The Enforcer (1951) on Netflix
Assistant District Attorney Martin Ferguson has built a case against the elusive gangster Albert Mendoza. Mendoza's lieutenant Joe Rico is set to testify, and attempts on his life have begun.
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Trailer
Plot summary
The case against the elusive gangster Albert Mendoza has taken Assistant District Attorney Martin Ferguson years to build. His strongest witness is Mendoza's top lieutenant, Joe Rico, who arrives at the courthouse late at night under heavy police guard, ready to testify against his boss after several attempts on his life. Ferguson points out that Rico faces charges of his own unless he agrees to testify. Without Rico's evidence, Mendoza will be acquitted. The gang's work went through hired killers who were paid by someone else and had no motive of their own, so the police had no reason to suspect them, while the person who ordered the killing had an alibi. Only Rico can identify the man at the top.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Enforcer (1951)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Director Bretaigne Windust fell seriously ill at the start of shooting The Enforcer, so Raoul Walsh was recruited to finish the film. Walsh refused to take the credit, calling it Windust's work.
- The Joe Rico character may have been inspired by Abe Reles, who was found dead after falling from the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island on November 12, 1941, under heavy police guard and just before he was to testify against a major crime lord. It was never established whether his death was murder, accident or suicide.
- The Enforcer was Humphrey Bogart's last film for Warner Bros. Pictures, the studio that had made him a star, although Warner Bros. was only the distributor; United States Pictures produced it.
- The film draws on the real investigation into the hired-killer ring the press called Murder, Inc. During that investigation and the Kefauver hearings, terms such as "contract" and "hit" first entered the public knowledge.
- The prosecutor Martin Ferguson is based on Burton Turkus, who led the prosecutions of several members of the Murder, Inc. gang. Turkus's book on the case was published at about the same time the film was released.
