THE MOB is a fine little slice of film noir which stars Broderick Crawford in the best performance I've seen him give. He plays a cop who goes undercover as a dock worker to bring down a crime boss, uncovering murder and corruption along the way. Shades of ON THE WATERFRONT in the setting and photography, although this film predates that one. It's an enlivened little picture thanks to a cracking script full of great tough-guy dialogue and the like, and when you get a cast to make it work, it really works. Look out for a youthful Ernest Borgnine as a baddie and Neville Brand in his usual heavy performance. Despite his size, Crawford delivers an energetic turn and holds his own with the best of them, making this film above average for the genre.

Broderick Crawford plays a cop who goes undercover to infiltrate the mob. And to make them think he's "their kind of guy" he comes into town with a major attitude and a willingness to slug anyone who gets in his way. However, this is no routine assignment, as there are lots of dangerous twists and turns and repeatedly it appears he's about to buy the farm. I particularly loved the very tense and rather violent ending in the hospital---you just have to see it to understand.

This film has one of the most important ingredients of Film Noir down pat--it has one of the ugliest casts in film history!! True lovers of this gritty genre know that actors in such films can't be "pretty boys" but ugly and cold-blooded killers. That's why when I saw this film starred Broderick Crawford (king of the hard-drinking ugly actors),Ernest Borgnine and Neville Brand (the scariest looking thug in film history) I was thrilled to see it. Now this ISN'T meant as an insult--I am just stating a fact necessary for a good Noir film. Great Noir abounds with ugly mugs like Edmund O'Brien, John Ireland and John McGraw--though the cast in THE MOB is among the ugliest and therefore best in genre history. In addition to ugly and menacing men, the film also features realistic and gritty violence, tough dialog, lots of great shadows and camera angles as well as a taut script--and all are in THE MOB in spades. All the elements needed for exceptional Noir--so it certainly wasn't a surprise that I really enjoyed the film.

If you love Noir, you will love this film. If you don't, then watch this film anyways!! Then, try some other great Noir films like THE KILLERS, DOA, KISS OF DEATH and ASPHALT JUNGLE--then you, too, will most likely be hooked!!

After Broderick Crawford won his Oscar for All the King's Men, Columbia Pictures put him into a potboiler called Cargo to Capetown. AFter that he did the second role that is identified with him on screen in Born Yesterday. After that one, Harry Cohn once again gave him a potboiler noir about a police lieutenant going undercover to clean up the docks.

In the beginning of the film Crawford happens to be on the scene of a murder and when the actual killer flashes a badge at him, Crawford lets him go. Turns out the deceased was a key witness in a mob investigation.

Instead of hanging him out to dry with Internal Affairs which would be what really would happen as all devoted watchers of NYPD Blue know, Crawford is assigned to go undercover to ferret out the mysterious boss of the rackets plaguing the docks.

Call me picky, but I would think the last guy they would send undercover would be another material witness to a homicide. Yet that's what happens here.

The premise is so dumb, I can't give this film a higher rating. But in fact The Mob is blessed with an incredible cast of name players just starting out. Neville Brand, Richard Kiley, Ernest Borgnine, even an easily recognizable Charles Bronson who has only one line of dialog are all in this film. Fifteen years later this cast would have cost Columbia Pictures a small fortune and wouldn't be wasted on a black and white B film, souped up for Broderick Crawford.

If you're expecting On the Waterfront, don't be looking at this film.