The Enforcer (1951)
Directed by Bretaigne Windust, Raoul Walsh

Film Review

The Enforcer is one of the toughest, most uncompromising crime dramas of its time, combining the stylisation of the classic film noir thriller with the gritty realism of the emerging police procedural.  The story is closely based on Burton Turkus's real-life investigation into the Murder Inc. crime consortium, a notorious gang of contract killers that was brought to book only after one of its members, Abe Reles, turned government witness in 1940.

Humphrey Bogart is appropriately cast as the unflinching crime investigator, bringing a hardboiled roughness, perhaps even a touch of sadism, which hadn't been in evidence since his tougher gangster portrayals of the late 1930s.   The film's realism owes much to the performances of Bogart and the exemplary supporting cast, who convey the world of organised crime in all its grim savage brutality.  This impression is bolstered by Robert Burks' stark cinematography, which combines noir expressionism with a semi-documentary realism. 

Although Bretaigne Windust is credited for directing this film, most of the work was undertaken by Raoul Walsh, hence the similarity in style with Walsh's recent hard-edged thriller White Heat (1949).  Walsh stepped in at an early stage in production when Windust fell ill but magnanimously refused to take his credit.  Martin Rackin's taut, well-paced screenplay introduced moviegoers to the lexicon of the mobsters, with words such as "contract" and "hit", and laid the foundation for a much more violent and convincing kind of gangster film, in which the demarcation between the good guys and the bad would become increasingly blurred.

Film Synopsis

For four years, District Attorney Martin Ferguson has been building a murder case against Albert Mendoza, a gangster boss who sells contract killings for cash.   Unless he can find someone willing to testify against Mendoza, Ferguson knows that he will fail to get a conviction.  He gets his breakthrough when Mendoza's right-hand man, Joe Rico, offers to give evidence against his former employer.  Convinced that Mendoza's men will kill him before he reaches the witness stand, Rico makes an attempt to escape from police custody, but dies in the attempt.   Undeterred, Ferguson decides to review all of the evidence that he has against Mendoza, hopeful that he will find a clue which will bring him to justice...