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Murder, Inc.

1960, Movie, NR, 103 mins

Murder, Inc.: Review

MURDER, INC.
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Based on the real and monstrous group of hired killers operating in New York during the 1930s, this film pulls no punches in depicting the brutality of Murder, Inc. Falk is shockingly effective as the thoroughly immoral hoodlum and hired murderer Abe "Kid Twist" Reles. Whitman and his sexy blonde wife, Britt, form a mindless subplot romance which serves, if nothing more, to soften a story that continually assails sensibilities. Morgan plays the crusading DA, Turkus--who, in real life, doggedly investigated the killer-for-hire company and successfully prosecuted its members, not the least of whom was Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, coolly played by Stewart. Whitman is sucked into gang activities until he is Falk's pawn, with Falk eventually raping Britt and threatening both of them with death if they betray Murder, Inc. Falk compels the couple to take Stewart in when the crime czar is on the run. Then Stewart is tricked by his own men into believing that they have "fixed it" so that Stewart will get a light sentence for his racketeering and murders. He turns himself in and not only gets 30 years, but is later convicted and executed with two henchmen, thanks to the efforts of Morgan and dedicated cop Oakland. Falk, who turns state's witness, is shown being thrown out of a window of the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island. (Reles' unsolved death on November 12, 1941, is still being debated to this day; his bevy of police guards were all suddenly sleeping or out of the room when the mass killer went out the window to his death.) In the end the killers are rounded up, but only Whitman--who also turns state's witness--survives to wreak vengeance on the mob. The direction here is brisk and grimly realistic but the script is rather routine. Falk (nominated for Best Supporting Actor), Stewart, and Oakland make all the difference. The story of this murder mob was profiled better in THE ENFORCER (1951), with Humphrey Bogart playing the role of the fighting district attorney and Everett Sloane profiling Lepke. Tony Curtis later essayed the mob czar in LEPKE, an inferior production. leave a comment
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