User Reviews

While Dalton Trumbo's political and professional travails certainly affected his outlook, I believe he looked more to conventional history in scripting "The Boss".

Trumbo certainly used the corrupt Democratic political machine of Tom Pendergast as the template for his script. Small wonder. The Pendergast machine was one of the most enduring municipal fiefs of the mid-twentieth century.

The crook that Payne is forced to make deals with in "The Boss" appears to be based on the real-life overlord of Kansas City prohibition-era crime, Johnny Lazia. The gunfight sequence at the train station is directly drawn from the famous 'Kansas City Massacre' of 1933 when 'Pretty Boy' Floyd, Adam Richetti and Verne Miller mowed down several F.B.I. agents and also killed the crook they were trying to rescue, Frank 'Jelly' Nash.

Another interesting parallel between the film and actual history is that Harry S. Truman was sponsored by Tom Pendergast and managed to keep himself personally clean and advance his political career while remaining loyal to the Machine. Truman is portrayed down to his glasses in "The Boss" by Joe Flynn, subsequently known to many as "Captain Binghamton in "McHale's Navy".

One little known historical fact that was left out is that Truman's first official act upon becoming President after F.D.R. died in 1945 was to fire the U.S. Attorney for Missouri who successfully prosecuted Tom Pendergast for tax evasion and sent him to prison in 1939.

Truman was loyal to Pendergast to the very end.

***SPOILERS*** The film is obviously based on the notorious and mobbed up Tom Pendergast Missouri political machine that got future president of the United States Harry S. Truman, played by Joe Flynn using the name Ernie Jackson in the movie, elected senator. "The Boss" follows the career of a crooked politician Matt Brady, John Payne, from running the state of Missouri, that's never mentioned in the film, to running from the law and ending up spending his golden years in a federal penitentiary.

Coming back home from WWI as a decorated US Army captain Brady was uninterested in following his older brother Tim, Roy Roberts, footsteps in taking over the city's Third Ward. It was after a night of drinking and fighting with his best friend Bob Herrick, William Bishop, and while barley sober marrying a complete stranger Lorry Reed, Gloria McGhehee, that Brady finally came to his senses. It was also after being dumped by his girlfriend, who would later marry his best friend Bob, Elsie Reyonolds-Doe Avedow- and his brother Tim suddenly dropping dead, after having a violent argument with him, that changed Brady's way of thinking. Changing it for the worst not the better.

Being the top political king maker Brady controlled every politician in the state from Governor Beck, Harry Cheshire, on down to the local dog catcher. Ruthless and vindictive at anyone who as much as meekly disagreed with him Brady nurtured a slew of enemies who, when the time came, descended upon him like vultures on a dying corpse in the wild.

Brady went so far as getting involved with the mob who's head man Johnny Mazia, Robin Morse, he helped out, from going to jail, when he was a teenager. This happened when Brady got wiped out in the stock market and was deeply in debt to Mazia's gang in him losing over $200,000.00 in his gambling with Mazia's illegal bookies. With Brady having no choice but letting Mazia's gang have their way they turn the entire state of Missouri into a den of political corruption and mob drive-by shootouts and sponsored hit-jobs.

The final shoe to drop is when Brady gave the go ahead for Mazia to whack former gang member Morris Lazetti, John Mansfield, who was to turn states evidence against both him and Mazia in their criminal activities. This lead to what is now known as the "Kansas City Massacre" that cost the lives of a number of FBI Agents who were taking Lazetti, who was also killed, to Washington to testify.

With public outrage reaching its hight the city fathers lead by newly elected District Attorney Stanley Millard, Rhys Williams, have Brady kicked out of his position as head of the Third Ward. On top of all that there's also a federal charge in the murder of the FBI Agents, as well as fixing both federal and state elections, also hanging over Brady's head.

In the end even Bob Herrick, Brady's best friend, turned on him perjuring himself-in order to save his own hide-by falsely testifying that Brady took over a million dollars in kickbacks from a number of city insurance companies. What hurt Brady most is that he risked his life in saving Bob from being murdered by the Mazia mob! And this is the gratitude he ended up getting from him!

In the end a beaten and broken man ,looking at least twenty older then he actually is, Matt Brady who even his long suffering and abused wife Lorry couldn't quite bring herself to feel sorry for is seen walking into the state penitentiary- Leavenworth- with his trademark Cuban Cigar dropping to the ground as he prepares himself to spend the rest of his life behind prison bars.

Sorry if that title confuses but, watching this on TCM recently I was convinced this was made in the early 40's so was amazed to see the 1956 date on it. It was the staging and story arc so reminiscent of several Bogart and Cagney movies that made it seem so dated in it's overall production.

