The Enforcer

The Enforcer (1951)

Timing: 1:27 (87 min)

7.077/10
91

7.478/10
1036

7.2/10
6100

All about film

Video 2

Photo 4

Actors and characters

Release date

1951-02-24

Country

United States

Production

United States Pictures

Genre

Drama, Thriller

Budget

$1 109 000

Revenue

$2 873 000

Website

Director

Bretaigne Windust

Actors

Humphrey Bogart, Zero Mostel, Ted de Corsia, Everett Sloane, Roy Roberts, Michael Tolan, King Donovan, Bob Steele, Adelaide Klein, Don Beddoe
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Milton Sperling

Operator

Robert Burks

Composer

David Buttolph

Artist

Audition

Editing

Fred Allen
All team (13)

• This film was the only noir in Windust's career. During filming, he became seriously ill, and Walsh finished the film in his place. However, Walsh refused to include his name in the credits, calling the film Windust's work.
• Although the events depicted in the film are largely fictional, the film as a whole is based on the actual investigation of a group of hitmen dubbed the 'Murder, Inc.' by the press. It was during this investigation in 1940 and subsequent hearings before a special US Senate committee in 1950 that terms like 'contract' (a murder order) and 'hit' (the act of murder itself) first became known to the public. Gangsters used these code words to prevent police from discovering their plans in case of wiretapping.
• The prototype for Martin Ferguson was Burton Turkus, an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn who prosecuted several members of Murder, Inc. His book on the subject was released concurrently with the film.
• The character of Joe Rico was likely inspired by the real-life gangster Abe Reles. Like Rico, Reles was an influential figure in Murder, Inc. and was scheduled to testify in court against his criminal boss, but was found dead after falling from a hotel window on November 12, 1941. It was never conclusively determined whether his death was a murder or a suicide.