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Black Hand (1950 film)

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Director
  
Richard Thorpe

Music director
  
Alberto Colombo

Duration
  

Language
  
English

6.4/10
IMDb

Genre
  
Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller

Production
  
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Country
  
United States

Black Hand (1950 film) movie poster

Release date
  
March 17, 1950 (1950-03-17) (United States)

Writer
  
Luther Davis (screen play), Leo Townsend (from a story by)

Cast
  
Gene Kelly
(Giovanni E. 'Johnny' Columbo),
J. Carrol Naish
(Louis Lorelli),
Teresa Celli
(Isabella Gomboli),
Marc Lawrence
(Caesar Xavier Serpi),
Frank Puglia
(Carlo Sabballera),
Barry Kelley
(Capt. Thompson)

Similar movies
  
The Swissmakers
,
Displaced Perssons
,
Sister's Keeper
,
Ghettokids - Brüder ohne Heimat
,
The Glass Wall
,
Gran Torino

Tagline
  
It's Gene Kelly against The Black Hand!

Black hand preview clip


Black Hand is a 1950 American film noir directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Gene Kelly as an Italian immigrant fighting against the Black Hand extortion racket in New York City in the first decade of the 20th century.

Contents

Black Hand (1950 film) movie scenes

Plot

Black Hand (1950 film) movie scenes

The film opens in 1900 as Roberto Colombo, an Italian-American attorney living in the Little Italy section of New York City, is killed by gangsters as he meets with a police officer to give information about an attempt to extort money from him. His widow and son return to Italy where his widow dies. In 1908, his son Giovanni Colombo (Gene Kelly) returns to New York City, determined to conduct a vendetta against the men who killed his father. He meets up with childhood friend Isabella Gomboli (Teresa Celli) and police detective Louis Lorelli (J. Carrol Naish), both of whom try to dissuade him.

Black Hand (1950 film) wwwgstaticcomtvthumbmovieposters13874p13874

After the man that Giovanni Colombo had hoped would tell him about his father's killers is murdered, Giovanni and Isabella work to rally people in Little Italy against the Black Hand racket, but that movement is dealt a set-back when Giovanni is attacked and his leg is broken. Recovering from his injury, Giovanni decides to study law as his father had, with the help of Isabella, with whom he has fallen in love. But when Lorelli shows them evidence uncovered after a bombing of a local store, Giovanni puts his studies on hold to help track down the perpetrators. The trial that results comes to nothing when a key witness is intimidated and refuses to testify, but the defendant is ultimately deported when police in Naples identify him as a fugitive from justice there.

Black Hand (1950 film) Black Hand 1950

Following the deportation, Lorelli travels to Italy to examine photographs of Italian criminals at large, in an attempt to identify other New York City gangsters that could be deported to Italy. He is attacked and killed in Italy, but only after he has mailed a list with the results of his research back to Giovanni in New York City. In an attempt to prevent this list from getting to authorities, gangsters kidnap Isabella's young brother. Giovanni is captured trying to save the boy, and reveals to the gangsters where they can find the list after they threaten to cripple the boy. After the gangsters get the list and the boy is released, Giovanni escapes and saves the list by igniting a bomb that he finds in the gangsters' hideout.

Reception

Black Hand (1950 film) Black Hand 1950

According to MGM records the film earned $772,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $438,000 elsewhere; it recorded a loss of $55,000.

Critical response

Black Hand (1950 film) Black Hand 1950 IMDb

Film critic Bosley Crowther praised Kelly's and Naish's work, while questioning the screenplay, "In his first 'straight' role in a picture—away from dancing and singing, that is—Mr. Kelly is eminently forceful as a young Italian-American who aspires to help his neighbors rid themselves of the bands of terrorists and extortionists which are fearfully known as 'the Black Hand.' And Mr. Naish is equally impressive as an Italian detective on the New York police force who joins in the youthful zealot's campaign to wipe out this terrifying scourge. One might tactfully question the simplicity of the plot, prepared by Luther Davis, as a wee bit theatrical."

Black Hand (1950 film) Black Hand 1950 The Vintage Cameo

Film critic Dennis Schwartz discussed the background of the film in his review: "Somewhat engaging early Mafia film that's based on a true story, when that infamous organization was known as the Black Hand. The Black Hand is 'based on the real-life story of Joseph Petrosino, a New York City police lieutenant who traveled to Palermo, Italy, to investigate the Mafia. He was shot and killed by snipers on the evening of March 12, 1909.' In the movie, Irish-American J. Carrol Naish plays the heroic Italian-American lieutenant's character. Director Richard Thorpe (Night Must Fall/Malaya/Ivanhoe) sets a dark mood, while Irish-American hoofer Gene Kelly plays a brave Italian-American immigrant out to avenge his father's death by the Mafia, at the turn of the 20th century. It's a rare dramatic role for Kelly, who seems to be at home in this genre."


Black Hand (1950 film) Black Hand 1950 The Vintage Cameo

Black Hand (1950 film) The Black Hand 1950 Richard Thorpe Synopsis Characteristics

Black Hand (1950 film) BlackHand1950DVDRipx264AC3DXC sharethefilescom

References

Black Hand (1950 film) Wikipedia
Black Hand (1950 film) IMDb Black Hand (1950 film) themoviedb.org