Main Cast: Humphrey Bogart, John Derek, George Macready, Allene Roberts, Susan Perry
Release Year: 1949
Country: US
Run Time: 100 minutes
Plot
Though Humphrey Bogart is the official star of Knock on Any Door, the film is essentially a showcase for Columbia's newest young male discovery John Derek. The first production of Bogart's Santana company, the film casts Bogart as attorney Andrew Morton. A product of the slums, Morton is persuaded to take the case of underprivileged teenager Nick Romano (Derek), who has been arrested on a murder charge. Through flashbacks, Morton demonstrates that Romano is more a victim of society than a natural-born killer. Though this defense strategy does not have the desired result on the jury thanks to the badgering of DA Kernan (George Macready), Morton does manage to arouse sympathy for the plight of those trapped by birth and circumstance in a dead-end existence. As Nick Romano, John Derek would never be better, nor would ever again play a character who struck so responsive a chord with the audience. Nick's oft-repeated credo--"Live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse"--became the clarion call for a generation of disenfranchised youth. Director Nicholas Ray would later expand on themes touched upon in Knock on a Any Door in his juvenile delinquent "chef d'oeuvre" Rebel without a Cause. Viewers are advised to watch for future TV personalities Cara Williams and Si Melton in uncredited minor roles. Knock on Any Door spawned a belated sequel in 1960, Let No Man Write My Epitaph. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Knock on Any Door undoubtedly was more powerful when it debuted in 1949, but this social message picture still packs a sizeable wallop today. Some viewers will feel that it is overly preachy and that it sometimes sacrifices dramatic niceties on the altar of social conscience. There's also a great deal of validity to this argument; still, there's enough passionate involvement on the part of Nicholas Ray that most will be willing to overlook the blatant manipulation and the textbook psychological and sociological approach that informs the film. Less easy to overlook is leading player John Derek. Undeniably handsome and possessed of a certain flair and presence, he also is only an adequate actor; while nothing that he does in Knock is ever wrong, he rarely surprises, and he lacks the sheer force of will that would make the character come truly alive. Fortunately, Ray knows how to direct around this defect, filling the screen with such power and atmosphere that it compensates for the mere adequacy of Derek's performance. Ray has no such problems with Humphrey Bogart, playing against type and coming off beautifully, or with George Macready, who knows just what buttons to push throughout. Knock is somewhat dated, but it's still engrossing and compelling. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Robert A. Peterson - Art Director, Henry S. Kesler - Associate Producer, Jean Louis - Costume Designer, Arthur S. Black, Jr. - First Assistant Director, Nicholas Ray - Director, Viola Lawrence - Editor, George Antheil - Composer (Music Score), Morris W. Stoloff - Musical Direction/Supervision, Clay Campbell - Makeup, Burnett Guffey - Cinematographer, Robert Lord - Producer, William Kiernan - Set Designer, Daniel Taradash - Screenwriter, John Monks, Jr. - Screenwriter, Willard Motley - Book Author
Against the wishes of his law partners, lawyer Andrew Morton (Bogart) takes the case of Nick Romano (Derek), a troubled young man from the slums, partly because he himself came from the same slums, and partly because he feels guilty for botching the criminal trial of Nick's father years earlier (he was innocent). Nick is on trial for viciously killing a policeman point-blank and faces execution if convicted (the event is shown in a dark opening scene, but the killer's face is not seen).
Morton's strategy in the courtroom is to argue that slums breed criminals and that the community is partly to blame for crimes committed by the people who are forced to live in such miserable conditions. Through flashbacks, Morton demonstrates that Romano is more a victim of society than a natural-born killer. Yet, Morton's strategy does not have the desired result on the jury thanks to the badgering of District Attorney Kernan (George Macready). Morton, however, does manage to arouse sympathy for the plight of those trapped by birth and circumstance in a dead-end existence.
Background
Producer Mark Hellinger purchased the rights to Knock on Any Door and Humphrey Bogart and Marlon Brando were to star in the production. However, after Hellinger died in late 1947, Robert Lord and Bogart formed a corporation to produce the film: Santana Productions, named after Bogart's private sailing yacht.[2]Jack Warner was reportedly furious at this, fearing that other stars would do the same and major studios would lose their power.
According to critic Hal Erickson, the often-repeated credo spoken by the character Nick Romano: "Live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse," would become the "clarion call for a generation of disenfranchised youth."[3]
Bosley Crowther, film critic for The New York Times, called the film "a pretentious social melodrama" and blasted the film message and the screenplay. He wrote, "Rubbish! The only shortcoming of society which this film proves is that it casually tolerates the pouring of such fraudulence onto the public mind. Not only are the justifications for the boy's delinquencies inept and superficial, as they are tossed off in the script, but the nature and aspect of the hoodlum are outrageously heroized."[4]
The staff at Variety magazine was more receptive of the film writing, "An eloquent document on juvenile delinquency, its cause and effect, has been fashioned from Knock on Any Door...Nicholas Ray's direction stresses the realism of the script taken from Willard Motley's novel of the same title, and gives the film a hard, taut pace that compels complete attention."[5]
^ Slide, Anthony. Lost Gay Novels: A Reference Guide to Fifty Works from the First Half of the Twentieth Century by , pages 135-136, 1st edition, 2003. Binghamton, NY: Harrington Park Press. ISBN 1-56023-413-X.
^Silver, Alain, and Elizabeth Ward, eds. Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style; film noir synopsis and analysis of Knock on Any Door by Blake Lucas and Alain Silver, page 162, 3rd edition, 1992. Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5.
