If one didn't know better, it looks like this might have been a training film for future police detectives. How'd you like the way the cops planted a phony picture of Johnny Damico (Broderick Crawford) in the paper with a phony story to back it up? Or the wise guy banter Johnny used in his guise of Tim Flynn to ingratiate himself with big time gangsters? And what about rigging Smoothie's (Matt Crowley) car with the dripping liquid that glowed in the dark under a fluorescent lamp? Can you really do that? I thought it was pretty clever.I wasn't quite ready to give this movie credit as a film noir because there are really no sultry femme fatales to speak of, but in this case I don't think it matters. There are all kinds of shady characters prowling around with the likes of Ernest Borgnine, Neville Brand and Richard Kiley as part of the main event, and if you're sharp, you'll pick up on quick cameos by character actors Harry Lauter, Don Megowan and a still unknown Charles Bronson, a real treat for gangster film fans.The picture has it's share of neat twists, as in Richard Kiley's Clancy character turning out to be another undercover cop, and the dopey bartender Smoothie proving to be the mastermind criminal Blackie Clegg. Crawford makes the picture with his snappy dialog that's quick witted and off the cuff, and he's good with his fists when he has to be, and sometimes even when he doesn't. The ending comes off as a bit forced with the rooftop snipers waiting for bad guy Blackie, but the best has to be the way Clancy sets up Johnny for the closing scene. You'll just have to check it out for yourself.

This was a good film because (1) it was fairly fast-moving; (2) had some humorous and clever dialog; (3) was nicely photographed; (4) and had solid acting. It's tough to ask for a whole lot more.I'm surprised this film has never been issued on VHS or DVD, at least not to my knowledge. It has well-known actors: Broderick Crawford, Ernest Borgnine, Richard Kiley, Neville Brand and others.The beginning was very original. Our cop hero, "Johnny Damico" (Crawford) comes across a killing and stops a man in the pouring rain who is standing over a dead body. The upright man has a gun in his hand. Damico stops him, but the man pleads "Don't shoot; I'm a cop" and shows him his badge. "Okay," says Damico, and hands the man back his badge and gun. He then tells him to go over to the nearby drug store and phone this one in while he stays with the body. That's the last our man sees the "cop" who, it turns out, had a fake badge and really was the killer. Unfortunately, the good guy never really got much of a look on the bad guy, too.Damico, being spared walking the beat for the rest of his life or being demoted to kindergarten monitor - or just plain being kicked out of the force for his (understandable) mistake - is given the option of atoning by infiltrating the local longshoreman's union and getting the goods on the big mobster in town. That part is nothing new in films but it was interesting to see how Crawford talked his way deeper and deeper into the mob.Also, the characters in this film were colorful. The amount of wisecracks, insults and the like also added greatly to the enjoyment of this film. There were excellent film-noir-type lines in here.Yet, this movie had more of a straight drama or crime film than "noir." The only thing that was odd was when one of the "dames" in here told Crawford a couple of times how cute he was. Broderick Crawford "cute?" Now, there's a first!

**SPOILERS** Police detective Johnny Damico, Broderick Crawford, messes up big time when he lets a cop killer, as well as the murderer of a government whiteness, get away Scot-free when he conned Johnny into thinking that the cop killer was a cop himself.Facing the loss of his job among other things Johnny agrees to go undercover in the longshoreman's union to get the goods on who's responsible in the two murders, Police Let. Marie and government witness Ed Jensen, that he's now to put his life on the line for. The police give Johnny a phony criminal record as well as new face in the newspapers, his Uncle Hecliff, and name petty hoodlum Tim Flynn from New Orleans as he ends up at this flea bag hotel, the Royal, on the docks looking for Mr. Big for a job in his crooked dock union.It doesn't take long for Johnny to make a name for himself as he gets a real easy work assignment driving a forklift that has the previous driver Culio, Frank DeKova, not at all that happy with him. After laying Cuilo out after he tried to pull a hook on him Johnny is invited to see the big man who runs the dock Joe Castro, Earnest Borgnine, who has his doubts about Johnny's real intentions.Trying to set Johnny up on a murder rap Castro's henchman Gunner, Neville Brand, works him over taking his gun and then using it to knock off Culio making Johnny, who had a fight with him that afternoon, the prime suspect. It turns out that Johnny suckered both Castro and Gunner by having two different guns on him, one that Gunner missed when he frisked him, that saved Johnny from being charged in Culio's murder.As things now start to get hot for Johnny he now has to come up with Let. Marie's and Jensen's killer the omnipresent as well as faceless Mr. Big not Joe Castro who's only one of his stooges before his cover which isn't that convincing to begin with is blown. It just happens that one of Johnny's colleagues on the docks, whom he suspected of being Mr. Big, turned out to be government agent Tom Clancy, Richard Kiley, who's also undercover. This gives Johnny some breathing room to track down the very elusive Mr. Big before Mr. Big finds out just who he is.The big break in the case comes when Johnny gets in touch with the Royal Hotel bartender Smoothie, Matt Crowley, who turns out to be a real smooth operator as well as being Mr. Big's middle or in between man. Smootie tells Johnny that his boss, or boss of bosses, Mr. Big is willing to pay him $10,000.00 to knock off a cop who's been giving him and his boys major headaches over the last two weeks. It turn out that the cop that Mr. Big wants Johnny to knock off is Johnny himself!Exciting but not that all believable ending with Johnny finally getting to face Mr. Big who's, unknowingly to him, got Johnny's girlfriend nurse Mary Kierman, Betty Buehler, as a hostage. It turns out that Mr. Big found out that Mary is the girlfriend of the cop whom he wants to knock off, Johnny Damico, and can identify him. What Mr. Big doesn't know is that cop is standing right in front of him using the name Tim Fylnn and is anything but happy, to the point of putting a slug between his eyes, the way he's and his henchmen are treating Mary!

Broderick Crawford is terrific as a police detective going undercover as a longshoreman. The film begins with Mr. Crawford, while off-duty, investigating a shooting; when he arrives, he's told to watch the victim by another detective - only to be left holding the victim (so to speak). After his "error", he is assigned to undercover as longshoreman at a mob-infested dock, and locate dangerous mob boss "Blackie".On the docks, the film really takes off - the story gets very exciting, with hardly a misstep. The camera is a sharp match for the players and script. Note, Ernest Borgnine throws a swell party. Broderick says "Oh, please…" like he was born yesterday. "The Mob" has enough twists and turns to keep the interest brewing... to a tight ending. ******* The Mob (1951) Robert Parrish ~ Broderick Crawford, Richard Kiley, Ernest Borgnine