Knock On Any Door (1949)

An attorney (Humphrey Bogart) in a prestigious law firm takes on the case of a hoodlum (John Derek) charged with the murder of a policeman. Because he came from the slums himself, the lawyer feels the boy's background is pertinent to his crime. Based on the novel by Willard Motley and directed by Nicholas Ray (BIGGER THAN LIFE). Notable for being the second novel (the first was Frank Yerby's THE FOXES OF HARROW) by an African American writer to be filmed by a major Hollywood studio. Rich in noir-ish atmosphere, Ray's film is an early example of the juvenile delinquent problem movies that proliferated in the 1950s though the genre actually goes back to the 1930s and films like ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES. The screenplay doesn't whitewash Derek's hoodlum yet still manages to whip up some empathy for him as a victim of a society that ignores the root of the problem that breeds criminals. There's a good score by George Antheil. With George Macready, Cara Williams, Barry Kelley, Dewey Martin, Allene Roberts and Candy Toxton.