The Wagons Roll at Night (1941) **1/2

 Release Date: April 26, 1941

Running Time: 84 minutes

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Eddie Albert, Sylvia Sidney, Joan Leslie, Sig Roman

Directed by: Ray Enright

Eddie Albert stars as Matt, a local grocery clerk turned hero, then lion tamer in The Wagons Roll at Night. Pair that with an unscrupulous circus manager played by Humphrey Bogart, a drunken lion tamer incapable of keeping an aggressive lion named Caesar from escaping his cage and terrorizing a mother and infant, and a unconvincing love plot marred by murderous jealousy and you can see why this film doesn’t incite much excitement. 

The story is pretty straight forward. Nick Coster (Humphrey Bogart) owns and manages a circus. Through some carelessness Caesar the lion escapes and manages to enter a grocery store. The clerk on duty, Matt, manages to subdue the beast long enough for him to be recaptured. He is heralded as a hero for this, having also saved the lives of a woman and her infant. The resulting publicity leads Nick to hiring Matt as a new back-up lion tamer banking on the new found fame to draw in audiences. Also, Nick needs someone in the position because the current lion tamer, Hoffman, is an alcoholic and has become unreliable. Hoffman (Sig Roman) takes this personally and sets out to sabotage the new upstart. However Matt does well in the position and Nick fires Hoffman, while keeping Hoffman’s lions.

Hoffman refuses to accept Matt’s apology for taking his job and starts a fight that leaves Hoffman injured by Caesar. Fearing being accused of intentionally injuring Hoffman Matt is taken into hiding from the police by Nick’s girlfriend Flo Lorraine(Sylvia Sidney), to Nick’s family home even though Nick strongly objects to his family intermingling with the circus performers. There Matt meets Nick’s sister Mary and the two fall in love much to Nick’s strong objections. This leads to some clashing between the two men that ultimately turns deadly.

Eddie Albert was a relative newcomer when he starred in this film having hit the scene just three years prior. Even this early in his career he had charisma on screen that would help him become a bona fide star early into the 1940’s. Even so he is a little out of his comfort zone coming across as a little too naive. He would be completely overshadowed by Bogart and Sylvia Sidney were the two not badly miscast in roles outside their wheelhouse. At this point in his career Bogart was still mostly a secondary character actor best at playing gangsters and hoodlums. Here he is supposed to be a businessman running a somewhat successful circus and it never quite clicks. Likewise Sylvia comes across at times like she is in over her head and is never convincing as Nick’s love interest. 

There are plenty of good things to be said about this Stunt work with the lions is mostly convincing for its time, especially in the earlier scenes. The finale is harrowing and well staged if a little hammed up by Bogart’s performance. Eddie Albert is, as always, watchable even as he is a little green around the ears. 

This is an interesting period in Bogart’s career, just a year away from his big breakout in Casablanca. He was already trying to get away from the cliched mobsters he had made a career out of playing in the 30’s so taking a role like this makes sense for him. However he struggles with making it a truly memorable performance that could have elevated him and this film above merely passable entertainment. He would soon find his footing and become the star he is now known for but he wasn’t quite there yet. In the end, The Wagon’s Roll at Night is an average film, forgettable to all but the die hard Bogart or Eddie Albert fans.

The Desperate Hours (1955) ***1/2

Release Date: October 5, 1955

Running Time: 113 minutes

Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Fredric March, Martha Scott, Dewey Martin, Mary Murphy, Richard Eyer, Robert Middleton

Directed by: William Wyler

Glenn Griffin and two thugs escape prison and take hostages in this taught crime drama late in the career of Humphrey Bogart. If the plot sounds familiar it’s because it’s very similar to that of 1936’s The Petrified Forest, a film that also featured Bogart as the lead criminal. The premise is the same yet these two films are very different in tone and style. In The Petrified Forest Bogart is playing to the back row as if he were on stage, a holdover from when he was on stage in that same role. Here he is more seasoned and much more competent. The film also doesn’t feel like several different films spliced together the way The Petrified Forrest does.

