The Enforcer (1951)

This is a good crime drama featuring Humphrey Bogart's last performance as a Warner Bros contract star before he went independent.

Part of the film noir cycle, The Enforcer purports to tell the story of a murder-for-hire racket based on the real life combo known as Murder, Inc.  The story does not tie the racket to any identifiable names but it is clear that the modus operandi is entirely based on the shadowy organization except for the reasons for the murders, which are explained in the story.  The actual organization was organized crime's method of policing its own area and criminals that overstepped their bounds or failed to produce were dealt with by an internal hit squad that had nationwide coverage, the killers usually dispatched from a remote city and the victim unknown to them except by reputation.  Despite the fictional take on a real crime organization it does make a pretty good yarn and features Bogart in the unusual role of district attorney, quite different from his usual crook or gumshoe.

In fact, a lot of criminal jargon that we take for granted today was apparently unknown in 1951 and this movie introduced such criminal argot as hit and contract for the obvious meanings we all know today.  It's quite interesting to realize that testimony from a gangster was necessary for these terms to be recognized in the legal world.

The story is told in a series of flashbacks showing an investigation of a shadowy criminal named Mendoza (Everett Sloan) who is supposedly the head of the killer group.  This character is in place of the real Louis Lepke Buchalter, the head executioner of Murder, Inc. Mendoza, who we don't see at first, is in jail awaiting trial. The night before the trial the police deliver a witness, Rico (Ted DeCorsia), who is a murderer on the staff of this organization. He is scheduled to testify against his boss in return for a plea bargain for himself.

Of course, that doesn't work out the way they planned due to Rico (DeCorsia) getting himself killed through his fear of Mendoza, so Bogart's case goes back to square 0.  He and his team of investigators spend the rest of the night digging through their mounds of files and listening to miles of recorded tape trying to build a case against Mendoza. The film uses the time honored flash back format to put us back in the storyline and see how they obtained their leads.  Then as they come up with a new angle the timeline shifts to the present and they try their luck.  The story of the racket is told through these glimpses of the past. Finally after a bunch of blind alleys, they do find a productive clue and pursue it, only Bogart tips his hand to Mendoza who naturally calls his lawyer and schedules a hit on the new witness; then it becomes a conventional chase for its final denouement.

One of the interesting aspects of The Enforcer is the casting with a veritable rogue's gallery of character actors playing various criminals.  Humphrey Bogart, instead of dominating the screen plays as sort of an ensemble character along with the various crooks who include Ted DeCorsia, Everett Sloan, Zero Mostel and several other recognizable faces among them. 

Everett Sloan is plenty evil compared to the relatively benign Bogart as prosecutor.  Bogart doesn't get to rely on his snappy dialog and fisticuffs and essentially gives the screen to DeCorsia first, and then to Sloan.
 
The Artisan DVD carries a Republic logo the movie itself has the old Warner Bros titles so it must've fallen into the public domain at one time or another.  The DVD presents the 87 minute black and white movie in full screen format, just as it appeared in theaters.  There are no extras other than chapter stops but the movie looks very nice and might have been restored as they assert on the cover blurb.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV