The Sound of Fury (1950) User Reviews

Lloyd Bridges in your best role ever!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 8/10 · 17 June 2017]

This sad history really happened on thirties in San Jose California and later a book and on fifties into a movie about a jobless guy played by Lovejoy who try gets a job without success, so find a clever guy Lloyd Bridges as Jerry Slocum who invite him to a little job as night driver, after few works they made a kidnapping and end up killing the victim, Tyler now is a disturbing person who is involved in a murder, Jerry actually the brain in all this mess trying to get the money, but all fall down after Tyler had a nervous breakdown, it's about how the press can pressure all people to make revenge for ours hands, the movie is good, although l'd never saw so realistic acting from Lloyd Bridges like that fantastic!!! Another character to be mentioned is Velma played by gorgeous Adele Jergins who is a woman to pursuit an easy life, great Noir from the Cy Endfield!!

Resume:

First watch: 2017 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8

Gritty, multi-themed early 50's crime-drama

[Lejink · 6/10 · 1 May 2010]

Interesting little B-movie thriller, which starts with the theme of what an honest but desperate man will do to help his family survive, moves on to a loaded discussion on sensationalist lurid journalism before ending with a damning indictment of mob rule.

It's quite a trip and to get us there introduces us to the memorable character played by Lloyd Bridges, a cocky young psychopath whose petty crimes take along with him on the lure of easy money, unemployed, hard up family man Frank Lovejoy. It's not long though before Bridges' true character comes to light, escalating in no time to a kidnapping and brutal murder with disastrous outcomes for all concerned.

For its time, this is all pretty heady stuff, shown to us in matter of fact style by director Endfield with to my mind anyway, little real deference to noir conventions. The film is a bit slow to get started but once Bridges appears, it picks up on his manic energy. Some of the peripheral characters are just a bit too obvious, like the humanist professor friend or the sensationalist journalist whose screaming headlines, the film would have it, egg the local townsfolk to storming the jail while said journalist's own realisation of his part in the mayhem is also a little laboured but these are counteracted in some measure by some effective low-key character acting by Lovejoy and Katherine Locke as the lovelorn girl with whom Bridges sets him up for alibi purposes.

The concluding riot scene, (with it seems a lot of university students to the fore!) gets the biggest budget and is effectively staged, reminiscent of its predecessor in Lang's classic "Fury", before the big downbeat message is double-underlined for us as the credits roll.

A very watchable and considering its era, bold movie with interesting characters, dealing with big subjects and ending with a thundering moral message to boot. Quite a lot to pack in and done pretty well all round, I'd say.

Rare lynching film based on an all but forgotten true story

[Steve-602 · 8/10 · 2 July 2006]

A bit preachy in the style of the day but a remarkable film. The opening is especially strong. Among the interesting touches, the movie lynch mob is made up mainly of college students wearing their school t-shirts. New York Model Adele Jergens didn't have much of a Hollywood career but she's right on the money in this one. Although the time frame is post WWII, the story is based on an actual lynching in San Jose, California, in 1933. Reporter Royce Brier of the San Francisco Chronicle won a Pulitzer for his account of the event.California Governor James Rolph Jr. was quoted as saying he would like to turn over all jail inmates serving sentences for kidnapping to the custody of "those fine patriotic San Jose citizens, who know how to handle such a situation."

Worth a Closer Look

[dougdoepke · 18 July 2010]

Despite a catch-penny tile, "Try and Get Me" (aka Sound of Fury) remains a truly frightening movie whose disturbing imagery lingers long after the voice-over reassurances subside. The director, Cy Endfield, was one of the lower profile victims of the Mc Carthy purges. Viewing this movie now, it's easy to see why.

Family man and returning vet Howard Tyler (played by the always low-key Frank Lovejoy) is recruited into a life of crime by no more than ordinary desires for the American Dream. Desperate and unemployed, he falls into the clutches of a swaggering stickup man superbly played by a preening Lloyd Bridges. (Notice how subtly Bridges bends Tyler to his will on their first meeting at the bowling alley.) Joining Bridges, Tyler finally gets the standing he desires, but the spiral he has entered dooms him and his family's share of America's promise. (Note that conspicuous among the lynch mob's vanguard are fraternity boys, true to the actual event on which the movie is based.)

