Themes: Social Injustice, Fighting the System, Labor Unions
Main Cast: Gia Scala, Lee J. Cobb, Kerwin Mathews, Richard Boone, Valerie French, Robert Loggia
Release Year: 1957
Country: US
Run Time: 88 minutes
Plot
Vincent Sherman replaced an uncredited Robert Aldrich as director of this noirish and atypically pro-union film from the 1950's. Tulio Renata (Robert Loggia), an organizer for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, campaigns to unionize the employees of dress factory owner Walter Mitchell (Lee J. Cobb). Viscerally opposed to the union, Mitchell has hired Artie Ravidge (Richard Boone) to thwart Renata's efforts. In a complex oedipal sub-plot, Walter's son Alan (Kerwin Matthews) returns home and joins the firm following the suspicious death of his father's partner. Alan is more sympathetic to the union and attempts to persuade his father to sign a contract. Only after Ravidge kills Renata, and the elder Mitchell finally admits to himself that Ravidge is a thug who also killed his partner, does he agree to negotiate with the union. Before he can do so, however, he, too, is murdered by Ravidge's goons. It is then left to Alan, increasingly involved with Renata's widow Theresa (Gia Scala), to run the business, bring Ravidge to justice, and settle with the union. Similar to Herbert Biberman's Salt of the Earth (1954) in its overt support of the labor movement, The Garment Jungle is clearly a liberal, not a radical, film. Rather than advocate class warfare, it asserts that honest unions and decent capitalists can work together honorably. The film's real fire is found in the personal conflicts between Tulio and Theresa and Walter and Alan. Cobb, Loggia, and Scala perform with intense and multi-dimensional passion. Particularly noteworthy is Theresa's fury at her husband for taking excessive, and ultimately fatal, risks. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide
Review
Something of an answer to the superior On the Waterfront, the attitudes expressed in The Garment Jungle may seem a bit foreign to many modern audiences, but at the time of its release, it would have been hard-hitting and relevant. What keeps Jungle from achieving the fame of Waterfront, however, is that its earnest Harry Kleiner screenplay lacks sufficient depth to satisfy as a straight-ahead drama, yet doesn't capture quite the right attitude to satisfy as a prime film noir. Certainly Jungle's look is appropriately noir-ish, with expressionistic angles and lighting that add a disturbing undercurrent to the scenes. Perhaps if Robert Aldrich had been allowed to stay on and finish the film he started (and most of which he directed), the result might have been more consistent than it turned out with Vincent Sherman stepping in. Certainly the fault does not lie with the fine cast -- with the glaring exception of the youthful Kerwin Mathews, who is simply too lightweight and out of his league in this crucial role. No such complaints can be lodged against Lee J. Cobb, who turns in another of his powerful, gripping performances, or against Richard Boone, who makes his thug into every decent man's nightmare. Kudos are also due Robert Loggia and Gia Scala as the husband-and-wife labor duo, who really breathe fire and life into their roles. The Garment Jungle ultimately misses much more than it hits, but these cast members hit consistently. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Joseph Wiseman - Tony; Harold J. Stone - Tony; Adam Williams - "Ox"; Wesley Addy - Mr. Paul; Willis B. Bouchey - Dave Bronson; Robert Ellenstein - Fred Kenner; Celia Lovsky - Tulio's mother; Suzanne Alexander - Joanne; Archie Savage - Elevator Operator; Anna Lee Carroll; Dick Crockett - Miller; Lillian Culver - Buyer; Diane DeLaire - Head Seamstress; Kenneth Gibson - Buyer; Marilyn Hanold; Bob Hopkins - Bartender; Betsy Jones-Moreland - Secretary; Ellie Kent - Stephanie; Donald Kirke; Frank Marlowe - Onlooker; Kathryn Marlowe; Sid Melton - Male Operator; Laurie Mitchell; Peggy O'Connor; Gloria Pall - Fitting Model; Gia Scala - Theresa Renata; Irene Seidner - Old Lady Operator; Jon Shepodd - Alredi; Dale Van Sickel - Helper; Paul Weber; Joan Granville - Girl Operator; George Robotham - Truck Driver; Paul Power - Salesman; Hal Taggart; Shirley Buchanan - Announcer; Jean Lewis - Receptionist
Credit
Robert A. Peterson - Art Director, Jean Louis - Costume Designer, Vincent Sherman - Director, William Lyon - Editor, Leith Stevens - Composer (Music Score), Clay Campbell - Makeup, Joseph Biroc - Cinematographer, Harry Kleiner - Producer, William Kiernan - Set Designer, Frank A. Tuttle - Set Designer, Harry Kleiner - Screen Story, Harry Kleiner - Screenwriter, Lester Velie - Book Author