The plot is very simple. Dan Hilliard (Fredric March), his wife Ellie (Martha Scott), and their two children Cindy (Mary Murphy), and Ralphie (Richard Eyer) are the typical American family. Dan is the breadwinner while his wife takes care of the home. Mary is a teenager who had a straight laced steady boyfriend and Ralphie is the younger brother who is a bit mischievous but generally a good son. The only thing that puts them in the path of Glenn and his two fellow escaped cons, his brother Hal (Dewey Martin) and the demented Sam (Robert Middleton), is while driving through the neighborhood Glenn spots Ralphie’s bike in the yard and decides that a family with a young kid would be less likely to make trouble for them for fear of the child’s life. They take the family hostage, looking for a hideout while waiting for Glenn’s girlfriend to arrive with some money so that they can flee south of the border and out of the law’s reach.

What happens over the remainder of the film is tense and disturbing at times but it also has some logistical and logical flaws that seem hard to swallow. For instance, Glenn allows Cindy to leave on a date with her boyfriend ostensibly to avoid any suspicion. This seems much more risky than just having her tell the boyfriend anything to prevent him from coming over. It is played out over a phone call between the two where the boyfriend is too insistent to accept she won’t have him over that night but it plays false. Glenn could have easily taken another hostage should this happen minimizing any chance of Cindy losing composure and spilling the beans of her family’s predicament. Likewise Glenn allows Dan to go to work rather than have him call in sick. Sure, there is the threat of harm to his family if he goes to the police but this seems like too much of a gamble. 

But aside from these leaps of logic the film is taught and the tension is real, something that the earlier film The Petrified Forrest failed at. The film doesn’t hold back actually showing the criminals as indiscriminate killers, willing to kill an innocent passerby who happens to notice a strange car in the Hilliard’s garage. Only Hal comes across as sympathetic, first defending Cindy from the advances of Sam, then later realizing things between all of them were turning sour and knowing when to bail on his brother. His final outcome is tragic as he is the only one of the criminals we feel any real sympathy for. 

We also see the story from the police’s perspective as they narrow in on the escapees. We are treated occasionally to scenes involving the clues that help narrow down their search. It’s great in providing a ticking clock for the criminals as well as for the Hilliards. Director William Wyler was no newbie to cinema having helmed some of the greatest films of the era. He took what could have been a generic hostage film and imbued it with an overall sense of dread and realism that elevates it above many of its contemporaries. Still, he knew what type of movie he was making and didn’t try to reinvent the genre. It hits all the typical notes for this type of film and ends on a note that is no surprise to anyone.

But it doesn’t need to be. A film isn’t great simply by being surprising. All it needs to do is be great at what it is and this film is just that. It takes many familiar tropes and portrays them perfectly. There are a few stumbling blocks mentioned earlier but even though they seem a bit far fetched those scenes are still tensioned filled and a joy to watch. Bogart is great, chewing the scenery in a way only he could and he is surrounded by supporting actors and actresses who all nail their roles to perfection making his partners as well as the Hilliards well rounded characters. This really helps ratchet up the tension as we can identify with the family and dread what Glenn and Sam (not so much Hal) may do to them. It’s legitimately scary and disturbing at times lending a sense of realism that isn’t always found in this type of film.

They Drive By Night (1940) ***

Release Date: August 3, 1940

Running Time: 95 minutes

Starring: George Raft, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino

Directed by: Raoul Walsh

It’s difficult to imagine in retrospect a time when Humphrey Bogart was not top billed in a film he starred in. Sur there were plenty of pictures in the 30’s where he was just a bit player but by 1940 he was a known commodity and, while his true box office draw was still two years off, he was a star on the rise. It was during this time that he took a co-starring role alongside George Raft in They Drive by Night, taking second billing to Raft who was definitely the bigger star at the time. Many of Bogart’s later rolls would be passed on by Raft paving the way for Bogart to cement his position in Hollywood history. Films like Dead End and High Sierra were originally going to be Raft films but went to Bogart after Raft turned them down. These films made Bogart a star and George Raft’s popularity wane. But in 1940 Raft was the bigger star and commanded the majority of the screen time here.

