Crime, Inc. (1945)

Nice effects though.

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Absolutely amazing

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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.

A gangster movie with a good supporting cast: Leonard, Beddoe, Atwill as a lawyer and the chairman of the mobsters' syndicate, G. Meeker. As for Carrillo, billed as the star of the movie, he looks like a perfidious, untrustworthy oldster, which was good for the role. The leading actress, nice but unskilled, seemed a Stanwyck wannabe. Neal is legendary, but I have never found him convincing or likable. Be it as it may, the role he makes here is passable.The acting highlight belongs to Leonard.The fact is they assembled quite a cast, partly by recycling veterans.The 2nd thing it's the exciting and eventful script it has: 'the invisible government', the organized crime, the syndicate, the rub-outs; one of PRC's best written movies, and one of their sensationalist dramas made in the '40s. Stultified audiences have been taught to despise them.By both look and story-line, it reminded me of '70s mafia movies made in Italy.This movie's reputation is unfair. Stylistically, unconsciously, it was way ahead of its time. The storytelling is very compelling. The reporter isn't idealized at all.For movie buffs endowed with a catholic sympathy, with catholicity of taste, for that elite of movie buffs, with the availability's of acknowledging good acting, and the awareness of its nature, and of wonders that enhance those offered by the stage, these fun-houses have the dimension of an acting fair.

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

I've seen a number of poor films from Poverty Row studio PRC Pictures, but this has to be one of their better efforts, an unusually involved gangster flick that pits bad guys against bad guys and a grand jury attempting to get the goods on a big time crime syndicate. Newspaper reporter Jim Riley (Tom Neal) gets unusually close to mobster Bugs Kelley (Danny Morton) by saving him from a rub out, only to hear of his eventual demise for refusing to join Crime, Inc. One of the more interesting casting decisions has to be that of Leo Carillo as Tony Marlowe, finger man for the mob, and diametrically opposed in character to the one he portrayed as the Cisco Kid's sidekick in all those Western films and TV shows. It was a bit surprising to see him pull off a serious role without going for one of those hysterical malapropisms, although he did place a five thousand dollar bet that turned out to be a contract hit on Bugs Kelley.With the film coming in at about seventy five minutes, the windup did seem to be just a bit too tidy, as all the elements fell into place to bring the members of the crime organization to justice. I think I'll need another viewing to make the connection with the crooked cop who leaked information to the criminals, as that seemed to blow by rather quickly. The romantic subplot between Riley and Kelley's sister Betty (Martha Tilton) didn't seem especially necessary for the story, but it didn't hurt either. Say, how was that for an impromptu wedding ceremony as the final curtain came down? I always found it helpful when watching the Charlie Chan films of the era to keep a scorecard to track the many characters who were introduced during the course of the story. The same applies here, as it's easy to get the good guys confused with the villains and vice versa. Like Lionel Atwill and Sheldon Leonard, you wind up marveling at their appearance in the story well before you figure out which side they're on!