FORCE OF EVIL (1948) *** Anti-mob and capitalism morality play, nicely written and directed by soon-to-be blacklisted Abraham Polonsky. Only homogenously poor acting and fairly regular mawkish slips of Polonsky's pen keep it from being a masterpiece. He does a great job of representing how capital regulates law "enforcement," and nearly as good blurring the lines of right and wrong as they must surely appear to his characters. He's also got an incongruously pubescent take on the interplay between carnal sin and morality. Maybe that's how everyone was before Marilyn Monroe. Anyway, great black and white shadows and light in New York when organized crime (or is that capitalism) really was a family business.
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