They Drive by Night is an interesting film in many ways. For the time it was atypical for either actor seeing the two of them as truck-driving brothers Joe and Paul (Raft and Bogart) barely scraping by working for a businessman who doesn’t pay them regularly and is willing to let someone else take over their delivery when they bust a tire rather than advance them their pay to get it fixed. This eventually leads the two to go into business for themselves buying their own loads of produce so they can profit from the deliveries rather than just taking a cut. Just as things are looking up though Paul falls asleep at the wheel and crashes the truck leaving them without their vehicle and profits as the product was destroyed in the crash. Worse, Paul loses an arm in the wreck leaving him unable to drive anymore. This forces Joe to take a job working in a trucking business for Ed Carlen (Alan Hale) and his wife Lana (Ida Lupino), a woman who has her eyes on Joe. Meanwhile, Joe has met Cassie (Ann Sheridan) hitchhiking earlier and intends to make her his wife. 

There is a lot of plot for such a film. It threatens at times to bog down the overall narrative yet it never does. For a film that is primarily about the trucking industry and the drivers who struggle to make a living it never gets boring. The film is peppered with colorful characters to liven up most every ensemble scene. Just in the diner early on we get treated to some comedic performances as characters hit on the waitress, Cassie, play pinball endlessly, and throw out a loan shark, Farnsworth (an uncredited Charles Halton) looking to repossess Joe and Paul’s truck for missed payments. Cassie stands out above all of them with her brassy no nonsense attitude and quips, eventually quitting and catching a ride with the brothers because her boss kept trying to tie her apron strings when she had no apron on in the first place. 

The second half of the film takes a hard turn however as the tone shifts from good natured humor into film noir territory. While there is some suspense in the first half it is nothing compared to after Ida Lupino steps in. We see her early on in the film and know immediately she wants to be with Joe despite being married. The levels she is willing to sink to to make it happen however only become apparent later in the film when we get a better sense of her marriage to Ed. The film takes a dark turn late into it and it never really lightens up. This tonal shift is abrupt but manages to not derail the film thanks to the terrific performance by Ida Lupino who portrays her deep unhappiness well. Her complete breakdown later is a little over the top and is the only weakness to an otherwise spot on performance. 

Bogart is also great as Paul. He is married to a woman who would do anything to not be so lonely while Paul is on the road. She longs for children but Paul feels they are too poor to afford it. His accident seems like a miracle to her when it only depresses Paul who feels he can no longer work. The role is small, much smaller than that of his brother, but Bogart imbues it with wit and sarcasm and just enough personality to make it a three dimensional character.

Raft is a little less engaging although not by much. He gets the lion’s share of the film and the most character development yet he seems to be basically the same at the end of the film as he is at the beginning. He has screen charisma and gains some confidence in his abilities outside of driving trucks but that is about it. This is the type of role that doesn’t really take any effort to portray and is consequently less interesting. One wonders how much better the film would have been Raft and Bogart switched rolls. 

This is a tricky film to get all the elements right and make entertaining. Raoul almost nails it completely. Where he struggles is in the final act. The tonal shifts and an uneven performance by Lupino in the final few scenes make the last ten minutes uneven and a little awkward. Ultimately though it is a fine film that showcases an early Bogart performance that proves he could be more than just gangsters and thieves. For that and some truly fun performances by a fine supporting cast this film excels when it could have easily stumbled.

