Editing Force of Evil

{{Short description|1948 film by Abraham Polonsky}}
{{About|the film noir|the 1977 television episode "The Force of Evil"|Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Force of Evil
| image          = Force of Evil (1948 poster).jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Abraham Polonsky]]
| producer       = Bob Roberts
| screenplay     = Abraham Polonsky<br/>[[Ira Wolfert]]
| based_on       = {{based on|''Tucker's People''<br>1943 novel|Ira Wolfert}}
| starring       = [[John Garfield]]<br />[[Thomas Gomez]]<br />[[Marie Windsor]]<br />[[Beatrice Pearson]]
| music          = [[David Raksin]]
| cinematography = [[George Barnes (cinematographer)|George Barnes]]
| editing        = Art Seid
| studio         = [[Enterprise Productions]]
| distributor    = [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]
| released       = {{Film date|1948|12|25|United States}}
| runtime        = 76 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $1,150,000<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/variety172-1948-11/page/n77/mode/1up?q=%22brought+in+at%22|magazine=Variety|title=Inside Stuff - Pictures|date=10 November 1948|page=22}}</ref>
| gross          = $1,165,000<ref name="Mannix">{{Citation | title = The Eddie Mannix Ledger | publisher = Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study | place = Los Angeles}}.</ref>
}}

'''''Force of Evil''''' is a 1948 American [[film noir]] starring [[John Garfield]] and [[Beatrice Pearson]] and directed by [[Abraham Polonsky]]. It was adapted by Polonsky and [[Ira Wolfert]] from Wolfert's novel ''Tucker's People''.<ref>{{AFI film|id=25543|title=Force of Evil}}.</ref> Polonsky had been a screenwriter for the boxing film ''[[Body and Soul (1947 film)|Body and Soul]]'' (1947), in which Garfield had also played the male lead.

In 1994, ''Force of Evil'' was selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>{{Cite news|date=1994-11-15|title=25 Films Added to National Registry|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/15/movies/25-films-added-to-national-registry.html|access-date=2020-10-02|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|access-date=2020-10-02|website=Library of Congress}}</ref>

==Plot==
[[File:Force of Evil (promo photo - John Garfield and Beatrice Pearson).jpg|thumb|left|Garfield and Pearson in ''Force of Evil'']]

Lawyer Joe Morse works for a powerful gangster, Tucker, who wishes to consolidate and control the [[numbers racket]] in New York City. This requires absorbing  many smaller outfits, one of which is run by Morse's older brother, Leo. One relishes his life in the underworld, the other is disgusted by it and seeks to minimize its impact.  Even when seeking to soften things for Leo, things go wrong for Joe, and tragedy befalls both.

==Cast==
* [[John Garfield]] as Joe Morse
* [[Beatrice Pearson]] as Doris Lowry
* [[Thomas Gomez]] as Leo Morse
* [[Marie Windsor]] as Edna Tucker
* [[Howland Chamberlain]] as Frederick "Freddie" Bauer
* [[Roy Roberts]] as Ben Tucker
* [[Paul Fix]] as Bill Ficco
* [[Stanley Prager]] as Wally
* [[Barry Kelley]] as Det. Egan

==Reception==
===Critical response===
When the film was released, the staff at ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' magazine gave the film a mixed review, praising its production values but panning its focus and "intrusively" flowery language:

{{Blockquote|''Force of Evil'' fails to develop the excitement hinted at in the title. Makers apparently couldn't decide on the best way to present an exposé of the numbers racket, winding up with neither fish nor fowl as far as hard-hitting racketeer [[Melodrama|meller]] is concerned. A poetic, almost allegorical, interpretation keeps intruding on the tougher elements of the plot. This factor adds no distinction and only makes the going tougher ... Garfield, as to be expected, comes through with a performance that gets everything out of the material furnished ... On the technical side, the production fares better than story-wise. The physical mounting is expertly valued; the New York locale shots give authenticity; and lensing by [[George Barnes (cinematographer)|George Barnes]], while a bit on the arty side, displays skilled craftsmanship.<ref>[https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117791015.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0 ''Variety'']. Staff film review, December 25, 1948. Accessed: February 11, 2010."</ref>}}

