There's a new business and it's opened up new doors, but there's no entrance, exit, this firm has no floors, though it has a telephone, it's got men who can dethrone, means you're alibi is solid, without flaws. Albert Mendoza is the head of all affairs, behind bars, but he don't really seem to care, as Martin Ferguson pursues, those who were in on the whole ruse, to get the evidence, to send Albert, to the chair. Told in flashback it's engaging and intense, your investment will return good recompense, great performances all round, with a colourful confound, plus a little bit of tension and suspense.

... in a very suspenseful but oddly constructed noir. The first part is centered on prosecutor Martin Ferguson's (Bogart's) attempt to keep star witness Rico alive until the murder trial of Albert Mendoza the next day. Rico arrives in an armored truck with cops armed with rifles surrounding him. The fact that Ferguson spends the rest of the film in flashback, wondering if he possible missed a potential witness who could replace Rico on the stand, will tell you he failed. How he failed I'll let you see for yourself. The flashback is Ferguson thinking back to the beginning of what became the Mendoza case and how everything unfolded, starting with a guy wandering into a police station saying he just killed his girlfriend, and that he was made to do it, yet he cannot lead the police to a body or produce a motive as to why anybody would want this girl dead, if she ever existed in the first place. One investigating cop thinks he is crazy, the other does not. They take this case to Ferguson, and thus the investigation begins.

One interesting thing that is done is that Mendoza is not shown until the very end. He is discussed at length, so you build up an image of this guy in your head. And then they deliver somebody as Mendoza that does not look like what you are probably expecting and who comes up with a horrific idea for a new criminal enterprise with the dispassionate logic of an accountant. This film is relatively unknown among Bogart's filmography, and that is probably because he doesn't get to display any trademark Bogart traits in his performance such as paranoia, cynicism, or bravery. Instead he is a bit of a cog in a police procedural wheel, but he still delivers.

Bretagne Windust was supposed to direct this film, and he did start out doing so but then illness caused Raoul Walsh to direct about 90% of it although he did not take credit.

THE ENFORCER is a classic slice of film noir starring the one and only Humphrey Bogart who brings a burning intensity to the role of a crusading district attorney determined to bring down one of the city's biggest crime bosses. It's a tough and gritty production from the outset, no nonsense throughout, with a particularly effective and nihilistic first half which shows the odds stacked against the good guys. A fine supporting cast and expert direction adds immeasurably to what is one of the genre's toughest productions.