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FORCE OF EVIL: Abraham Polonsky's Film Noir at the 24th FICM

Brisa Naomi R. L.

The 24th Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) served as the setting for a screening of the film noir classic Force of Evil (1948)—a landmark work directed by Abraham Polonsky and starring John Garfield. The film is part of a special program dedicated to Polonsky, the American screenwriter and director.

The screening was introduced by Eddie Muller—known globally as the "Czar of Noir" for his tireless work as a writer, historian, and preservationist of film noir—alongside Daniela Michel, the festival’s founder and director. Michel welcomed the audience to Room 5 at Cinépolis Morelia Centro, a venue dedicated to showcasing classic films and restorations that have helped shape the cinematic tastes of the festival’s attendees.

During the presentation, Muller recalled John Garfield's career, defining him as a "street kid" originally from New York who found his vocation in theater before making the leap to Hollywood.

After becoming a star at Warner Bros. by playing tough, gritty characters, Garfield made a decision that was highly unusual for the time: he chose not to renew his contract, opting instead to establish his own independent production company—a move that directly challenged the major powers of the film industry.

The partnership between Garfield and Polonsky began with the success of Body and Soul (1947). Polonsky—an intellectual with a background in law, influenced by the radical thought that emerged during the Great Depression—brought an avant-garde vision to the narrative of film noir.

Force of Evil tackles the obsession with money and moral corruption head-on. Muller emphasized that, through the director’s Marxist lens, the true "force of evil" depicted in the film is capitalism itself, along with the abandonment of personal integrity in exchange for financial gain. Due to his political leanings, Polonsky was persecuted by the U.S. government during the anti-communist "witch hunts" in Hollywood. Force of Evil became the last film he directed for two decades, following his inclusion on the industry's "blacklist." Despite this ban, the filmmaker always refused to cast himself as a victim.

At the end of his remarks, Eddie Muller invited the audience to attend a screening of his documentary about the director’s life, titled Dangerous Citizen: The Life and Times of Abraham Polonsky (2026), on Thursday the 22nd at 3:45 PM at Cinépolis Centro.

The screening of this work at the FICM not only paid tribute to classic film noir but also prompted reflection on how political contexts have shaped the history of cinema—a topic that remains relevant today, given the ongoing police persecution in the United States.

Force of Evil follows lawyer Joe Morse, who seeks to consolidate small-scale, illegal gambling operators into a single, large, and powerful organization. His older brother, Leo, however, is one of these small-time operators who wishes to remain independent, as he prefers to avoid dealing with the gangsters who dominate the large-scale gambling business.