolism, most notably the references to Cain and Able, and the key betrayal centred on the date of the American Independence, for only on July 4th can the “number racket” be fixed for most people bet on 776 in honour of the independence-victory year 1776. It vehemently attacks America’s ruthless capitalism. All the praised values of faith, family have to falter under the weight of corruption carried by every single character. Not even innocence radiating secretary Doris (Beatrice Pearson) can withstand its seductive powers.
This expressionistic looking moral fable, based on the Ira Wolfert’s radical novel Tucker’s People tells a story of big time crime mirroring so-called “respectable” business, drawing a very dark picture of an America ruled by capitalism. Not a very welcome message at the time apparently, as both, director and star, were blacklisted in 1951 under Senator Joseph McCarthy.