Império dos Malvados

John Russell was in the rackets, working for his uncle, Luther Adler, and Claire Trevor was his girl. Army service in the Second World War changed him, and he wants to go straight and marry French girl Vera Ralston. But the mob is expanding its grip and they come to the small city where he, his wife and two children live. So is a U.S. Congressional hearing under the control of Senator Brian Donleavy, Russell's former commanding officer.

This is an ambitious movie for Republic Pictures and director Joseph Kane, about a thinly disguised Kefauver Commission, and mobsters like Forrest Tucker. Although it has the violence of an exploitation picture, it's more in the lines of an expose film. It's also edited with frequent flashbacks that makes the story tough to follow at times, and despite the Italian names of the mobsters, the actors are anything but Italian in appearance or behavior. Even so, it's an honest effort, a lot like the 'small guy fights the crooks' movies that the independents turned out in the 1930s, but with superior production values and actors.

I do not know enough about Joseph Kane, other than he served the Republic Studios for much of his career and directed countless Roy Rogers and Gene Autry Westerns, all of them support features in the 1930s and 1940s.

In HOODLUM EMPIRE, he uses flashbacks and a number of characters to tell the tale of Joe Grey, believably played by the towering John Russell, a former criminal who serves in the US Army in Europe and in the process makes friends of his unit's men, including Brian Donlevy, who plays an untypically good man in the role of Senator Bill Stephens, a crusader against all kinds of illegal trade, right down to slot machines.

Luther Adler steals the show as Nick Nancani, the hoodlum placing those slot machines in all restaurants and clubs in town - Central City, no less - under the name of... Joe Grey, who has decided to cut ties with crime and refuses to have one-armed bandits in his restaurant.

Claire Trevor also does well as the not too pure damsel in love with Grey, as does Vera Ralston as Grey's much purer French wife (her US English accent miraculously unscathed), and together with Rev Simon Andrews (righteously played by Grant Withers) they rescue Grey from the slot machine trap set by Uncle Nancani, to make it look like he had no part in his own shady business empire.

Truth to tell, the script suffers from some unevenness, and the flashbacks do not dovetail credibly, but HOODLUM EMPIRE nonetheless deserves watching. The B&W cinematography is good enough to belie the meager budget. 7/10.

Loosely based on the Kefauver hearings investigating organized crime, Hoodlum Empire has a good cast that includes Brian Donlevy, Claire Trevor, Forrest Tucker, John Russell, and Luther Adler. Directed by Joseph Kane. Because it was produced by Herbert Yates at Republic, his wife, Vera Hruba Ralston has a role.

The committee, led by Senator Stevens (Donlevy) has served subpoenas on members of an organization run by Nick Mancani (Adler). They cannot at the moment find Mancani to serve him, but they do subpoena Charley Pignatalli (Tucker) and Joe Gray (Russell).

Stephens and Gray have a history as they served together in World War II. At the time, Joe was a racketeer and in love with Connie Williams (Trevor).

However, Joe meets Marte (Ralston) in France and decides to go straight. He breaks up with Connie, who then becomes involved with Nick, though she never stopped loving Joe. Joe promises Mancani he will never expose him or aspects of his business.

Joe and Marte marry and have two children. Joe becomes a legitimate businessman. What he doesn't know is that Mancani has set Joe up, putting his name on several rackets.

Senator Stevens doesn't believe Joe when he claims to have been framed. The Army Chaplin, Father Simon Andrews (Grant Withers) knows the truth and wants it to be told. Meanwhile, the Mancani group is nervous that Joe will tell what he knows.

Fine performances, but there is nothing exceptional about this film. It has way too many flashbacks. For Republic, this is an ambitious production.

Good but not great.

OK, this ain't The Godfather, and the budget for this film proves that beyond a doubt. However, despite its low production values, the actors give it their best shot, and the storyline is interesting for two reasons. One is the war connection; war connections can be very strong. The second reason it is interesting is because these people have known each other since childhood; those connections can be very strong as well.

When i was 18, I had to choose being in a straight job for less money, or joining a few of my good friends who were in the illegitimate gambling business. I chose the straight job; more because I feared what my mother would have thought, than anything else.

Joe Gray comes to the same crossroads after he gets out of the Army. He chooses to go straight. But sometimes, it is harder to go straight than one might imagine.

There are good performances all around in this one; and it is a nice, watchable crime film. There is a wordy, overwrought committee member, but other than him, the rest is fine.

Hoodlum empire is a considerably better film than the other reviews here would have you believe. I have just watched it courtesy of an olive films blu ray and I must say I enjoyed it. It's quite a low budget film but it has some great moments. John Russell is the main character and I must admit it's the first film I've seen that he has such a big part, he's a little wooden for sure but he's not too bad in this film. The plot tells he story of a gangster who during ww2 changes into a decent person and wants to start afresh but legit. But the mob try everything to pull him back. Underrated film I think that deserves Wider appraisal.