The Lawless

When commenting about "The Lawless" (from 1950) - I know one thing for certain - It's very rare to come across a Hollywood production from that one's era that actually dared to make such a bold and adverse statement regarding serious racial discrimination in "Smalltown, USA".

Set in and around the seemingly quiet town of Santa Marta, California - "The Lawless" was certainly a tough, little social drama (once things finally got cooking) that clearly pitted the privileged whites against the "near-poverty-level" Mexican fruit-pickers of Sleepy Hollow.

I think it's interesting to note that this low-budget production was one of the very last Hollywood pictures to be directed by Joseph Losey.

In 1951 Losey was, indeed, blacklisted (for his apparent Communist ties). And with his directing career in Tinseltown now completely ruined by those self-righteous witch-hunters - He had fled to Europe where he attempted to continue his present occupation over there.

Santa Marta is a small agricultural town in California. Mexicans are the fruit pickers and there is tension between the races. Paul Rodriguez and his friend Lopo Chavez are pickers. They get into a car accident and fight with a couple of local white boys. The two locals keep a grudge and spread discontent. Paul's friend Sunny Garcia works at a small Spanish-language newspaper. She meets Larry Wilder at a dance. He's the new editor of the bigger white newspaper. A fight breaks out at the dance and an unscrupulous reporter builds it up to be a riot. Paul steals an ice cream truck and becomes a fugitive after a series of incidents.

This is trying to tackle the theme of ingrained racism. It's interesting that there are differing elements within the community, both good and bad. The initial meeting with a cop is an interesting one. It's a little shocking to have a good cop dealing with these kids like human beings. There are good cops and bad cops. There are good parents and bad parents. Even the lead character is not an ally for most of the movie until he turns into a hero. The movie is not doing the easy hit. More than anything, it shows how irresponsible media can fire up the baser instincts. The movie is showing how civility can be easily lost and the ugliness bubble up.

Pretty impressive description of the culture struggles between the white bread caucasians and Mexican workers in 1950. Right from the start, we see a confrontation between the young upper class Joe Ferguson (John Sands... where did he go, anyway...?) and the blue-collar worker Lopo Chavez (Maurice Jara in his first role.), trying to make ends meet Also in his first role is 20 year old Tab Hunter as "Frank". Nice performance by the attractive 25-year- old Gail Russell as the lead Sunny Garcia; unfortunately Russell died before 40 from a heart attack and alleged alcoholism. The story is that when reporter Jonas Creel (Herb Anderson) meets up with Sunny at a dance, he turns in a story on the fight that breaks out, and the poop hits the fan. Macdonald Carey is the union rep "Wilder" caught in the middle, along with Creel, the reporter. Then we see the fathers and sons discussing who gets what punishment, and the chase is on for one of the workers Paul Rodriguez (Lalo Rios) who may or may not have committed a serious crime. Good story. Many of these same issues are still hot-button issues today in southern California, and all along the U.S. border.

One of the best things about Joseph Losey is that he often made socially-conscious films. This is certainly no different. The premise to this film is good, but the execution is just a bit short. The story is about a Mexican youth in a border town who gets up caught in a violent situation that leads to a manhunt for him. The white part of town and the brown part of town are at odds here. There is a different kind of twist in the film that doesn't make both sides simply good and bad. Gail Russell plays a Mexican newspaper editor. Uh-huh. It's very far-fetched. MacDonald Carey plays the big-shot editor of the big paper in town. It's a middling film but with a daring message for its time.

..And some of those "B"s are far better than some of the "A"s of today. Macdonald Carey is at his best here as an editor who slowly becomes involved in the conditions and prejudices against the California fruit pickers. this movie is way ahead of its time in how it depicts a small city in the grip of discrimination and fear. Gail Russell, though never a great lead, is luminous here and utterly convincing as Mac's opposite - the editor or a Mexican newspaper. I was completely caught up in and the ending is quite nerve-wracking, you cannot predict which way it is going to go. The supporting cast is also terrific and the crowd scenes and slow panning action for the dance in the country and the street scenes is amazing. I understand the director was a victim of the McCarthy witchhunt and lived out his days in England where he directed "Dirk Bogarde" in "the Servant" another great movie. Highly recommended, an 8 out of 10.