That being said, John Payne gives a powerful and well nuanced performance as a man whose inner turmoil of unrequited love, filial duty and tussles with what is "right" (feeling he has to marry a one night stand) and the attraction of an easy but crooked lifestyle are visible on his gradually hardening features as he ages - nicely done.

Based clearly on the Pendegast machine of the 20's and 30's the action becomes a little stereotyped, with the "good citizens" of the town having to include a priest as a sign of moral rectitude.

Brady's downfall in the Crash of 1929 is perhaps a little convenient (a sharp guy like this would have had hot cash stashed in many accounts and ensured that the diamonds seen earlier were part of a large collection of readily realizable assets but, I digress)and the heavy symbolism of the final shot of Payne shuffling towards the shadow of a tall, barred prison gate, dropping the cigar that had been his symbol of success owes much to the existential films coming out of many central European studios at the time.

An excellent central performance but Dalton Trumbo's uncredited screenplay lays on the "truth prevails" message too heavily.

Hal Mohr's effectively low-key photography throughout this movie, plus two grippingly staged action sequences, are offset by a lot of small-budget dialogue and a hokey plot. Edward G. Robinson might have made the main character an interesting figure, but John Payne lacks the necessary charisma for such a role. The other players are not suitably cast either. And though some effort has been made to obtain a period atmosphere with a careful use of locations and the right stock footage, the final impression is negative, thanks chiefly to too much dialogue, too little imagination in Byron Haskin's direction with its over-reliance on close-ups, and two hammy performances (Payne and Gloria McGhee – a TV actress who made only three movies of which this is the first).

It's the performance of a lifetime for John Payne whos character is based on a real man from Kansas City who rose in power and was involved in organized crime. As Matt Brady, Payne represents many men throughout history, some still dominating society today, and along with Matt, they all share several things in common including a belligerent personality and the ability to create fear in others and the desire to see them destroyed in everybody else.

The scowling Payne wears his ugliness on a miserable looking mug, and it's difficult to hide his handsomeness, but Payne manages to keep that aspect of Matt's personality front and center. Gloria McGehee is amazing as the wife he hates and threatens to commit to an insane asylum if she tries to get away. She's only there to give him a certain kind of image, and when two older women comment on that when Payne makes a public appearance, it's obvious that everyone can tell that this image is a false reflection of the truth.

So while there's a story there, I saw this as the writer's warning not to put trust or fairy into demigods, and as he gains power, the more trust he betrays and the more violence is associated with him. William Bishop, Joe Flynn and Doe Averdon have other strong roles, and the direction by Byron Haskin creates a somber view of a pre-World War II society indicating that the fascists just weren't in Germany.

My assessment of this film leaves aside the film's historical connections and the screenwriter's biography.

The script, direction, and acting (with two exceptions, noted below) are one-dimensional and heavy-handed. John Payne performs in a single mode -- snarling -- until the end, when he woodenly tries to appear chastened, with equally unconvincing results.

The feebleness of the filmmaking is illustrated by the relationship between the brothers Matt and Tim Brady. Their rivalry is supposed to be the key to Matt's motivation. But all that comes across in their encounters is the same unexplained belligerence that marks the rest of Payne's performance.

His refusal to end his marriage to a woman he despises shows the same failure: the filmmakers are reaching for a complexity that lies beyond their powers (or budget), and the result seems arbitrary and schematic.

Two redeeming features of the film are the portrayals of secondary characters by Gloria McGehee and Robin Morse. McGehee, as the unwanted wife, reads her lines with a natural directness that breaks through the genre conventions surrounding her. Morse, as a gang leader, convincingly presents a contradiction: an intelligent thug. This rare bit of psychological richness culminates in his distinctive walk, a lurching gait that seems to say, Because I can kill you, I have no pretenses. The director wakes from his slumber and holds the camera on this walk in two shots.

I would have expected more from Dalton Trumbo's script. This boss comes over as something of an angel by today's standards. From a "leftist" writer this is somewhat surprising. You must not try very hard to feel sorry for this boss. I would rather have seen him murdering people with delight and becoming president or worse and, of course, never get caught. And after two terms as president, I would have had some lackey of his becoming president and on and on and then let him die of old age at least a hundred years old after having nothing but a "pleasant" life nurturing every lust and nastiness under the sun. This is not that kind of picture, for sure. He has contacts with the underworld but most unwillingly and when one of these contacts bumps off a policeman he is not happy about it and almost does not mind getting caught! Come on Dalton, I don't see much danger in bosses as far as this film goes.