John Garfield stars in this movie about a lawyer working for the syndicate that desperately tries to save his stubborn brother from losing his entire business on a fixed numbers racket.
Thomas Gomez is Leo Morse who runs a small numbers racket in a large city. Joe is his crooked brother and both Garfield and Gomez play off of each other very well. Noir staple Marie Windsor is Edna Tucker, a typical bad girl that wants Joe, and he shows absolutely no interest.
At the time the film was made, these little numbers rackets actually existed and most of the people involved were not criminals anyway, but the money went to corrupt politicians, city officials, police and judges....much like today but only very different. Back in the day some politicians were honest, but in this day and age, none are.
Anyway, the movie is an excellent example of film noir and Garfield was one of the best actors for this kind of role. Director Abraham Polonsky was blacklisted after this film and didn't work again for over 20 years. Olive has turned out an excellent Blu-ray disc of this noir classic and I highly recommend it for any fan.
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