Throughout, the lighting and photography effectively undermine the facile voice of reason that the producers probably felt obligated to include. Endfield may have wanted an anti- violence film, but the resulting visual landscape implies a world of endemic violence. A sense of powerlessness pervades the film, one that mere admonishments cannot overcome. As a result, the characters appear caught in some terrible metaphysical web from which there is no escape. Events march relentlessly on to a conclusion that remains one of the most harrowing in Hollywood history. This is film noir at its darkest and most frightening.

Something should be noted in passing about the compellingly exotic performance of Katherine Locke as Hazel the manicurist. Watch her facial expressions as this highly repressed plain-faced woman experiences yet one more rejection in what a paste-on smile shows to be a lifetime of rejections. Never has a blossom perched so precariously on a cheap hairdo conveyed as much lower-class longing as hers, while the car ride with a guilt-ridden Tyler could serve as tawdry inspiration for a dozen feminist tracts. What ever became of this unusual actress, I wonder.

Without doubt, however, the film's dramatic high point is the lynch mob. It's one of the most coldly unnerving 20 minutes in movie annals, far surpassing (in my view) the better-known Fury (1936) in its depiction of mass violence. The fact that the mob is made up of ordinary citizens brought to fever pitch is especially telling. Unthinking violence is thus shown as potentially present in us all.

At the same time, the screenplay refuses to take the easy way out. In fact, Howard and Jerry are guilty, unlike, say, the three unfortunate cowboys in The Oxbow Incident (1943). Thus, what repels us is not the fact that innocent men are killed for a crime they didn't commit. That would be too easy. Instead, I think we're unnerved by how the crowd appears to celebrate the brutality of vigilante justice. Endfield succeeds in making this aspect especially ugly. Yes, in a very general sense, justice is served—murderers are in fact punished for their crime—but if so, justice is served in a particularly barbaric way even if the act does have popular support. In my little book, Endfield has fashioned the most effective of all anti- lynching movies, in part because it doesn't take the easy way out.

That Endfield exiled himself to England and a conventional career with Stanley Baker, shows how much was lost among those purge victims whose disappearance, unlike many others, went generally unnoticed. Just a couple of years after the remarkable "Try and Get Me" (and Endfield's also provocative "Underworld Story"), Hollywood began sanitizing the screen with the escapism of period spectacles, Technicolor westerns, and full-cleavage sex goddesses. Indeed times had changed. As Endfield already knew, the studios had to fight the Cold War too. There would be no more thought-provoking Try and Get Me's.

Try And Get Me!

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 3 September 2006]

The subject headline - Try And Get Me! - is the title of the movie, as I know it.

Man, this is a different kind of film noir story, mainly because of the ending. It centers around two crooks, played by Lloyd Bridges and Frank Lovejoy. Of the two, Bridges is the more fun guy to watch. He and his girlfriend (played by Adele Jergens) have some very good dialog. Lovejoy and his potential girlfriend have some lines that are so bad they are laughable! It almost reminded me of poor Elisha Cook verbally duking it out with tough-gal Marie Windsor: in other film noirs corny but fun stuff.

This was an entertaining film almost from the start. The last 30 minutes are really intense after Lovejoy cracks, stupidly admits his crime and is unfairly accosted as the murderer (he was the accomplice, not the murderer.) Then, the townsfolk, fueled by sensationalist journalism by the local paper, form into a huge lynch mob and storm the jail after the two criminals. The scenes of that, and what happens, are horrific. I am not exaggerating. In fact, it was one of the most disturbing scenes I've ever seen on film, especially for a classic movie. The cheers from the crowd when they kill the two men (which is not shown) are downright chilling.

The film obviously is a powerful indictment on yellow journalism and of mob mentality. The last scene was so distasteful that I have never wanted to watch this movie again!

