NFF21: The Enforcer

NFF21: The Enforcer

2DCS15
Director:Bretaigne Windust, Raoul Walsh
Cast:Humphrey Bogart, Zero Mostel, Ted de Corsia, Everett Sloane
Premiere:26. November 2021
Length:86 minutes
Genre:Drama

Director: Bretaigne Windust, Raoul Walsh  •  Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Zero Mostel, Ted de Corsia, Everett Sloane, Roy Roberts

District attorney Martin Ferguson (Humphrey Bogart) has a clearly defined deadline at the beginning of the story – on the eve of the trial of mob boss Albert Mendoza (Everett Sloane), he loses his crown witness (Ted De Corsia) and has to secure a new one by the morning. His repeatedly going through the interrogation tapes, which are layered into a series of flashbacks in the narrative, is akin to finding a needle in a haystack. The protagonist's efforts to find connections in a series of seemingly unrelated murders, to uncover the links between individual criminals and to untangle the web of organized crime share parallels with the ingenious sleuthing of private de-tectives Sam Spade and Phil Marlowe, to whom the famous actor lent his iconic face. The film was inspired by a real-life case investigating a group of hit men referred to in the period press as “Murder, Inc.” and impresses with its use of criminal slang.

Length: 86 min

Year: 1951
Local premiere date: 26. November 2021
World premiere date: 24. February 1951

Country of origin:

  • United states of America

Director: Bretaigne Windust, Raoul Walsh  •  Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Zero Mostel, Ted de Corsia, Everett Sloane, Roy Roberts

District attorney Martin Ferguson (Humphrey Bogart) has a clearly defined deadline at the beginning of the story – on the eve of the trial of mob boss Albert Mendoza (Everett Sloane), he loses his crown witness (Ted De Corsia) and has to secure a new one by the morning. His repeatedly going through the interrogation tapes, which are layered into a series of flashbacks in the narrative, is akin to finding a needle in a haystack. The protagonist's efforts to find connections in a series of seemingly unrelated murders, to uncover the links between individual criminals and to untangle the web of organized crime share parallels with the ingenious sleuthing of private de-tectives Sam Spade and Phil Marlowe, to whom the famous actor lent his iconic face. The film was inspired by a real-life case investigating a group of hit men referred to in the period press as “Murder, Inc.” and impresses with its use of criminal slang.

Year: 1951
Local premiere date: 26. November 2021
World premiere date: 24. February 1951

Country of origin:

  • United states of America