We’re No Angels (1955) ***1/2

 Release Date: July 7, 1955

Running Time: 106 minutes

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray, Peter Ustinov, Leo G. Carroll, Joan Bennett, Gloria Talbott

Directed by: Michael Curtiz

Devil’s Island, 1895. Three escaped convicts, Joseph (Humphrey Bogart), Jules (Peter Ustinov), and Albert (Aldo Ray) arrive looking for an opportunity for some easy money. Through a chance acquisition they arrive at a store run by the Ducotel family with patriarch Felix (Leo G. Caroll), the main shop runner who is in over his head, running the store into the ground through incompetence and an inability to pressure his few clientele into paying their outstanding bills. They immediately see an opportunity to con him out of money and supplies. While ostensibly repairing a leaky roof on the shop the three cons they overhear all the drama currently going on in the Ducotel household. Felix is indebted to his cousin Andre (Basil Rathbone) a wealthy businessman who owns the shop and will kick the family out if it isn’t turning a profit. Amelie (Joan Bennett) is the long suffering wife who worries about losing everything they have if this happens. The daughter Isabelle (Gloria Talbots) is in love with Andre’s son, Paul (John Baer) who may not be reciprocating that emotion. In fact, a letter arrived that very day stating that Paul was to be married to someone else to help further his father’s business interests. All of this is revealed rather amusingly to the three convicts as they watch like angels from above through an open window leading out to the roof.

We’re No Angels is a farce, a bit of a screwball comedy that plays out a little like a soap opera with a double shot of comedy to get it over the threadbare story. It get’s its inspiration from a French play La Cuisine Des Angels by Albert Husson which was Americanized as My Three Angels by Samuel and Bella Spewack and well it plays out as such, making use of minimal sets and being dialogue heavy it never really feels like a filmed play the way many filmed plays of the 40’s and 50’s did. Director Michael Curtiz was no director for hire having made such classics as The Adventures of Robin Hood and Casablanca knew how to shoot a film, even one as low key as this, and have it avoid the claustrophobia effect many filmed plays have.

So much of this film rides on the performances and every one of the main cast is stellar in it. Leo G. Caroll whom I mostly associate with in sci-if and governmental roles like Alexander Waverly in The Man From U.N.C.L.E is perfect here as the awkward and unsure of himself Felix, a man who can’t knuckle down and do what he knows is needed to be successful. Joan Bennet has a little less to work with as a character but she shines as the wife who knows what her husband is and doesn’t come down too hard on him. Gloria Talbott makes the most of what could have been a thankless roll but her bright optimism makes her a delight to watch.

But the real stars of the film are Bogart, Ustinov and Ray. These three have the unenviable task of making murders and thieves likable. There is little subtlety to any of their performances but we cannot help but fall in love with them. Aldo Ray is the ladies man who is romantic at heart. He drives much of the romantic plot between Isabelle and Paul. Bogart is the craggy one who deep down has a heart and wants to help out the Ducotel family when it won’t personally benefit himself, though he will continue the charade of planning to steal them blind long after he no longer plans to do so. Ustinov is the least developed of the three but his goofy Jules is at times the most relatable of the three.

The film was marketed as a Christmas comedy and while it does take place around Christmastime it is really more of a religious allegory. The three cons play out like guardian angels from above, hearing of a struggling family and descending from the heavens to make all things right. And when all that is accomplished they walk off into the distance with halos ablaze, content that their deed is done and it’s time to move on. It’s cheesy and corny and the story is virtually nonexistent but it is a sheer delight to watch. It doesn’t need plot twists and contrivance to keep  things interesting. It doesn’t need action and adventure. It doesn’t even need mystery or suspense. There could have easily been a subplot involving the police closing in on the three escapees. None of that really matters and thus is left out of the story and it is the better for it. The film ran over fifteen minutes longer than the typical comedy yet nothing feels unnecessary or a filler. It goes down easy and is just fun to watch so many seasoned veterans enjoying themselves on screen even as we enjoy watching them. That chemistry plays out on screen making this a highly recommendable film.

The Petrified Forest (1936) **1/2

 Release Date: February 6, 1936

Running Time: 82 minutes

Cast: Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Dick Foran

Directed By: Archie Mayo

Revisiting The Petrified Forest after having not seen it in years one thing becomes obvious. It is stilted and forced, coming across as scripted and unnatural more often than not. It was originally a Broadway play and it shows it constantly. The two lead males, Howard and Bogart, starred in the play before coming to the silver screen for this adaption and they play it like they are on stage acting for the back row. Bette Davis is a little better but she’s trapped in a role that is overwritten for what it is. Almost the entirety of the film takes place on one set giving it a claustrophobic feel that better directors than Archie Mayo would have found a way to overcome. As it is it doesn’t feel cinematic. 