Still powerfull, after all these years

[bux · 10/10 · 24 February 2001]

I saw this movie as a child, and had a chance to see it recently after more years than I want to admit. I know why it has stuck with me for so many years. This is powerful stuff, even by today's standards. Crime, punishment, yellow journalism, it is all addressed in this finely acted, fast paced drama. Bridges(like you've never seen him before!)turns in an acting 'tour de force' as the ego-maniac, demented hoodlum that kills without reason. Lovejoy is the husband and father caught up in a bad period of economics, Carlson the reporter that must learn that the power of the word is often as swift and deadly as that of the sword. This is high drama, done in the classic 50s film-noir tradition, it is must viewing for anyone that enjoyed "In Cold Blood"(1967)and movies of that genre.

And the Furious

[sol- · 6/10 · 13 April 2017]

Retitled 'Try and Get Me' for re-release, this crime drama flows better under its original title, with 'Fury' referring to swelling mob anger as an unemployed father confesses to aiding in the murder of a man he was holding for ransom. And yet, while angry mobs and the sort of sensationalistic newspaper reporting that encourages mob hysteria are important factors, they are left to the final third of the movie with the bulk of time spent on the budding friendship between the father and psychopath who lures him into a life of crime. This is a positive in that the film exposes the vulnerability of men without steady jobs and bills and personal pride to contend with. The first hour of the movie also gives Lloyd Bridges a chance to a shine in a tricky turn that requires him to talk and act sanely with a wild streak bubbling just beneath the surface. The final half-hour of the film is less effective than it could have been though. The film's messages are hammered home with the newspaper reporter character bluntly told "as a journalist you have a great responsibility" and "men don't live in a vacuum". Lead actor Frank Lovejoy also has a hard time playing mentally unhinged in a credible manner. With such a solid first hour though, this is a difficult movie to overlook and it remains well filmed towards the end, with lots of creative camera angles, even when the material turns didactic.

Crime Wave In Santa Sierra.

[hitchcockthelegend · 9/10 · 19 April 2010]

Howard Tyler (Frank Lovejoy) is a good honest family man living in California who just can't catch a break. Struggling financially and upset that he can't support his family, he falls in with small time hoodlum Jerry Slocum (Lloyd Bridges) who convinces him to join him in robbing gas stations. However, things start to get out of control as they kidnap the son of a wealthy family to hold for ransom. But what follows will have far reaching consequences for all involved...

Also known as Try And Get Me, The Sound Of Fury is directed by Cy Endfield and is based on the novel The Condemned by Jo Pagano (who along with Endfield also writes the screenplay here). The story is incredibly based on a factual episode known as the Brooke Hart case that occurred in 1933 in San Jose, California. Fritz Lang's 1936 film Fury was also loosely based on the same story, which probably explains why Endfield's film had a name change to Try And Get Me.

A brilliant crime thriller, the film is a damming indictment of uncontrolled violence in small town Americana. Its themes involving class divides, the uncivilization and ignorance of some Americans, moral and social collapse and the irresponsibility's of the press, are all rammed home with force by the soon to be blacklisted director. By definition, Endfield and Pagano have crafted the ultimate social conscious movie. Filling it with relevance that will last the ages, the undervalued Endfield also come up trumps in mood setting and visual flourishes. This be prime film noir too. Tumbling pebbles, a crime shown in reflection, our protagonist standing in the dark ruefully looking out a window, a complete night club sequence shot off kilter, all indelible images that linger long in the memory (Guy Roe on photography). Then there's the finale, a brutal and shocking ending that had Raymond Borde & Etienne Chaumenton (A Panorama Of American Film Noir 1941-1953) proclaiming it to be one of the most brutal sequences in postwar American cinema. They aren't exaggerating, it is, and it caps off a stunning movie.

