Crime, Inc.

I recently got this film from a good source and was worth the money. It was great to see Sheldon Leonard as the mouthy cop. Tom Neal one of my favorites as the go get 'em reporter. Leo Carillo is debonair as boss man "Tony" and of course Atwill as the man who "calls for the kill" This is worth a sit down to look at. It even has agreat uncredited bunch of actors among them Syd Saylor (remember him?), Earl Hodgins and I. Stanford Jolley. Those guys were in everything! I'm sure if you check it out you will love what you see!!! A B-Movie must see!!

The director Lew Landers was a prolific film maker during the thirties, forties, fifties.... Hundreds of them, as Sam Newfield, Edward L Cahn, William Nigh.... It was difficult to find a movie to emerge from the mass of yarns. This one is a good time waster, enjoyable but so forgettable. Good directing but a predictable and lame story. Nothing really gritty, as it could have been. There were hundreds of them during those years, nearly one decade before the TV industry wave which will transform this kind of stuff thru episodes frame. Lew Landers was a good technician, a good yes man for the producers. A director without any trademark.

Jim Riley is a columnist who writes his daily Crime Reporter column discussing the moves and killings of noted racketeers. Riley gets much of his information from gangster Bugs Kelly, a friend, who is trying to leave the underworld and its business organization Crime, Inc. by testifying at a grand jury hearing on the organization. The heads of Crime, Inc. learn of Bugs' motives and put a hit out on him eventually nailing him at a carnival. Riley, now under investigation since Bugs was a close confidant of his, decides to turn states' evidence and appear before the grand jury. Crime, Inc. plans to be a bit more sadistic with the rubbing out of Riley by using Riley's sweetheart (and Bugs' sister) nightclub singer Betty Van Cleeve. Average and interesting poverty row gangster film with a good story and plot that does have some interesting twists. The ending does not seem to deliver the explosiveness promised from the earlier parts of the film but the crime does not pay mantra does take effect. Actors are decent here (surprised to see Carillo play a non-Hispanic speaking role here) but nothing special. Rating, 5.

Crime, Inc. is one of those films that had it been done at a major studio it might have been a classic. It bears some resemblance to the MGM classic The Secret Six that starred Clark Gable, Wallace Beery, and Jean Harlow a decade and a half earlier.

It also borrows a bit from Sherlock Holmes in that there is a thesis that crime is a tightly controlled business and there's a Moriarty like head of it in this city. When the identity of this particular Moriarty is revealed we can understand why the police have been powerless to crush the crime syndicate.

The stars of this PRC film are Tom Neal as a crime reporter, Martha Tilton as a nightclub singer, and Danny Morton who is an independent operator and won't join the crime syndicate. Tilton is his sister and Morton's been a confidential source for Neal.

A nice group of character players are in this one and they make it worth a look, people like Harry Shannon, Grant Mitchell, Sheldon Leonard, Don Beddoe, and Leo Carrillo. Most interesting is Lionel Atwill as a mob attorney, offbeat casting for him, but it works.

But pedestrian direction and a script with enough holes in it to look like it was used for target practice consign Crime, Inc. to a mediocre fate.

When two mobsters are gunned down in a big city cafe, "Daily News" crime reporter Tom Neal (as James "Jim" Riley) decides to investigate. He is correct in seeking out handsome pal Danny Morton (as Mike Egan) about the shooting. For some unexplained reason, Mr. Morton's mob inclinations don't seem fully known to Mr. Neal, although Morton screams RACKETEER and goes by the name "Bugs Kelley" while posing as a life insurance agent. He should be a dead giveaway.

More bodies drop as gangster Leo Carrillo (as Anthony "Tony" Marlow) and celebrated criminal lawyer Lionel Atwill (as Pat Coyle) man their battle stations. Meanwhile, protagonist Mr. Neal becomes aroused by the debonair Morton's beautiful singing sister Martha Tilton (as Betty). Ms. Tilton uses the name "Betty Van Cleve" professionally, apparently to further emphasize her cleavage. Morton tells Neal, "She's sweet and over 21," to give his blessing. "Crime, Inc." is hard to fathom.

*** Crime, Inc. (4/15/45) Lew Landers ~ Tom Neal, Martha Tilton, Leo Carrillo, Danny Morton