The story is very basic. A handful of strangers stop by a last chance gas station at the Petrified forests in the Arizona desert. There is also word that a killer by the name of Duke Mantee (Humphrey Bogart) and several other criminals are on the loose in the area. Inevitably Duke shows up at the station and takes everyone hostage. Everything else in the story is strictly character build-up (Bogart’s Mantee doesn’t even make an appearance until well after the halfway point of the film). 

What’s so frustrating about The Petrified Forest is that most of the film is character moments and not much of it is all that interesting. Bette Davis plays Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple, a woman whose mother abandoned her and her father to return to her home in France after finding married life in Arizona unappealing. Gabrielle finds the idea fascinating and wishes to travel to France as well to study painting and drift through life without any romantic commitments. She is clearly damaged by her mother’s abandonment yet she looks up to this as a legitimate and envious way to live her own life.

Leslie Howard plays Alan Squier, a drifter whose eloquence hides for a time that he is homeless, penniless and adrift in life. He talks like a Harvard intellectual yet he doesn’t look down on the likes of Gabrielle, finding her fascinating and indulging her to go on about how much she is willing to sell of herself to get to France. We learn little about him which is a bit off-putting when coupled with intellectual facade. The two of them share a kiss but we get the sense that there is no real passion from either of them.

The third member of the triangle is ex-football player Boze (Dick Foran) who has his eyes of Gabrielle and doesn’t like it that she is spending time with Alan Squier. Boze is as one-dimensional as it gets. He is the quintessential muscle bound jock who is more concerned about his past glories than making any real attempts to appeal to Gabrielle. He also rankles whenever things are beyond his control, something that becomes more evident late into the film when Duke and his men show up.

On a more positive note, one true delight in this film is Charlie Grapewin as Gramp Maple. Gramp loves to reminisce about the past, especially if it involves gunplay and violence. He loves telling anyone who will listen about being shot at by Billy the Kid. When Duke shows up later and takes everyone hostage Gramps is having the time of his life being in the presence of the killer. His character breathes some fun into some of the slower moments.

Things don’t really pick up until nearly fifty minutes into the film. By then if it weren’t for the convenient radio broadcasts we would have completely forgotten there was a killer in the area at all. Gramps stated earlier that you can recognize a killer because they always hold their chin in and sure enough, when Duke makes his entrance his chin is held in and stays that way for most of the remaining time. But what should be a real jolt of excitement in an otherwise sleepy film really doesn’t go anywhere. There are a few exciting moments but they are sandwiched between a lot of sitting around and talking awkwardly, especially by Bogart who seems to be out of it for most of his scenes. It’s awkward, and even worse, unconvincing. That this film is touted as being the one that made him a star is nothing short of amazing.

There is more drama behind the scenes then there is in front of it. For instance when Warner Brothers optioned the play for filming they brought Leslie Howard with it. However they were less enamored with the relative unknown Bogart and wanted the more bankable Edward G. Robinson instead.  Howard refused to participate without his co-star. Edward G would get another opportunity to play this type of part a few years later in Key Largo and Bogart would also get a second stab at it in the far superior The Desperate Hours. Howard’s insistence on casting Bogart lead to a long and successful career for Humphrey which the actor never forgot. His daughter Leslie Howard Bogart was subsequently named after him. 

The Petrified Forest is not a bad film; far from it. It suffers from too much reliance on dialogue and the claustrophobia inheritance in filming in one location. It also has some really interesting performances that help bolster it. Bette Davis is naive and her motivations are a little unclear; she wishes to move to the French village her mother has moved to but speaks nothing of actually reconnecting with her. The fate of Alan Squier is telegraphed several times yet his motivations are not very clear. We know the whys but are not clear on what is driving this decision. It ultimately leads to an interesting if somewhat unsatisfying viewing experience.

