La furia de los justos

This great film will come as a great shock to anyone who thinks of 1950s America in Leave It To Beaver terms, and that's a very good thing. An exaggerated but not misleading portrait of a hugely racist and sexist nation at its worst, with a feel-good conclusion that rings false in light of what we've just seen and generally know to be true about the US at the time. The performances are good for the most part, but the things these people say and do may give you the creeps. The scene in front of the city hall when the local white men are about to use nitro to blow up the front door is absolutely frightening. The 50s will never seem the same again, and that's a very good thing. This movie should be part of history courses.

Trial is an intelligently written look at the explosive issues of the 50s: race and communism. Though the film is hindered by its overly virulent anti-communist screenplay, it does try and deal with the intersection of race and justice in what was probably a very liberal manner in 1955. Trial is probably the first American film made with an African-American in an authority role (the always excellent Juano Hernandez as the trial judge). The film does take a wack at McCarthy (here 'disguised' as Congressman Battle) and also is openly critical of racists and nationalists. Even with the redbaiting--some of which is probably accurate--Trial is a very well made and brave film with one of Glenn Ford's best performances at its heart.

This is a very strange relic of the 1950s "Red Scare". While I do not dismiss this era as quickly as some (Stalin was evil and bent on domination and destruction, though Hollywood often sees the fear of communism during this era as unfounded), there were some unusual anti-communist films that are a bit preachy but very watchable--and important historically.

This film is about a defense attorney (Ford) who is being assisted by an organization that claims to be devoted to liberal ideas and free speech. However, over time, he sees them for what they are--opportunists who have NO interest in the young man on trial but are helping in order to undermine the American system.

Finally, I'd like to point out one performance that really stuck out in my mind. Juano Hernandez plays the judge. Considering he was a dark-skinned man of Hispanic descent, it was amazing to see him in a mainstream movie playing the part of a judge. His acting was excellent and it was wonderful to see a little bit of color injected into a Hollywood film of this era--this is no small feat.

Surprisingly, this movie is very entertaining. Some parts are unintentionally humorous, and it's not one of the all-time greats, but it is well worth watching. It's much more involving than most movies of its day.

A 50's movie which challenges extremism at many levels. Bigotry, police corruption, mob mentality and communist subversion all are taken to task in this movie. A young Hispanic boy is accused of murdering a young white girl. Glen Ford, a law academic with no practical experience takes the case to learn what it is like to handle a real case rather than one from a text book. He is an incredible teacher, but will he be as good in the real world.

Throughout the story see then towns people wanting to hang the boy, the subversion of a communist sympathizer who uses the young man and his mother to further his cause, corrupt police, real-estate hungry bigots and more.

Truth win out in the end. However, Fords character is challenged by the trial judge, brilliantly played by Juana Hernandez, and his own bigotry (Sydney Portier does the same to Ford in "The Blackboard Jungle".

Over all a good movie set in the cold war era. It is a film where consensus is fought for and truth prevails.