O Crime não Compensa

It's fair to say, that life has left you somewhat scarred, growing up in poverty when times are hard, openings all but zero, just poor jobs that bring more sorrow, your only options leave you damaged, ruined, marred. But a lawyer chap has tried to help you out, given support, encouraged youth to grow and sprout, you've found a girl and settled down, past delinquencies outgrown, until that day when you're arrested, but there's doubt. In the courtroom you're examined, quizzed and grilled, after a copper was gunned down, brutally killed, your defence paints your life picture, how it couldn't be less richer, but under taunting, teasing, torment you're unskilled.

Humphey Bogart in his first movie for his own production company Santana. And introducing "pretty boy" John Derek. Bogart plays a sympathetic lawyer defending a juvenile delinquent(Derek)on trial for murder. Pretty average Film-Noir, but good enough to hold your interest. Courtroom scenes provide high drama and then comes the twist ending that really is not so surprising. Also in the cast are:George Macready, Allene Roberts and Mickey Knox. And then there is Dooley Wilson tickling the ivories.

Knock on Any Door was Humphrey Bogart's first film after leaving Warner Brothers. He and his Santana productions did a few for Columbia at that time.

It's a throwback film to the Thirties, a time it was seen that all cures to society's ills was a better social program. That's the message that attorney Bogart was driving home to the jury, that for a few better breaks his client John Derek would be a solid citizen.

Actually during the course of the film, what we see of John Derek's life showed he had some opportunities and blew them. It also did show that the family had some rotten luck. A mixed message to say the least.

The film shows Bogart as an attorney and his involvement over the years with young John Derek who was making his screen debut. Derek has been arrested for killing a policeman after a bar stickup and he turns to Bogart for help. The first part of the film is Bogart's opening remarks to the jury at the murder trial and we see in flashback, Derek's life and how it intertwined with Bogart's.

The second half was the trial itself and the aftermath. George MacReady as the District Attorney probably gave the best performance in the movie. Another reviewer described MacReady as evil. Granted he usually is in his roles, but here he's just one very effective prosecutor.

Yet Knock On Any Door, confused as it is, does still raise some relevant questions. The scenes in the reform school are still being shown today and had their not been Code restrictions might have been more graphic. I only have to cite the movie Sleepers from a few years back.

Bogart fans will like it and John Derek certainly merited the nickname "pretty boy."

A film for Bogart aficionados as this great actor once again oozes class as the tough but empathetic lawyer.

The film though doesn't hit the same mark. The script is fairly weak and dated. Similarly the plot is tenuous and as a movie it hangs together as a romantic drama to coming of age drama, to crime drama with noir touches to retrospective character study of a juvenile delinquent turned criminal and finally all under "courtroom drama". It tries to hard to be too many things and doesn't really do justice to any of them - only Bogart and McCready's performances save this movie from being destined to the "forgettable bin".

The pace and direction is generally good and though it was Nicholas Ray's second film, his cinematography and style (using noir tones and angles) is a clear forerunner of his classic noir films including In a Lonely Place (again with Bogart) and On Dangerous Ground.

And so to John Derek, he definitely had the pretty boy looks for the "Pretty Boy Romano" role but his acting is lame and isn't believable - no matter how much Bogart and McCready (who incidentally puts in a solid performance as the DA) try to drag him up to their standard.

All in all, a reasonably interesting and engaging watch despite the flaws. Had Ray cast a better actor than Derek (e.g. Clift, Garfield or Curtis) and developed a more robust plot and less cliched script, this could have been up there as yet another classic in the Bogart canon.

Humphrey Bogart's first film away from the controlled environment of Warner Brothers shows its technical flaws, particularly in the script which consists of scene after scene of relentless polemical exposition detailing the supposed evidence for why society has just as much a blame as the criminals living in the slums produced by them.

This is not a new message from the movies and after World War II, the intent to clean up the streets of America became much more of a signature statement for the left-leaning political crowd as a way to counter the focus on international affairs. Bogart and director Nicholas Ray were certainly huge figures in that movement but Bogie's first time as producer and Ray's second feature film leave much to be desired. Most of the performances are either too stiff or too exaggerated. Only Bogie manages to maintain a collected and understated performance despite his unnecessary preaching at the end. Perhaps no other actor in history portrays hard-edged cynicism better than Bogart, which makes it all the more surprising that his character remains this way for much of the film only to jump on society in the final scene.

Ray's direction is nothing too special as he was still feeling his way around a movie set. He does, however, exhibit some interesting and striking visual tricks, foreshadowing future films to come.