Murder, Inc. (1960)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Memorable, crazy movie

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Film editor Ralph Rosenblum is obviously a disciple of Sergei Eisenstein. Certainly, Eisenstein's method of montage is very appropriately applied here – as is Gayne Rescher's bleak black-and-white CinemaScope photography. This documentary was actually based on the autobiography by Burton Turkus (played by Henry Morgan in the movie). Alas, the direction by Burt Balaban and Stuart Rosenberg is often over-reverential towards its original material. In fact, the movie is so weighed down with talk that the pace often slows to the speed of a snail. Fortunately, some persuasive acting is contributed by David J. Stewart and his glum henchman, Joseph Bernard. I also enjoyed Morey Amsterdam's bit. The film also supposedly "introduces" Sarah Vaughan who actually made her movie debut back in 1951 in "Disc Jockey". She sings a couple of songs. One actor we could do without, however, is Stuart Whitman whose performance is not only unconvincing but painfully tedious. May Britt's acting also disappoints, but at least she is easy on the eyes! As for Frank DeVol's music score this also is well below his usual high standard.

Real life New York gangsters who specialize in murder are portrayed here, even as the DA and his minions try to get the goods on them.Solid gangster film, thanks mainly to Falk's breakthrough performance. Hollywood of the late 50's and early 60's was enamored with movies and TV based on real life bad guys, as they are here. I expect the big success of The Untouchables (1959-1963) and Capone (1959) contributed greatly to the trend. Anyhow, it's a mostly no-name cast, giving things a less Hollywood look. Plus the photography is about as dour as visuals get. But then things shouldn't be prettified, given the grim subject matter. Okay, that's true except for the blonde knockout May Britt, who never quite made a movie career, but sure looks good here (mostly).Oddly, there's no noisy shooting with machine guns splattering windows as was common for big time crime films. Instead, guys get dispatched quickly and efficiently, befitting a corporate approach to murder by contract. Note that no one in the film is particularly likable. We may sympathize with Joey and Eadie (Whitman&Britt), but that's about it. Falk as professional killer Abe Reles is scary and convincing as all-get-out. Besides, his short, chunky frame looks nothing like Hollywood. Over the years, there's been a lot of speculation about Reles flying out of an upper story hotel after turning songbird for the cops. Whether, a cop on mob payroll did it or not, it's pretty clear somebody on the force was in on it, considering how heavily Reles was guarded. Anyhow, it's a solid tough guy movie, with a performance by Falk that brought him to the attention of all Hollywood.

A young married couple in 1930s New York becomes dangerously involved with the mob. It gets off to an interesting start, but the script is unfocused, with the narrative rambling all over the place and going on much too long. The presentation is gritty but rather sloppy. Although it does not start with a narrator, one awkwardly pops up about a third of the way through and sporadically thereafter. Whitman is bland. Britt is blond. The only reason for watching is the impressive debut performance of Falk as a vicious hit-man for the mob. This is also the feature film debut of director Rosenberg, who achieved his greatest success with "Cool Hand Luke" a few years later.

10 years before Peter Falk racked up a trunk-load of Emmy's and many more nominations for his his work as Columbo, he had two roles that would stand out in the film world. One was Pocketful of Miracles in 1961, and the other was this film the year before.His performance as the contract killer Abe 'Kid Twist' Reles is the best thing about the true-life mob story. While most of the other characters just seem to float through the movie, he was intense ans you could see the promise that would lie ahead for him.Stuart Whitman, who would get his only Oscar nomination a year later, was also good as Joey, who got caught up in the rackets. May Britt, who would leave the movies to marry Sammy Davis, Jr., was also very good as Joey's wife.The movie seems more like a documentary when it is not focused on these three characters. As an added bonus, you get to see the legendary Sarah Vaughan in the movie.