In my quest to see every movie and TV show that Charles Bronson ever appeared in, I finally decided to take on THE MOB this morning. I’ve held off for years because this early, uncredited role as a dockworker only gives Bronson a couple of lines. He looks like a natural fixture on the docks, but his screen time only adds up to a minute or two in total.
With Bronson being little more than some temporary dockside scenery, I settled in for a story about Johnny Damico (Broderick Crawford), a tough, no-nonsense cop who’s doing some rainy night ring-shopping for his girlfriend when a man is killed just outside the store. He bungles up the whole situation, and the killer gets away. It turns out the killing was a mob hit and soon Damico is going undercover as Tim Flynn from New Orleans so he can infiltrate and bust the organized crime ring operating on the waterfront.
Broderick Crawford is so good in this role. His Damico / Flynn has a cynical sense of humor that I enjoyed. He thinks fast, he’s rough around the edges, and he even gets to slap some bad guys around a time or two. He’s one of those characters whose mouth should probably get him in more trouble. Well, now that I think about it, his mouth does almost get him killed a couple of times. Crawford and Bronson would work again together a few years later in the prison film BIG HOUSE USA (1955).
With Crawford’s performance anchoring the movie, Director Robert Parrish delivers a tight, efficient and entertaining crime story that clocks in at just under an hour and a half. One of the things that made the film enjoyable for me is the interesting and recognizable supporting cast of actors who pop up throughout the film. I’ve already mentioned Bronson, but actors like Ernest Borgnine, Neville Brand and Frank DeKova all show up to torment our undercover cop at various points throughout the film. It’s always fun for me to see a cast full of familiar faces!
At the end of the day, I enjoyed THE MOB. It doesn’t try to be anything more than a good crime film, and with Broderick Crawford’s excellent performance, it does its job well.
Through the Shattered Lens 