The Enforcer

The Enforcer
There are Bogie movies and there are movies that star Humphrey Bogart. As any fan will tell you the difference between the two is vast, and, unfortunately for many, THE ENFORCER falls in the latter category. Don't let the young Bogie on the jacket cover, the one in trenchcoat and fedora, fool you. There aren't any Ingrid Bergmans and misty memories of Paris in this one, or even a hysterical Mary Astor for Bogie to refuse to take a fall for. Heck, THE ENFORCER doesn't even have a toothless and demented Walter Huston doing a cackle dance in the mad desert sun.

THE ENFORCER is a cop show, a police procedural starring Humphrey Bogart as Martin Ferguson, the `hard-hitting' Brooklyn district attorney who cracked the Murder Incorporated syndicate. Imagine Sam Spade waking up one morning and deciding he'd rather be Joe Friday and you know all you need to about his character. Understandably, Bogie films are as opium to his legion of fans, while Humphrey Bogart movies are...

Good crime thriller
This is a decent thriller circa 1950 with Bogart in the role of DA for the jurisdiction. Well acted with a decent script it delivers. With language such as "hit" and "contract" now commonplace in the action/thriller genre it's a little odd to hear them used as if they were new term (and they were then).

The story centers around the breaking of a crime syndicate whose work consists of murder for hire. Much of it is told in flashback with few flagging moments. This isn't Bogart's best, but you won't be disappointed. This is a water-down version of a real life event based in the mid-40's in NY City. Another film, Murder, Inc with Peter Falk is a grittier tale of the same incident.

Look for Zero Mostel in a supporting role and for the work of Raoul Walsh who has several uncredited directing scenes.

The Enforcer: a more than solid noir offering
This film gets a big 'thumbs-up' from me. I love it. I can see some Bogart fans being a little miffed, (not that I'm not one), because he does not stand out in his role as Dist. Atty. Martin Ferguson. Instead, it is a bit of an ensemble film; everyone here shines equally. In fact, in true noir style, much of the film is shot in flashback, and the back-story involves Bogart only tangentially.

But noir fans should be in their element as the 'look' of the film reminds me, in spots, of THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950), and it is no wonder, once we find that THE ENFORCER was shot by cinematographer Robert Burks. Perhaps that it is no coincidence that Alfred Hitchcock snatched Burks for his next film, STRANGERS ON A TRAIN ... and that Burks would remain Hitchcock's cinematographer for a long string of films, including; I CONFESS, DIAL M FOR MURDER, REAR WINDOW, TO CATCH A THIEF, VERTIGO, and NORTH BY NORTHWEST, among others.

THE ENFORCER is also blessed with a wonderful...

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