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The Breaking Point (1950 film)

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Director
  
Screenplay
  
Country
  
United States

7.6/10
IMDb

Genre
  
Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

Duration
  

Language
  
English

The Breaking Point (1950 film) movie poster

Release date
  
September 30, 1950 (1950-09-30) (United States)

Based on
  
Writer
  
Ranald MacDougall, Ernest Hemingway (novel)

Music director
  
Max Steiner, Howard Jackson

Cast
  
(Harry Morgan), (Leona Charles), (Lucy Morgan), (Wesley Park), (F.R. Duncan), (Rogers)

Similar movies
  
Focus
,
The Killers
,
Captain Phillips
,
Blood Diamond
,
Jaws
,
Double Indemnity

Tagline
  
A guy who had nothing to sell but guts!

The breaking point preview clip


The Breaking Point is a 1950 American film noir directed by Michael Curtiz and the second film adaptation of the Ernest Hemingway novel To Have and Have Not. It stars John Garfield (in his second to last film role before his death) and Patricia Neal. The earlier 1944 film starred Humphrey Bogart in the male lead.

Contents

The Breaking Point (1950 film) movie scenes

Plot

The Breaking Point (1950 film) movie scenes

Harry Morgan (John Garfield), is a sport-fishing boat captain whose business is on the skids and whose family is feeling the economic pinch. He begins to work with a shady lawyer, Duncan (Wallace Ford), who persuades him to run illegal immigrants into California. Harry also begins a flirtation with Leona Charles (Patricia Neal). When his plan with Duncan goes wrong, Harry comes even more under the influence of the lawyer, who blackmails him into helping the escape of a gang of crooks, who pull a racetrack heist, by using his fishing boat to get away from authorities. Harry convinces himself that his illegal activities will financially help his family. His wife, Lucy (Phyllis Thaxter), suspects Harry is breaking the law and urges him to stop for the sake of the family. Harry refuses and walks out.

The Breaking Point (1950 film) movie scenes

As Harry waits for Duncan and the crooks on his boat, Harry's partner, Wesley Park (Juano Hernandez), arrives. Not wanting Wesley around when the crooks arrive, Harry tries to send him on an errand. The crooks arrive before Wesley leaves, and kill him. Harry is horrified, but is forced at gunpoint to transport the crooks out to open sea without drawing the attention of the Coast Guard. Harry also learns that Duncan was killed during the escape from the heist. Wesley's body is dumped overboard along with Harry's only firearm. Harry uses a ploy to access a gun and kills all the crooks in a dramatic shoot out.

The Breaking Point (1950 film) wwwgstaticcomtvthumbmovieposters1604p1604p

Harry, however, is critically wounded. Authorities find his boat the next day and tow it to port. Lucy rushes to Harry's side and tries to convince Harry to allow his arm to be amputated to save his life. Harry reaffirms his love for Lucy and is taken to the hospital. In the final scene, Wesley's son, who was briefly introduced earlier in the film, stands alone on the dock looking around for his father.

Cast

  • John Garfield as Harry Morgan
  • Patricia Neal as Leona Charles
  • Phyllis Thaxter as Lucy Morgan
  • Juano Hernández as Wesley Park
  • Wallace Ford as F.R. Duncan
  • Edmon Ryan as Rogers
  • Ralph Dumke as Hannagan
  • Guy Thomajan as Danny
  • William Campbell as Concho
  • Sherry Jackson as Amelia Morgan
  • Donna Jo Boyce as Connie Morgan
  • Victor Sen Yung as Mr. Sing
  • Critical response

    Bosley Crowther, the film critic at The New York Times, lauded the film when it was first released. He wrote, "Warner Brothers, which already has taken one feeble swing and a cut at Ernest Hemingway's memorable story of a tough guy, To Have and Have Not, finally has got hold of that fable and socked it for a four-base hit in a film called The Breaking Point, which came to the Strand yesterday. All of the character, color and cynicism of Mr. Hemingway's lean and hungry tale are wrapped up in this realistic picture, and John Garfield is tops in the principal role ... Some solid production and photography along the coast and in actual harbors for small boats round out a film which is gripping and pictorially genuine."

    Third film

    The Gun Runners, a 1958 film directed by Don Siegel, is the third film based on the novel To Have and Have Not and stars Audie Murphy in the Bogart/Garfield role and Everett Sloane in Walter Brennan's part as the alcoholic sidekick, although Sloane's interpretation was less overtly comedic than Brennan's.

    References

    The Breaking Point (1950 film) Wikipedia
    The Breaking Point (1950 film) IMDb The Breaking Point (1950 film) themoviedb.org