There can be a reasonable argument put forward that the film asks for pity towards the hoodlums of the piece. But that's a confliction that serves as a call for a deeper thought process with the film. The makers are merely adding drips of fuel to an already incendiary device. Hugo Friedhofer provides the music and Kathleen Ryan, Richard Carlson & Katherine Locke fill out the support cast. However, this is Bridges' movie, Lovejoy is excellent as the increasingly fretful Tyler, but Bridges goes from smarm to charm with ease and then to crazy psychotic in the blink of an eye, an unnerving character given the treatment by the big man. Still awaiting a DVD release, any chance you get to see this film you should grab with both hands. Powerful, intelligent stuff. 9/10

One violent spectacle

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 26 January 2020]

The Sound Of Fury is not a film you'll forget once seen. Mindless mob violence has rarely been portrayed so graphically as in this film.,

Our protagonist is Frank Lovejoy married to Kathleen Ryan and is down on his luck with no job and one kid and a pregnant Ryan as well. His fast talking buddy Lloyd Bridges offers him a way to make easy money so Lovejoy becomes the wheel man in a series of stickups.

None of these are leading to the big time so they try a kidnapping,. But when they beat their victim to death the community is outraged.

The film moves effortlessly into looking at the problem from several angles. Lovejoy who is desperate to feed his family as opposed to Bridges who is just a punk. Yellow journalism in the person of Richard Carlson is also shown stoking the fires of a potential lynch mob. There's also a nice performance by Katharine Locke as a woman who Bridges sets Lovejoy up with as part of a plot is trick law enforcement into not suspecting them. She's such a sad sack of a human being yet very touching.

The same true crime story that was the basis for Fury is also the source for this film. The message about the need for due process and the rule of law is as clear as ever.

Don't miss this one when it's broadcast.

Lovejoy and Bridges at their best

[rvbunting-1 · 9/10 · 21 May 2006]

This is a true sleeper in the film noir category, because so few people saw it in original distribution. There was a legal dispute caused by the original title, "Sound of Fury" which some felt was too close to Fritz Lang's "Fury" filmed earlier.

Much of this picture was filmed in Phoenix, and the old city courthouse is very prominent, with it's beautiful copper doors. A true 'dive' nightclub, the "La Jolla Club" later known as the "Guys and Dolls" was used for a key scene.

Lloyd Bridges showed his wonderful range and capability as a wild-eyed psycho, and Lovejoy was tragically sympathetic as a tortured regular guy gone terribly wrong. The cast was very strong.

This is on a par with any of the noir films of the late 40s-early 50s, and holds up today.

Enjoy!

Manipulation and Consequences

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 19 January 2017]

The unemployed Howard Tyler (Frank Lovejoy) is desperate for a job since he is married with children and his wife Judy (Kathleen Ryan) is pregnant. When he meets the "bon vivant" Jerry Slocum (Lloyd Bridges), the stranger offers a job position to Howard. Soon he learns that Jerry is a small-time thief and his job would be to drive the getaway car after the heist. Howard improves the life of his family and tells that he is working in the night shift of a factory. Meanwhile, the journalist Gil Stanton (Richard Carlson) that works in a tabloid is assigned by the owner to promote the thefts to increase the selling of newspaper. When Jerry kidnaps the son of a millionaire, he brutally kills the man and forces Howard to help him to dump the corpse in the sea. Then he asks for ransom to the family. When the boy is found, Stanton incites the population telling that the abductors are monsters. When Howard and Jerry are arrested, a mob threatens their lives in front of the police station. How will the police officers protect the prisoners?

"The Sound of Fury" is a film with a simple storyline and an impressive conclusion. The manipulation of the masses by the "brown press" (tabloid) to sell newspapers is impressive and the consequence is scary. The reaction of the uncontrollable violent mob is the best part of this movie and shows the power of the free press, for the good or for the bad. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Justiça Injusta ("Justice Unjust")

A Stellar Noir Film with a Message as Strong Today as in 1950

[harrisonransom · 10/10 · 19 August 2006]

An awesomely powerful look at the divide between social classes in the US circa 1950 culminating in the transformation of law-abiding citizens into a violent, blood-thirsty mob bent on taking the law into their own hands. The mass psychology of mob violence couldn't be better portrayed. I have no idea how this truly moving film could have fallen into obscurity. It's message that violence never resolves conflict is as painfully current today as it was in 1950. Will we never learn from the past? One of the darkest Noir films I've seen. Generates a successive waterfall of emotions spanning the spectrum of human experiences, needs and drives. Well acted and well worth watching. Very highly recommended.