[[Bosley Crowther]], the film critic for ''[[The New York Times]]'', liked the film, and wrote, "But for all its unpleasant nature, it must be said that this film is a dynamic crime-and-punishment drama, brilliantly and broadly realized. Out of material and ideas that have been worked over time after time, so that they've long since become stale and hackneyed, it gathers suspense and dread, a genuine feeling of the bleakness of crime and a terrible sense of doom. And it catches in eloquent tatters of on-the-wing dialogue moving intimations of the pathos of hopeful lives gone wrong."<ref>[https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E06E3DC103EE03BBC4F51DFB4678383659EDE Crowther, Bosley].  ''The New York Times,'' film review, December 27, 1948. Accessed: February 11, 2010.</ref>

Wrote film historian [[Andrew Sarris]] in 1968, "''Force of Evil'' stands up under repeated viewings as one of the great films of the modern American cinema and Garfield's taxicab scene with Beatrice Pearson takes away some of the luster [[Elia Kazan|Kazan]]'s [[Marlon Brando|Brando]]-[[Rod Steiger|Steiger]] ''tour de force'' in ''[[On the Waterfront]]''."<ref>[[Andrew Sarris|Sarris, Andrew]]. 1968. ''The American Cinema: Directors and Directions, 1929-1968''. E.P. Dutton & Co. New York. p. 220</ref>

In the decades since its release ''Force of Evil'' has been recognized by some as a high point of the film noir genre, powerful in its poetic images and language, by such film critics and historians such as William S. Pechter and Andrew Dickos.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} Its influence has been acknowledged many times by [[Martin Scorsese]] in the making of his crime dramas.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

===Box-office===
According to MGM records the film earned $948,000 in the US and $217,000 overseas.<ref name="Mannix"/>

===Accolades===
'''[[American Film Institute]] Lists'''
* [[AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies]] - Nominated<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/movies400.pdf |title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies Nominees |access-date=2011-07-01 |archive-date=2013-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026011242/http://afi.com/Docs/100Years/movies400.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[AFI's 10 Top 10]] - Nominated Gangster Film<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.afi.com/drop/ballot.pdf |title=AFI's 10 Top 10 Ballot |access-date=2011-07-01 |archive-date=2017-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326214614/http://www.afi.com/drop/ballot.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)]] - Nominated<ref>[http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/Movies_ballot_06.pdf AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) Nominees]</ref>

== Preservation ==
''Force of Evil'' was preserved and restored by the [[UCLA Film and Television Archive]]. Restoration provided by [[Packard Humanities Institute|The Packard Humanities Institute]]. The restoration premiered at the UCLA Festival of Preservation in 2022.

==See also==
*[[List of cult films]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
* {{Internet Archive film|force-of-evil-1949-004}}
* {{AFI film|25543}}
* {{IMDb title|0040366}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|1007691-force_of_evil}}
* {{TCMDb title|75384}}
* [http://www.tcm.com/video/videoPlayer/?cid=32009&titleId=75384 ''Force of Evil'']{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} analysis of film by [[Sydney Pollack]] at [[Turner Classic Movies]]
* ''Force of Evil'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 {{ISBN|0826429777}}, pages 421-423 [https://books.google.com/books?id=deq3xI8OmCkC]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Force Of Evil}}
[[Category:1948 films]]
[[Category:1948 crime drama films]]
[[Category:1940s American films]]
[[Category:1940s English-language films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American crime drama films]]
[[Category:American films about gambling]]
[[Category:Film noir]]
[[Category:Films set in New York City]]
[[Category:Films shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Films shot in New York City]]
[[Category:Films directed by Abraham Polonsky]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Abraham Polonsky]]
[[Category:Films scored by David Raksin]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]
[[Category:English-language crime drama films]]