The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938) ***

 Release Date: July 20, 1938

Running time: 87 minutes

Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Claire Trevor, Humphrey Bogart

Directed by: Anatole Litvak

Edward G. Robinson is known these days primarily for his roles as hoods and gangsters in such film classics as Little Caesar and Key Largo. Indeed he had been somewhat typecasted in these types of rolls to the point that of when not playing the part his performances generally fall into two categories; badly miscast (The Ten Commandments) or revolutionary in its unconventionality (Soylent Green). Even when he is good in a non-gangster roll, it is odd at times seeing him in them. Sure he did plenty of other types of rolls but modern revisionist history likes to paint him as the quintessential mobster. In The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, we get the best of both worlds.

Edward G plays Dr. Clitterhouse, a physician who has some theories about the physical and mental properties of criminals that make them criminals. He wishes to delve into those theories first hand, lacking any volunteers, so he begins burglarizing the homes of wealthy friends whenever he in invited for a gathering, studying his bodily reactions during these thefts. On his latest outing however several gangsters led by “Rocks” Valentine (Humphrey Bogart), a thug in the employ of Jo Keller (Clair Trevor), also try to steal the valuables. The disturbance is noticed and “Rocks” flees the scene leaving his partner behind to be subdued and accused of the theft Dr. Clitterhouse was responsible for. 

Through one of his patients, Police Inspector Lewis Lane (Donald Crisp), Dr. Clitterhouse learns that the biggest fence in the city is Joe Keller. When he tracks Keller down he is surprised to find out that Joe Keller is actually Jo Keller, a woman and head of a group of gangsters involved in more than just fencing stolen goods. They also dabble in breaking and entering, gambling and other illegal activities. Dr. Clitterhouse shows off the jewelry from the robbery “Rocks” had attempted, impressing Jo and her men. They are even more impressed when Lt. Johnson (Robert Homans) and his men show up and Dr. Clitterhouse stands up to the men citing laws and causing the boisterous man to back down. 

Jo agrees to allow Dr. Clitterhouse to plan out and lead various robberies, monitoring the blood pressure, temperatures and pulse rates of her men before, during and after the crimes. “Rocks”, however is not so dazzled by Dr. Clitterhouse and sets out to sabotage the doctor, using the situation to also get one up on Jo.

The tone of this film is whimsical, never veering far from the farcical aspects of the tongue and cheek story. Edward G is very much in on the joke playing his character with a bit of mischievousness and good humor. He never takes things too seriously, straddling the line between serious and silly in a way only he could. It is a delight to watch him having so much fun in this role. It helps that we really get to know the doctor. This is not a cardboard one-note character.

Unfortunately, Humphrey Bogart’s character “Rocks” is not as well defined. “Rocks” is about as generic as you can get. His character is there for no other reason than to move the story. It is serviceable at best and when he is eventually dispensed with it is anti-climatic and disappointing. It is no wonder Bogart considers this one of his least favorite roles.

The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse was originally a play yet it never feels like one. Director Anatole Litvak stages things more cinematically than an average filmed play. The film is talky at times but never to the point of it being a burden to watch. The film poster advertises it as “A thunderbolt of thrills and intrigue,” but this is a misnomer; it is a comedy through and through. The comedy helps this a lot making the light runtime breeze by even quicker. When it eventually reaches its conclusion, the absurdity of how it all wraps up works thanks to everything that proceeded it. The film is absurd and thus it makes sense that the finale would be equally absurd.

Knock On Any Door (1949) ***1/2

Release date: February 22, 1949

Running time: 100 minutes

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, John Derek, Allene Roberts

Directed by: Nicholas Ray

Based on the novel by Willard Motley, Knock On Any Door plays like a stage performance more than a film. It revels in moralizing and laying blame for criminals on the environment they were exposed to growing up. It professes to be a courtroom drama but very little of the film takes place in court and even less of those scenes really amount to much. It would be nearly impossible for me to discuss this film without getting into spoilers so I will not even attempt to do it. Be forewarned, the ending of the film will be discussed further into the review.

