The Enforcer (1951)

A crusading district attorney finally gets a chance to prosecute the organizer and boss of Murder Inc.

Director:

Bretaigne Windust

Writer:

Martin Rackin

Stars:

Humphrey Bogart, Zero Mostel, Ted de Corsia

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Humphrey Bogart	...	Dist. Atty. Martin Ferguson
Zero Mostel	...	Big Babe Lazick
Ted de Corsia	...	Joseph Rico (as Ted De Corsia)
Everett Sloane	...	Albert Mendoza
Roy Roberts	...	Capt. Frank Nelson
Michael Tolan	...	James (Duke) Malloy (as Lawrence Tolan)
King Donovan	...	Sgt. Whitlow
Bob Steele	...	Herman (as Robert Steele)
Adelaide Klein	...	Olga Kirshen
Don Beddoe	...	Thomas O'Hara
Tito Vuolo	...	Tony Vetto
John Kellogg	...	Vince
Jack Lambert	...	Philadelphia Tom Zaca

Storyline

After years of pursuit, Assistant D.A. Martin Ferguson has a good case against Murder, Inc. boss Albert Mendoza. Mendoza is in jail and his lieutenant Joseph Rico is going to testify. But Rico falls to his death and Ferguson must work through the night going over everything to build the case anew.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | murder inc. | attorney | district attorney | death | 

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Taglines:

"If you're smart you'll come down - if you're dumb you'll be dead..." (one-sheet poster)

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Genres:

Drama | Crime | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 February 1951 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Tiger

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, United States Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min 85 min (TCM print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Everett Sloane, who plays the kingpin of the underworld in this movie, provided the voice of do-gooder Dick Tracy in the 1961 cartoon shorts based loosely on the Chester Gould comic strip.

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Goofs

When Rico gets in his car at the hideout on his way to fulfill a "contract" in the city, a crew member is visible in the reflection of the window of the car door as it is closed.

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Quotes

Babe Lazich: [as they enter, the moving camera is from Babe's POV] It was a big day for me. They'd seen me in the neighborhood, and now they were sending for me, but I wondered why Duke was taking me to Olga's. I was sure excited because I was finally getting in with the real boys.
James Malloy: [to someone behind the door] It's me - Duke.
Babe Lazich: Back room was just like what you'd expect at the back of a store.
[the camera pans from face to face]
Babe Lazich: Shorty - that dope! And Philadelphia - he wasn't all there, but nobody ever said that...

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Connections

Referenced in I Confess (1953)

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Soundtracks

"Kiss Me Sweet"
Written by Milton Drake
Played over the sidewalk loudspeakers

User Reviews

The Racket That Pays Best

Although the star of the film in terms of first billed in The Enforcer is Humphrey Bogart, the film's main character is Ted DeCorsia in what is probably his best screen performance.

Taking a lot of inspiration from Citizen Kane, District Attorney Humphrey Bogart and his two police investigators, Roy Roberts and King Donovan try and piece back together a case against Everette Sloane who has started a new racket, murder for profit. The chief witness is Ted DeCorsia who after an attempt on his life, falls to his death while trying to escape from a window.

After DeCorsia's demise the night before the trial was to commence, Bogart and Sloane start listening to hours of tape from several witnesses to see if they can salvage the case. Like Charles Foster Kane's life, the story of the racket is told in flashback through the tapes.

DeCorsia is the main character because all roads lead to him as the number two guy, but only he can finger Sloane. DeCorsia is seen as the frightened witness and also as the tough racketeer. It's almost two characters in the same film, but DeCorsia delivers on both.

Everette Sloane is one chillingly evil villain. He's decided to sell the services of killers to those who need them. To other racketeers and to outsiders as well. No motive, the police can't track down the ] perpetrators. The words of this racket, like 'contract' and 'hit' are all familiar terms now, but then it was something fairly new.

Bogart's function is like the reporter{s} who pieced together the life of Charles Foster Kane. It's essentially passive, he's one of the few people whoever played a District Attorney in films who never got a courtroom scene. But in the end, frantically trying to find and protect a crucial witness, he becomes quite proactive to say the least.

Of course this is all borrowed from the stories about Murder, Inc. and it was familiar to the movie going public. But The Enforcer is a really taut crime drama that never lets your interest flag.

It's so good that I can almost forgive a major plot flaw. Through some gross stupidity on Bogart's part, Sloane realizes there's a witness out there who can nail him and he takes appropriate steps. I can't see in real life how that could have happened.

Still The Enforcer is a personal favorite of mine for Humphrey Bogart films and I think you'll like it too although when you see it you will see what Bogey did that almost blew the whole case.