The Violators (1957) User Reviews

Ho hum!

[JohnHowardReid · 4/10 · 6 April 2018]

Director: JOHN NEWLAND. Screenplay: Ernest Pendrell. Based on the 1954 novel by Israel Beckhardt and Wenzell Brown. Photography: Morris Hartzband. Film editor: David Cooper. Music composed and directed by Elliot Lawrence. Art director: Melvin Bourne. Producer: Himan Brown. A Galahad Production. Made at Production Center, New York City.

Copyright 1957 by RKO Teleradio Pictures Inc. U.S. release through Universal-International: December 1957. New York opening as the lower half of a double bill with All Mine To Give: 3 August 1959 (sic). U.K. release through RKO-Radio: 10 November 1957. Australian release through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer: 28 August 1958. 6,874 feet. 76 minutes. Cut to 62 minutes in Australia.

SYNOPSIS: Conscientious and humane, Solomon Baumgarten achieves considerable success in his new job as a probation officer. As the years pass and his daughter Debbie grows to be a woman, he is promoted and succeeds his former chief; but he becomes less understanding, and his methods less tolerant. There is a domestic rift when Debbie falls in love with Jim who, to save his father's business, is operating a fraud under cover of a smart business front. Debbie appeals to her father's conscience by reminding him how he used to extend kindness and help to "violators" - and there is a reconciliation, with Solomon promising to help Jim if he will surrender to the police.

COMMENT: Even in its 62-minute version, this well-meaning tract is pretty well dullsville. Arthur O'Connell's performance is particularly weak. He seems under the misguided impression that he can bolster the talky script by over-reacting and fierce mugging. Well, it was a good try, but doomed to fail!

OTHER VIEWS: Good intent, but the result is less than mediocrity. - Richard Nason in The New York Times.

Smart man...stupid daughter...not very good film.

[planktonrules · 15 February 2021]

"The Violators" is a very frustrating film to watch. One one hand, the basic idea of Arthur O'Connell's character is excellent...and O'Connell is wonderful. It also has a nice message about a man who has faith in people. But on the other, the film's message is muddled, the part written for the daughter is poorly written and the film has a cheap made for TV look. On balance, I'd say the bad easily outweighs the bad.

After getting his law degree, Solomon (O'Connell) has a hard time getting work. Again and again, folks say they want an experiences lawyer...but how can you get experience unless someone gives you work? In desperation, he gets a job with the juvenile probation department and he is, at first, disliked because he is a 'bleeding heart'. But he genuinely cares about the kids and wants to do the right thing and he makes a name for himself as an advocate for kid's needing a second chance. This first portion of the film is excellent.

By the way, the posters for "The Violators" make it look like a sleazy exploitation film...which it isn't in any way. Odd the way they advertised this film.

In the second portion, however, the story starts to fall apart. Sol's daughter is an idiot who is dating a buy who turns out to be a thief...no other way to say it. But she defends his horrible behavior and is angry that her father, rightly, is concerned about this boyfriend. What's next? Well, at this point, who really cares?? All I know is that both halves of the film look as if they were written by different people who never talked to each other nor saw each other's scripts. Yes, it's that disappointing.

The only thing violated was my time.

[mark.waltz · 2/10 · 31 December 2020]

Not a good way for RKO to close down after 30 years, this cheapy crime drama looks like a TV anthology episode deemed too violent for broadcast and released to the theaters instead. It stars the always commanding Arthur O'Connell as an unlucky attorney specializing in juvenile delinquents who finds his niche in getting sentences either reduced or suspended. He deals with the worst of the worst, at one point attacked by someone he's trying to help, reacting violently to his client.

All of a sudden he finds himself involved in the suspicious antics of his future son-in-law (Fred Bier) who is involved in shady dealings with Frank Maxwell who has basically threatened him to participate in criminal activities. Daughter Nancy Malone stands up for Bier even though it's very apparent that Bier is guilty of something, that bit of detail that I became very confused about as if a page of the script was ripped out and never filmed.

The performances, even O'Connell's, are overwrought and irritating. Everyone is directed to scream their lines, well with the possible exception of O'Connell's quiet sister, played by "Dark Shadows" veteran Clarice Blackburn. The sets look like they've been taken from the Kramden apartment from "The Honeymooners". Look quickly for the future Stanley Roper, Norman Fell, playing one of the many shady characters. The fault lies with the script and the direction, too anxious and in need of a tranquilizer.

I Hope The Book Was Better

[boblipton · 3/10 · 15 August 2019]

Arthur O'Connell is a lawyer who can't get a case because he doesn't have experience having cases. So he joins the probation department and becomes an advocate for keeping kids out of the system. This annoys everyone in the department, and judges, but his compassionate stance works and wins him a promotion.

With success comes something to lose, and when his daughter -- played by Nancy Malone -- is making her boyfriend -- played by Fred Beir -- wait, he braces O'Connell for a business loan. O'Connell says it's too much money, and he doesn't understand, so Beir goes elsewhere, and eventually indulges in a pyramid scheme.

It's a feature based on the book and radio by Israel Beckhardt about the emigration system, and it's a heartfelt and well-meaning movie, with O'Connell quite believable as a Jew. Unfortunately, whoever did the screenplay (Ernest Pendrell?) seems to have never met a Jew in his life, and the direction is awful. Miss Malone plays her role by alternating whining and shouting, and the dramatic tension in the situations seem a bit off.