Powerful retelling of a true story

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 20 April 2018]

THE SOUND OF FURY is an interesting slice of crime and melodrama based on a real-life case of the 1930s. Seen today, it's partially of interest for being caught up in the McCarthyist witch hunts, with director Cy Endfield decamping to Britain to churn out classic after classic (HELL DRIVERS and ZULU, I'm talking about you) while Lloyd Bridges turned informant. The story is about a couple of small-time guys who are involved in a kidnapping that goes horribly wrong, which is all quite straightforward, but things get really interesting when they're taken to jail. The film slowly builds to one of the most powerful climaxes I've ever seen from the era, a power helped by the very strong performances of the lead actors.

Yes, it's a crime film....but it's definitely not noir.

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 3 June 2019]

I watched "The Sound of Fury" because it looked like an old film noir picture. Well, altough Lloyd Bridge's performance was wonderful and very noir-like, the rest of the film didn't thrill me.

When the film begins, Howard (Frank Lovejoy) is out of work and very down about it, as he has a wife and son to support. He meets a very nice guy, Jerry (Bridges) and Jerry offers to find him work. Little does Howard realize that it's to be the driver while Jerry commits various crimes! At first, Howard is able to justify it to himself. But when Jerry ups the stakes and commits a truly horrific crime, he cannot live with himself.

While these crimes are occurring, Gil Stanton (Richard Carlson) reports on them for the paper. His boss urges him to sensationalize the stories more and more. So, when they finally do apprehend the criminals, there's a lynch mob mentality in the town.

This story is based on a real case...which makes it a bit more intesting....though not interesting enough. The bottom line is that there have been quite a few films about lynch mobs and most of them are a lot more interesting and have a clearer message. For me, give me "Fury", "They Won't Forget" or "Hang 'Em High" instead. Instead, "The Sound of Fury" goes way too far in trying to blame society for violence...so much so that it comes off as preachy and a bit naive.

A man desperate for money partners with the wrong person

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 15 October 2021]

"Sound of Fury" from 1950 is an indictment against the media, but it also shows vigilante justice and its effect. The film stars Frank Lovejoy, Richard Carlson, Lloyd Nolan, Kathleen Ryan, Adele Jergens, and Katherine Locke.

Lovejoy plays Howard Tyler, a jobless man down on his luck. He has a wife (Ryan) and son with another child on the way. He meets a well-dressed, confident man, Jerry Slocom (Bridges) who tells him he may have a job for him.

Tyler later learns Slocom needs him as a getaway driver for various robberies he performs. As he explains it, it's usually small time stuff, gas stations, liquor stores, that kind of thing. Tyler really doesn't want to do it, but he's desperate.

We don't know how much time passes, but we see that Tyler and his familly are doing better. One night, Slocum has another plan. He watches as a very wealthy man comes out of his house - at the same time, every night. Then he grabs him. Slocom takes his valuables -- watch, tie clip, and rings, whatever he has. Then they drive to a place and throw him, tied up, into the water.

Tyler had no idea this was the plan, and Slocom takes it further by writing a kidnap note. He's tortured because he went along with it, and starts drinking heavily. He gets so drunk at one point that he confesses to a woman (Locke) Slocom and his girlfriend (Jergens) introduce him to. Then he tries to kill her - she gets away and calls the police. Tyler and Slocom are arrested.

A newspaper reporter, Gil Stanton (Carlson) is under orders from his boss to sensationalize the case. All along, the paper has been scaring the public by writing about a crime wave in the city. Now they really get their teeth into it. The townspeople are angry about the murder and demand justice.