The story begins with the murder of a police officer. Known hoodlum Nick Romano (John Derek in his film debut) is picked up early on and pegged for the crime. A slew of evidence and witnesses is procured and it seems like Nick will get the fast track to the electric chair. But Nick maintains his innocents and lawyer Andrew Morton (Humphrey Bogart) agrees to take on the case in an attempt to save Nick from being railroaded into a guilty sentence unjustly. Andrew takes on the case knowing his superiors at his firm want nothing to do with it and threaten him that he will not make partner if he does. But Andrew has a long and troubled past with Nick and feels obligated to take the case, feeling that in the past he has failed Nick and this may be a way to redeem the both of them. 

As the trial begins Andrew starts out by painting a picture to the Jury of exactly who Nick Romano is. Thus begins a rather lengthy set of flashbacks that takes us on a journey from Nick’s run-ins with local bullies, turning him from a somewhat happy immigrant with potential to a criminal with a wicked temper. Nick is already headed down this street when he meets Emma (Allene Roberts), a shop clerk working with her Aunt who’s husband abandoned her and left her in poor health. Emma and Nick fall in love leading Nick to make several attempts to work rather than commit theft to get by. But with each attempt Nick allows his temper to interfere, costing him his jobs and he ultimately falls back into crime. We can see that he wants to do the right thing but he no longer has the temperament to make it happen. 

Andrew’s partner years earlier was responsible for botching the trial of Nick’s father. Andrew feels guilty for this, feeling he was too busy to have properly taken care of the family and, consequently, Nick. His wife, Adele, convinces him to try and mentor Nick and help him improve his life, his family, and his temperament. Things start looking up until Nick accidentally overhears Andrew discussing Nick with one of his friends and, in a fit of rage breaks things and steals $100 from Andrew. 

Later, in yet another attempt to set his life right, Nick takes another job but after dealing with a particularly rude supervisor he loses control and attacks the man, losing yet another job. In frustration he goes home to tell his wife he is giving up and going back to crime. Emma tells him she is pregnant which sets him off, even more determined to “Live Fast, Die Young, and Leave a good looking Corpse.” He leaves her in distress to rob a train station. When that goes awry he returns home to flee with his wife only to find that she has taken her own life.

Back in the present time Andrew succeeds to discredit witnesses who say they saw Nick at the scene of the crime. One of these witnesses even recents his sworn statement, saying that he was coerced by the police to say things that were completely false. Things are looking up for Nick until the prosecutor pushes Nick into a fit of rage, admitting to the murder. 

This film hinges on the performance of John Derek, a complete newcomer at the time. Fortunately he is up to the task and comes across an frighteningly believable. This could have easily been a one note performance but John displays a range of emotions from anger, frustration and contempt as well as tenderness and love for his wife. No part of this performance rings false.

In contrast, the established Bogart seems at times to be sleepwalking through his performance. It’s not terrible but it also isn’t inspiring. Bogart is playing to type and rarely strays from that. It doesn’t help that he is not given much to do as a character. He even is asked to provide some very clumsily added voice over work early on as he is sizing up the jury. These lines are bad and serve no real purpose as it attempts to familiarize us with the jury stereotypes that ultimately donKt even factor into the story.

The final moment of the film is a bit too on the nose. We see Nick as he is saying goodbye to Andrew and being led to the electric chair. Over this image the words The End are displayed telling us that this is not only the end of the film but the end of Nick’s tragic life. Subtle it is not but it also effectively gets the films moral across. 

Knock On Any Door is not a breezy feel good film. It has a message to convey without letting us draw our own conclusions. It knows what it wants to say and makes sure we know it, too. It is not subtle but it is engrossing, primarily thanks to a stellar performance by John Derek. This is a film that is is impossible to finish watching and then dismiss it right away. It is heart breaking watching the light slowly diminish out of Emma’s eyes as the honeymoon wears off and the realities of being married to Nick set in. Allene Robert is equally as good as the innocent Emma who gets swallowed up and lost. These two make up for much of the films weaknesses and make it well worth a watch.