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IMDb > East of the River (1940)

East of the River (1940) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
6.3/10   104 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 11% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
John Fante (story)
Fred Niblo Jr. (writer)
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Contact:
View company contact information for East of the River on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
9 November 1940 (USA) more
Genre:
Plot:
Troubled youths Joe and Nick Lorenzo grow into very different men: Joe a small-time hoodlum and Nick an honored college graduate... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
User Reviews:
John Garfield & Co. do what they can with a mediocre screenplay. more (4 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
John Garfield ... Joseph Enrico 'Joe' Lorenzo

Brenda Marshall ... Laurie Romayne
Marjorie Rambeau ... Mama Teresa Lorenzo
George Tobias ... Tony Scaduto
William Lundigan ... Nicholas Antonio 'Nick' Lorenzo
Moroni Olsen ... Judge R.D. Davis
Douglas Fowley ... Cy Turner
Jack La Rue ... Frank 'Frisco' Scarfi (as Jack LaRue)
Jack Carr ... 'No Neck' Griswold
Paul Guilfoyle ... Balmy
Russell Hicks ... Warden
Charley Foy ... Customer (as Charles Foy)
Ralph Volkie ... Smith, Turner's Henchman
Jimmy O'Gatty ... Turner's Henchman
Robert Homans ... Patrolman Shanahan
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Mama Raviola
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Runtime:
74 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
James Cagney turned down the role of Joe Lorenzo. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in The John Garfield Story (2003) (TV) more

FAQ

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4 out of 4 people found the following review useful.
John Garfield & Co. do what they can with a mediocre screenplay., 24 December 1998
5/10
Author: Arthur Hausner (genart@volcano.net) from Pine Grove, California

A disappointing screenplay hurt my full enjoyment of seeing John Garfield, one of my favorite actors. He behaves badly most of the time, so I found it hard to accept his rather sudden transformation into a self-sacrificing angel because his mother (Marjorie Rambeau) lectures him. He hadn't listened to her before, so why did he start? Similarly, Brenda Marshall, who we hear at the start was forging signatures on checks, is also transformed after she gets the taste of family life with Rambeau and falls in love with Garfield's adopted brother, William Lundigan. These plot elements didn't ring true. But worse, the final behavior of the revenge-seeking gangsters, led by Douglas Fowley, was too stupid to be believed, although it did create some suspense.

The acting wasn't too bad. I got used to the thick (but understandable) Italian accents of both Rambeau and George Tobias, both of whom were very good. So is the child actor, Joe Conti, who plays Garfield as a boy. The rest of the cast did what they could with the material, but the film must have been very heavily edited. As one who is interested in credits, I noticed that Charley Foy never appeared, and both Robert Homans and Jimmy O'Gatty are barely seen and have non-speaking roles. All three get onscreen credit, while other actors with large speaking parts are uncredited. The three must have had good agents.

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