Le témoin doit être assassiné

This violent gangster thriller shows how fast pacing can succeed in building tension despite several implausibilities in plotting and characterization. Mickey Rooney shows he could play a thoroughly nasty individual, but his Joe Braun comes over as little more than a caricature. Several incidents strain credibility, not least when one man is seen going up in flames, and is presumably killed, only to emerge later wearing a few strips of sticking plaster but otherwise OK. Despite these faults, the film remains eminently watchable. Steve Cochran gives one of the better performances as the hero.

At five feet two inches, Mickey Rooney must have been Hollywood's smallest big operator. The words arrogant, deceitful and bigoted barely scratch the surface of this thoroughly odious character, immersed to the eyeballs in union corruption, underhand dealings and with a misguided view that anyone can be bought at the right price or, if necessary, with sufficient muscle, but not his!

He receives a mixed reception in addressing a blue collar meeting with a bumptious delivery of bad jokes and even worse puns, but his mood changes upon recognizing two individuals (Steve Cochran and Mel Torme), who could potentially identify him for his tawdry activities. In attempting to buy them off, Rooney encounters two insurmountable and previously alien obstacles: decency and integrity. Cochran, the diligent salt of the earth, family man, coolly dismisses him, whilst the more animated, vocal Torme sees red, (years before Zaz turned blue). Rooney's escalating exasperation with each must have driven his blood pressure off the scale, but at least the script writers offered some clemency, lightening his load, by allowing him to repeat the line, "I refuse to answer that question on the grounds of the Fifth Amendment" ad nauseam.

Kidnapping, torture, bullying picketts, the constant sense of threat, which results in Torme being burned on the same day he narrowly avoided being fired. This 'I'm Alright Jack' without the laughs turns surprisingly brutal, orchestrated by the mob heavy, safety in numbers clan, but curiously offset by an extravagant punch-up, rooted as much in comedy western as film noir.

Not exceptional, but a solid, grounded engaging statement on some of the salient issues of the time. Ultimately projecting an ethos of resisting violence and villainy every bit as pertinent today.

In 1959 the year The Big Operator came out the labor racketeering Senate hearings were occupying a lot of the televised news that year. Senator John F. Kennedy's presence got a lot of television exposure that year via the McClellan hearings into organized crime, not to mention his brother Robert F. Kennedy was the counsel for those hearings and first came into contact with Jimmy Hoffa.

Hoffa by all accounts was as nasty and pugnacious as Mickey Rooney as Little Joe Braun. And the Kennedy brothers would have told you he was as capable the deadly things he is as the head of a local of machinists here. Rooney's character is clearly based on Jimmy Hoffa. Hoffa was as short as Mickey Rooney in real life.

After constant badgering by committee counsel Peter Leeds as Rooney continually pleads the 5th amendment Rooney is tricked into saying he doesn't know contract killer Ray Danton who works for him. The only problem is that a couple of honest union members, Steve Cochran and Mel Torme saw the two of them outside Rooney's office. What to do?

What to do includes arson and kidnapping, setting Torme on fire and kidnapping Jay North who is Cochran's son. Not to mention beating up a blindfolded Cochran and telling him to lie before the committee if he wants to see his son alive again.

Mickey Rooney shows his considerable range as an actor in this film and it's nice to see Cochran as a good guy for a change. The film has one jarring note though all those who saw this in theater back in 1959 wouldn't agree. Mamie Van Doren gives a subdued performance as Cochran's wife and North's mother. But she's still the glamorous Mamie Van Doren, a poor man's Marilyn Monroe. Back when I was 12 when this came out I don't remember seeing any mothers who looked like that. No doubt she had everyone's hormones in a rage.

The Big Operator which also has a nice jazz score is a good snapshot of the times.

Rooney in his best dramatic role. Mickey is a crooked union boss who will stop at nothing to get his way. The nonstop action includes strong arm union goons beating Mel Torme, then setting him on fire and dumping him on Mamie Van Dorens tree lawn. Fortunately the fire is put out in time, enabling him to lead the police to the bad guys hideout. I won't give the ending away, except to say there's plenty of bagpipe music. Must see to believe!!!

Mickey Rooney is the corrupt, fast-talking, deal-making head of the Union, up against a congressional investigation. He takes the Fifth when answering every question. When union member Mel Torme gets torched in front of his home, pal Steve Cochran is ready to testify, but Rooney kidnaps his son, has his enforcers beat up Cochran, and tell him that if he recasts on the witness chair, he'll see his son again.

Charles Haas is in charge of this tough movie, and his actors are cast against type and perform beautifully. Not only is Rooney terrific, but Mamie van Doren is very good, Torme is terrific, and performers like Charles Chaplin Junior and Jackie Coogan - he's a corrupt lawyer - demonstrate that good actors are good actors.

The movie turns a bit conventional in the end, and Van Alexander's blaring jazz score sometimes obscures what's going on, but this is a tough movie.