The last scenes of this film are powerful and graphic, demonstrating mob mentality fed by the media.

Lovejoy plays an odd character. At first he just seems like a good guy down on his luck. Then he goes along with the robberies. The robbery of the wealthy man was ridiculous - there is no way they could have fenced those items and not get caught. He doesn't do anything to stop Slocom.

Added to this, Tyler double dates with Slocom and his girlfriend and is introduced to a woman - he's a married man, and there's no explanation why he accompanies them to a nightclub.

Lovejoy's approach to the role is passive, which is right for the character, because he obviously just lets things happen to him without a fight. Lloyd Nolan is terrific - flashy, fast-talking, ruthless, and handsome.

Not what I expected.

Where we witness perhaps the darkest side of American culture

[RJBurke1942 · 8/10 · 13 April 2022]

Interestingly, a prior movie, Fury (1936) presented a similar scenario about a man wrongly accused of committing a similar crime as in this story. But two different stories by different writers, however; and very different outcomes. If you can find a copy of Fury, it's well worth your time.

Anyway, I recall seeing Sound of Fury when I was around ten, on a Saturday afternoon matinee at the local cinema.

I recall being quite upset when I watched it; I recall also the two main actors, the reserved worker, Frank Lovejoy (Howard) and the flamboyant, arrogant conman, Lloyd Bridges (Jerry) - such a brilliant contrast of characters, even then at ten. Thereafter, I followed both actors in subsequent movies.

Of course, I did not follow this story very well at that age, but the final fifteen minutes or so riveted me to my seat, never to be forgotten. Hence, when I saw it recently again, I felt an odd mix of the same emotions from over seventy years ago.

Briefly, Howard (Lovejoy) is reluctantly enticed by Jerry (Bridges) to embark on a life crime because he has no job. Eventually, Jerry commits a truly heinous murder of a young man and forces Howard to help dispose of the body. When they are arrested for the murder, they are held at the central police station under heavy guard, awaiting trial.

Soon, though, the local media whips up citizen anger about the murder and eventually a mob begins to congregate at the cop shop, demanding justice. Without doubt, this story and production still ranks with me as a superb exposition and critique of how the media (and authority) gave the base aspects of American culture an opportunity to overwhelm due legal process.

The pacing and dialog are appropriate, the acting is superb, and the finale is a tour de force in editing and directing.

I think Sound of Fury should have won awards. Maybe the topic revealed much more than the producers were expecting in those times? Simply because it viscerally displayed a hard truth that many preferred to keep in the background, out of sight, even then.

Eight out of ten for this excellent production.

Recommended for adults, young and old.

Harsh, well-acted

[Panamint · 6/10 · 9 September 2016]

The entire cast delivers high-caliber acting, particularly Frank Lovejoy and Lloyd Bridges. Bridges is unforgettable as the psycho "Jerry". Cliff Clark, the ultimate movie cop, is perfectly cast as a police chief.

A brutal, unrelenting tone is maintained throughout the film, and the film-makers use a sledgehammer approach to convey ideas, unnecessarily so in my opinion. OK I get it, you don't need to clobber me to hammer things into my mushy little brain.

Newspapers are portrayed in a devastating manner similar to the old Edward G. Robinson classic "Five Star Final", and with similar effectiveness although with an even more heavy hand. But the message holds up whether 1930's, 1950's or with today's sensationalized multi-media delivery of various "movement"-style causes that can result in violence by impressionable or disgruntled individuals who injure or kill innocent civilians or police officers in extreme cases.

Harsh, loud, impactful but rather unsatisfying as an overall well- rounded movie, this is a somewhat unusual film that is watchable mainly due to the outstanding performances.

A remarkable discovery.

[MOscarbradley · 9/10 · 4 June 2020]

Not quite a film-noir, not quite a B-Movie but this Cy Endfield directed crime flic could fit quite easily into either of those categories and was well enough thought of to earn a BAFTA nomination for Best Film From Any Source. Indeed, if anything it's a social conscience movie reminiscent of Lang's "Fury" and what's surprising is that it was made at all in the America of 1950. Frank Lovejoy is the down-on-his-luck veteran who falls in with hoodlum Lloyd Bridges, (terrific). When one of Bridges' schemes goes wrong Lovejoy finds himself in deeper than he could ever have imagined.

