Knock on Any Door
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| Knock on Any Door | |
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 Theatrical Poster |
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| Directed by | Nicholas Ray |
| Produced by | Robert Lord |
| Written by | Story: Willard Motley Screenplay: John Monks Jr. Daniel Taradash |
| Starring | Humphrey Bogart John Derek |
| Music by | George Antheil |
| Cinematography | Burnett Guffey |
| Editing by | Viola Lawrence |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | February 22, 1949 |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Knock on Any Door (1949) is an American court-room trial film noir directed by Nicholas Ray, and starring Humphrey Bogart. It was produced by Bogart's newly formed production company: Santana Productions.[1]
The picture introduces John Derek to the silver-screen and was based on the novel of the same name by Willard Motley.[2]
The film is noted for having the often quoted line spoken by John Derek's character:
- Live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse.
The picture is about lawyer Andrew Morton (Bogart) defending Nick Romano, a troubled young man (Derek) from the slums. He's currently on trial for viciously killing a policeman point-blank and facing execution if convicted (the event is shown in a dark opening scene, but the killer's face is not seen).
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[edit] Plot
Against the wishes of his law partners, Morton takes the case of Nick Romano (Derek), partly because he himself came from the same slums, and because he feels guilty for botching Nick's fathers criminal trial years earlier (he was innocent).
Morton's strategy in the courtroom is to argue that slums breed criminals and that the community is partly to blame for crimes committed by the people who are forced to live in such miserable conditions.
Through flashbacks, Morton demonstrates that Romano is more a victim of society than a natural-born killer. Yet, Morton's strategy does not have the desired result on the jury thanks to the badgering of District Attorney Kernan (George Macready). Morton, however, does manage to arouse sympathy for the plight of those trapped by birth and circumstance in a dead-end existence.
[edit] Background
Producer Mark Hellinger purchased the rights to Knock on Any Door and Humphrey Bogart and Marlon Brando were to star in the production. However, after Hellinger died in late 1947, Robert Lord and Bogart formed a corporation to produce the film: Santana Productions, named after Bogart's private sailing yacht.[3] Jack Warner was reportedly furious at this, fearing that other stars would do the same and major studios would lose their power.
According to critic Hal Erickson, the often-repeated credo spoken by the character Nick Romano: "Live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse," would become the "clarion call for a generation of disenfranchised youth."[4]
[edit] Cast
- Humphrey Bogart as Andrew Morton
- John Derek as Nick Romano
- George Macready as Dist. Atty. Kerman
- Allene Roberts as Emma
- Candy Toxton as Adele Morton
- Mickey Knox as Vito
- Barry Kelley as Judge Drake
- Cara Williams as Nelly Watkins
- Sid Melton as "Squint" Zinsky
- Dooley Wilson as Piano player
[edit] Critical reception
Bosley Crowther, film critic for The New York Times, called the film "a pretentious social melodrama" and blasted the film message and the screenplay. He wrote, "Rubbish! The only shortcoming of society which this film proves is that it casually tolerates the pouring of such fraudulence onto the public mind. Not only are the justifications for the boy's delinquencies inept and superficial, as they are tossed off in the script, but the nature and aspect of the hoodlum are outrageously heroized."[5]
The staff at Variety magazine was more receptive of the film writing, "An eloquent document on juvenile delinquency, its cause and effect, has been fashioned from Knock on Any Door...Nicholas Ray's direction stresses the realism of the script taken from Willard Motley's novel of the same title, and gives the film a hard, taut pace that compels complete attention."[6]
[edit] Adaption
A sequel of the film, Let No Man Write My Epitaph, was produced in 1960 and directed by Philip Leacock and featuring Shelley Winters, James Darren, among others.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ Knock on Any Door at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Slide, Anthony. Lost Gay Novels: A Reference Guide to Fifty Works from the First Half of the Twentieth Century by , pages 135-136, 1st edition, 2003. Binghamton, NY: Harrington Park Press. ISBN 1-56023-413-X.
- ^ Silver, Alain, and Elizabeth Ward, eds. Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style; film noir synopsis and analysis of Knock on Any Door by Blake Lucas and Alain Silver, page 162, 3rd edition, 1992. Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5.
- ^ Knock on Any Door at Allmovie.
- ^ Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, January 23, 1949. Last accessed: December 9, 2007.
- ^ Variety, film review, January 1, 1949. Last accessed: December 9, 2007.
- ^ Let No Man Write My Epitaph at the Internet Movie Database.
[edit] External links
- Knock on Any Door at the Internet Movie Database.
- Knock on Any Door at Allmovie.
- Knock on Any Door at the TCM Movie Database.
- Knock on Any Door at Rotten Tomatoes.
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