Black Legion backdrop
Black Legion logo
1937·Crime·1h 23m
7.0
When a hard-working machinist loses a promotion to a Polish-born worker, he is seduced into joining the secretive Black Legion, which intimidates foreigners through violence.
Directed by Archie Mayo
immigrant
inventor
ku klux klan
drugstore
fear
midwest
radio broadcast
hate group
machinist
foreman
machine shop
polish american
drill press

Cast

Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Frank Taylor
Dick Foran
Dick Foran
Ed Jackson
Erin O'Brien-Moore
Erin O'Brien-Moore
Ruth Taylor
Ann Sheridan
Ann Sheridan
Betty Grogan
Helen Flint
Helen Flint
Pearl Danvers
Joe Sawyer
Joe Sawyer
Cliff Summers
Paul Harvey
Paul Harvey
Billings
Dickie Jones
Dickie Jones
Buddy Taylor
Samuel S. Hinds
Samuel S. Hinds
Judge
Addison Richards
Addison Richards
Prosecuting Attorney
Eddie Acuff
Eddie Acuff
Ted Metcalf
Dorothy Vaughan
Dorothy Vaughan
Mrs. Grogan

Crew

Archie Mayo
Archie Mayo
Director
Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz
Co-Director
Jack L. Warner
Jack L. Warner
Executive Producer
Hal B. Wallis
Hal B. Wallis
Executive Producer

Popular Reviews

13 reviews
Maranda
Maranda
Black Legion
Wow it’s a good thing society watched movies like this so we could move beyond off-brand klansmen murdering people who disagree with them in the name of a better America right
Wow it’s a good thing society watched movies like this so we could move beyond off-brand klansmen murdering people who disagree with them in the name of a better America right
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rivercitykiiid
rivercitykiiid
Black Legion
this movie made me queasy bc of the subject matter’s continued relevance, and also was impressed of how far this movie went to show the insidious nature of white supremacy & xenophobia, and how at the end of the day it really is a literal scam

humphrey bogart really doesn’t get enough nearly credit for how good of an actor he was
this movie made me queasy bc of the subject matter’s continued relevance, and also was impressed of how far this movie went to show the insidious nature of white supremacy & xenophobia, and how at the end of the day it really is a literal scam

humphrey bogart really doesn’t get enough nearly credit for how good of an actor he was
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moxr.
moxr.
Black Legion
This man really joined a racist group because he didn’t get a promotion
This man really joined a racist group because he didn’t get a promotion
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Jacob Dickens
Jacob Dickens
Black Legion

Warner Brothers' concern in the late 1930s with foreign and homegrown fascism has become a recent topic of interest for me and Black Legion in particular was a film that popped on my radar in the long line of the studio's "ripped from the headlines" social dramas. The film has endured as an evergreen parable of relevant political drama with Humphrey Bogart's working man consumed by messages about the degradation of "Americanism" by immigrant workers after he loses a promotion to an immigrant. Of course, a film like this rings true in today's political climate though Black Legion isn't as concerned about what drives these men to join the Black Legion as it is about documenting the downward spiral Bogart goes through and moralizing to the audience that the Legion's American fascism is on its face unpatriotic. Reading about the Black Legion's production and the issues Mayo and the studio faced legally and with the Hays Office with telling the story makes me wish we were able to see an uncut version of this (the ending courtroom scene would have played more true to the actual court case and shown Black Legion members in the jury and revealed the defending lawyer as a member as well, which would have really driven home the power the legion held on the region and its danger). Still, Humphrey Bogart's performance reveals wonderful layers and desperation in an early career highlight and the film on the whole stands as a solid social drama with great emotion and perennial relevance.

Warner Brothers' concern in the late 1930s with foreign and homegrown fascism has become a recent topic of interest for me and Black Legion in particular was a film that popped on my radar in the long line of the studio's "ripped from the headlines" social dramas. The film has endured as an evergreen parable of relevant political drama with Humphrey Bogart's working man consumed by messages about the degradation of "Americanism" by immigrant workers after he loses a promotion to an immigrant. Of course, a film like this rings true in today's political climate though Black Legion isn't as concerned about what drives these men to join the Black Legion as it is about documenting the downward spiral Bogart goes through and moralizing to the audience that the Legion's American fascism is on its face unpatriotic. Reading about the Black Legion's production and the issues Mayo and the studio faced legally and with the Hays Office with telling the story makes me wish we were able to see an uncut version of this (the ending courtroom scene would have played more true to the actual court case and shown Black Legion members in the jury and revealed the defending lawyer as a member as well, which would have really driven home the power the legion held on the region and its danger). Still, Humphrey Bogart's performance reveals wonderful layers and desperation in an early career highlight and the film on the whole stands as a solid social drama with great emotion and perennial relevance.
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sunscreenbae
sunscreenbae
Black Legion
surprised by the bluntness and lucid front end, but reads a little like an atlantic article by the end. the opposite of racism is patriotism apparently

archie lmao
surprised by the bluntness and lucid front end, but reads a little like an atlantic article by the end. the opposite of racism is patriotism apparently

archie lmao
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