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.