This is a violent and deeply disturbing picture that deals with a much uglier aspect of the American character than most movies of its kind. Likeable, sympathetic characters are thin on the ground and the eruption of violence that closes the picture is still shocking. Endfield, an American who worked most of his life in Britain, never really had the career he deserved, (he was a victim of McCarthyism) but he, like this terrific little picture is now ripe for rediscovery. This has cult movie written all over it.

Try and Get Me!

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 6 February 2024]

With another baby on the way, the jobless "Tyler" (Frank Lovejoy) is desperate to find work. Repeatedly rejected, he ends up doing some driving for the small-time thief "Slocum" (Lloyd Bridges) and after a few heists, their financial situation improves markedly. His wife "Judy" (Kathleen Ryan) thinks he's got a nightshift somewhere but boy does she get a shock when it emerges that her husband is now implicated in the brutal murder of the young son of a wealthy man. When his body is found the police apprehend both "Tyler" and "Slocum" and soon, spurned on by the sensationalising journalist "Stanton" (Richard Carlson), an angry mob is outside the police station - and it is baying for blood. For much of this film, it's a standard petty crime goes wrong drama and neither Lovejoy nor Bridges really stand out. It's the last half hour where this film comes into it's own a little more. Carlson is good as the odious newspaper man who cares little about anything but his task to increase circulation and with the increasing tension inside a police station besieged by a determined mob, Cy Endfield manages to create a denouement that shows just how thin the line between lawfulness and lawlessness can be - especially when goaded and galvanised by a sense of righteousness. Oddly enough, the conclusion still resonates quite effectively even now, and for thirty minutes - at least - this is a thought-provoking film to watch.

The road to hell...

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 24 December 2021]

... well, you know the rest of the saying.

Howard Tyler (Frank Lovejoy) is a working class guy from Massachusetts looking for work in post war California. Unfortunately, there are lots of working class guys looking for work there too. He has a son who is about ten and there isn't the money for him to do things with his friends, and he's starting to get to an age where he notices these things. His wife is pregnant and he can't afford to send her any place but free clinics. They are renting a spartanly furnished ramshackle house. One night, after leaving his wife crying at the kitchen table because of fifty cents she does not have for groceries, he is trying to cool off and calm down at the local bowling alley. He runs into a slick fast talker, Jerry Slocum (Lloyd Bridges), who says he may have a lead for him for a job. When alone though, it turns out Jerry wants Howard to drive a getaway car for Jerry's planned armed robberies. Howard wants to say no, but he thinks of his struggling family and relents. He tells his wife he got a job on the night shift somewhere to explain his absence.

At first things go OK, as far as crime can go OK. They manage to get away with some money without killing anybody. Howard likes that he is able to buy some things for his wife and son and feel like a provider for a change. But soon Jerry has talked him into doing something that is way over his head - kidnapping the grown son of a wealthy couple. It would mean 25K apiece and no more robberies. That would be about half a million apiece in 2021 dollars. This turns to murder, not because anything went wrong, not because of any accident. It's just that Howard has neglected one little fact - Jerry is a sociopath. And now Howard is chained to him for at least awhile. This film goes to a very bleak depressing place, and I'll let you watch and find out exactly how.

Howard's character is the classic centerpiece of a noir film - a basically decent human being that due to a colliding of unique circumstances gives in to temptation and ends up in a horrible position, and lots of that horrible position is his own conscience eating him alive. Lloyd Bridges excels at playing the big talking sociopath. Katherine Locke stands out in a minor role as a sweet mousy woman looking for love who, from the things she says, must have been in love with a married man at one time and has been trying not to make that same mistake ever since. Richard Carlson plays a reporter who is paid to whip up readers into a frenzy over the crime wave that Howard and Jerry are perpetrating. His role was the one thing that really didn't work for me. Carlson just does not seem like a journalist to me - but maybe I've just seen Creature from the Black Lagoon one too many times.

