Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

GrimPrecise I'll tell you why so serious

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Helllins It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Ed-Shullivan I was mostly disappointed in Humphrey Bogart's performance as lawyer Andrew Morton who was too busy to defend and take care of a storekeepers assault charge while his little store was in the process of being robbed. The result being another lawyer from his firm who was unprepared to fight the case sent this poor innocent immigrant Italian storekeeper to the hoosegow where he unexpectedly dies of a heart attack and leaves his family without a father. The now fatherless son named Nick Romano played by John Derek is lost without his father's financial and parental support and guidance and ends up running with the wrong crowd in a desperate means to make some quick money by robbing storefronts and mugging innocent working stiffs. As the boy Nick Romano grows into a young man and learns his thieving trade in the school of hard "knocks" he runs into lawyer Andrew Morton who is burdened with a guilty conscience for the avoidable death of Nick's father while wrongfully in prison. So lawyer Andrew Morton attempts to keep an eye on the troubled youth Nick Romano but to no avail as Nick is eventually charged with the murder of an on duty police officer in Nicks neighborhood.The story of how Nick Romano found himself on trial for the murder of a police officer is told rather boorishly through Andrew Morton's interpretation to twelve (12) jurors. Typically in movie scenes that involve a prosecuting and defense attorney(s) there is a heated exchange while the accused is on the stand. In this case though the endless barrage of questions that the prosecutor district attorney Kerman played by George Macready throws at the befuddled accused Nick Romano is so choreographed that I thought I was witnessing a high school debate and not a murder trial.It was difficult to continue watching what seemed to be an ill prepared cast to handle a court room drama such that my mind kept wandering off as the film was unable to hold this viewers attention. Even Humphrey Bogart could not save this poorly delivered cookie cutter court room drama picture so the film title in my view would suggest that the vendors should please pass by my door as this dog bites with his honest review.p.s. Bogie's best picture in my view was (1951) The African Queen with co-star Katharine Hepburn and this is a must see if you want to see Bogart at his very best. Please read my full review on The African Queen dated August 04th, 2016

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . This question from sociopath Nick "Pretty Boy" Romano is the crux of KNOCK ON ANY DOOR. If you paraphrase what Nick's defense lawyer, "Andrew Morton" (Humphrey Bogart) says to the judge before Nick is sentenced to fry on an upcoming "Fri-day" (you can't make this stuff up!), it sounds like this: America's treatment of Her sociopaths is inhumane. Nick says several times that all he really wants to do is to "die young, and leave a pretty corpse." Anyone familiar with the Ethel Rosenberg case knows that electrocution frequently turns the victim into smoldering meat, which is not only NOT pretty, but not very appetizing, either. KNOCK ON ANY DOOR makes it clear that Nick has very little fun terrorizing all the local business and automobile owners with his constant armed thefts. Driving his wife to suicide is very hard on him. Killing his first cop gives Nick the jitters. Therefore, counselor Morton demands that all high school dropouts and first-time felons be tested while they're youths (still "pretty," and Un-fried) to see if they're sociopaths. If they are, Society owes it to them to provide a fatal overdose of something that will allow them to rest easy, "die young, and leave a pretty corpse" WITHOUT going through the trauma of leading a life of crime, followed by 20 years on Death Row, and public burning in the electric chair (or whatever the flavor of the month is on Death Row). After all, as Nick says here, they "didn't ask to get born."

Martin Teller As in THEY LIVE BY NIGHT and later REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, Nicholas Ray explores the life of a troubled youth, driven by fate and circumstance to exist outside societal rules. In this case, John Derek is a fella from the slums, being defended by attorney Humphrey Bogart for the murder of a policeman. The film uses a series of flashbacks to reveal the developing relationship between the two as Bogart tries to reform the boy but his efforts are thwarted by the cold, unfeeling world around them. Even as a bleeding heart liberal, I found the moralizing a bit much, especially in Bogart's pleas to the jury. However, the performances are excellent and the film has a sensitive, poetic rhythm to it. The stylish camera-work by Burnett Guffey (one of the greats) maintains the noir vibe, with some gorgeous sequences. Also, the third act is a courtroom drama that manages to avoid a lot of the predictable tropes. Perhaps too earnest and a tad too slow, but a sorrowful and often beautiful movie.

Michael_Elliott Knock on Any Door (1949) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Humphrey Bogart gets top billing here but in reality the film is a showcase for John Derek who plays a thug who suffered from a rough upbringing. He eventually gets charged with the murder of a cop but he claims to be innocent and his lawyer (Bogart) believes him. Director Nicholas Ray does a good job with his duties but he's letdown by a pretty standard screenplay, which puts the main focus of the film on Derek's life story, which doesn't contain anything we haven't already seen in countless other movies. The film picks up towards the end when the trial start because Bogart takes center stage and delivers a very good performance. Derek is decent in his role but never strong enough to carry the film, which is what the screenplays asks of him. The only part of the flashback scenes that really work are the ones with Derek and his wife played by Allene Roberts. Roberts nearly steals the film and certainly out acts Derek in every scene. There's some nice dialogue including a great final speech by Bogart but there's just not enough originality here to make it work all the way through.