The Mob (film)

The Mob

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Robert Parrish
Produced by Jerry Bresler
Screenplay by William Bowers
Based on the novel Waterfront 
by Ferguson Findley
Starring Broderick Crawford
Betty Buehler
Music by George Duning
Cinematography Joseph Walker
Edited by Charles Nelson
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
  • September 7, 1951 (United States)
Running time
 87 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $1,050,000 (US rentals)[1]
Still from film with Crawford in center

The Mob is a 1951 film noir crime thriller film directed by Robert Parrish and starring Broderick Crawford as a hard-nosed cop who infiltrates the Mob in order to bust their illegal dockyard activities. The actor Charles Bronson makes one of his first film appearances as a longshoreman and was uncredited.[2]

Cast

Reception

Critical response

Spencer Selby, in his book Dark City: The Film Noir, calls The Mob: "About as close as noir ever came to resurrecting the 1930s gangster film."

Film Noir: The Encyclopedia Reference to the American Style notes "Crawford takes the simple role of Johnny Damico and converts it into a noir characterization of toughness and vulgarity."

Film critic Dennis Schwartz liked the acting and wrote, "The Mob covers the same territory as On The Waterfront [filmed three years after The Mob]. It is adapted from the novel Waterfront by Ferguson Findley and directed with a flair for lively action scenes by Robert Parrish. This ordinary minor film noir holds together until one twist too many turns it into one of those old movie theater chapter serial-like endings ... Broderick Crawford is believable in this heroic role and moves his character into a noir figure by his hard-boiled, no-nonsense approach to the dangerous situation, where he's not in control of his destiny. Ernest Borgnine has the natural look of a shady individual to give his role a sinister force. Neville Brand as a strong-arm enforcer for Borgnine adds to the violent atmosphere. The film has fistfights, tough talking thugs and cops, and a bleak view of the corrupt docks. The brutality of both the criminals and the police is what gives the film its shock value and special feel. Otherwise it's your ordinary violent crime film."[3]

References

Notes

  1. ↑ 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1951', Variety, January 2, 1952
  2. ↑ The Mob at the Internet Movie Database.
  3. ↑ Schwartz, Dennis. Ozus' World Movie Reviews, film review, April 21, 2002. Accessed: July 8, 2013.

Additional references

  1. ^ Spencer Selby (1984). Dark City:The Film Noir. McFarland Classics. ISBN 0-7864-0478-7.
  2. ^ Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward (1992). Film Noir An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style. The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5.

External links