I'd recommend this one. It is rare to see booming post war California portrayed as anything else than a place where there was a chicken in every pot.

Great Film But Climax Doesnt Quite Work.

[Rich359 · 7/10 · 3 March 2019]

Terrific low budget gem with great acting and 50's LA locations, but that is part of the problem. Based on a real case of a lynching in San Jose California, which happened in 1933. In post war 1950, with a nation weary of violence and much better media coverage and television, I doubt very much this could have took place. Regardless, its a fine piece of work The best portrayal of a psychopath I ever seen, in Lloyd Bridges.

Brutal Moralistic Crime Drama

[rmax304823 · 8/10 · 12 July 2008]

Frank Lovejoy is a veteran who never was sent overseas during the war. He can't find a job to support his wife (Kathleen Ryan) and little boy. Angry, embittered, and perhaps a little guilty, he falls in with bad guy Lloyd Bridges who sport platinum cuff links and seems to be enjoying himself all over the little California town. Bridges offers Lovejoy a job as his wheel man. Just a couple of minor stick-ups, nothing serious. But the robberies escalate into the kidnapping of a college boy from a rich family. Bridges, an envious psychopath, kills the kid out of spite. Both Bridges and Lovejoy are caught and jailed but several thousand people break into the jail, beat the men, and pass them outside overhead like serving platters where they meet vigilante justice.

I haven't seen it since I was a kid but the memory of that climactic collective murder still makes me wince.

It's impossible to comment on the performances, or on much else for that matter, after the passage of so many years but unless my brain has turned to tofu, I'm compelled to recommend the film. I remember Lovejoy as being a little stiff but Lloyd Bridges giving a dead imitation of a caged animal. Kathleen Ryan was winsome. And there is a touching portrait of a desperately lonely lady who hooks up with Lovejoy.

It was made at the height of the anti-Red hysteria in Hollywood, a time when subliminal pro-communist messages were being read into cinematic trifles. And the advertising campaign that accompanied this release seemed almost to goad the audience into mindless mob action. Get in on the ground floor of the explosive rage for justice! That sort of thing. In other words, hang the Reds.

It was completely at odds with the message of the movie itself, which was that ordinary guys can get sucked up by circumstances and find themselves suffering the same fate as those who are truly evil. Oh -- and mobs can be dangerous. (If you're a social psychologist, think "risky shift".) Out of all the simple black-and-white crime melodramas that appeared in the post-war period, this is one of the few that had me by the lapels.

Based on a real incident in 1930s San Jose, California.

If it shows up, be sure to catch it.

performances?

[beresfordjd · 6/10 · 20 April 2010]

Lloyd Bridges always gives good value whether as a complete villain, as here, or as a hero- remember Sea Hunt? Sea Hunt was my favourite TV series when I was an impressionable kid. I also loved him in the Airplane movies, showing a real talent for comedy. He is the best thing in this B movie. Most of the other actors I am sure were not professionals and Frank Lovejoy was not up to par either and usually I have quite liked his performances. I am watching it as I type this and am far from impressed by it - brave treatment of a dark subject or no. The actress who plays the manicurist is close to appallingly bad. Where were the razzies when we needed them? I am interested enough to see it through ,however, so it cannot be quite as bad as I am painting it. There are lots of film noir movies from this era that were so much better. This could have been superb with a better, more able cast (Lloyd Bridges aside). I think a lot of this was dubbed later so it affects the acting and atmosphere.

Also called "Try and Get Me"

[drjgardner · 5/10 · 31 January 2020]

This film was based on a true incident in 1933 that was also made into a 1936 film called "Fury" directed by Fritz Lang. Both films were based on the kidnap and killing of a socially prominent young man in San Jose (Brooke Hart). This film is probably closer to the truth than the Lang film, though the Lang film is a better film.