"THE MOB" (1951)

You could call this an "On the Waterfront" prequel. Detective Johnny Damico (Broderick Crawford) screws up an arrest of Blackie, boss of The Mob's waterfront crime empire. As punishment, the Commish sends him on a dangerous mssion: Infiltrate the longshoremen's union and get to the top to nail Blackie. He does this, circuitously, and with the usual fisticuffs and derring-do. Crawford was your basic, one-note actor--either thuggish cop or just-plain thug--but he was good at it. He gets lots of snappy lines from lively script by William Bowers. Plus, the cast of supporting plug-uglies (Ernest Borgnine, Neville Brand, Charles Bronson, Ralph Dumke, John (Jack Woltz) Marley and Emil Meyer, Eternal Bohunk, is irresistible. Not bad.