blanche-2 Lee J. Cobb, Kerwin Mathews, Robert Loggia, Richard Boone, Gia Scala, Valerie French, and Wesley Addy are part of "The Garment Jungle," a 1957 film directed initially by Robert Aldrich, who was fired, and finished by Vincent Sherman.Cobb plays Walter Mitchell, who owns a fashion house, Roxton Fashions, that sells to the trade in New York's garment district. Thanks to a partnership with mobster Artie Ravidge (Boone), he has managed to keep the union, ILGWU, out of his shop. The union has been gaining ground in the industry. One union worker, Tulio Renata (Loggia) is determined to unionize the sweat shop.When Walter's partner wants to unionize, he is murdered, and though it's made to look like an accident, no one is fooled.When Alan (Mathews), Walter's son, returns to New York after being away for several years, he's shocked by what is going on and that his father seems to be condoning violence to keep the union out. Some of this is quite good showing the problems that the union had breaking into the garment industry, as well as the brutality some of the unionists faced. Viewed today, some of the film is over the top. I found Loggia and Gia Scala, as a passionate Italian couple, too exaggerated. In fact, theirs and Cobb's performances were too theatrical. Compared to them, in fact, Kerwin Mathews seemed bland until the end of the movie. Mathews found success in costumers later on. Boone and the actor playing his enforcer, Wesley Addy, gave restrained performances, playing against gangster personalities. The beautiful Valerie French had a smaller role as Cobb's girlfriend, a major buyer.One thing that was a little out there was a funeral scene - footage from something else was used - maybe Valentino's funeral? It didn't seem plausible for the character who passed away.All in all, a good film, though it doesn't stand up against a film like Waterfront.

MartinHafer A son (Kerwin Matthews) wants to join his father in the garment business. What the son doesn't know is that the father (Lee J. Cobb) is in deep with the mob--and the mob isn't about to let a union infiltrate the company. When the son sees mobsters beating up union organizers, he's appalled and can't believe that his father would condone this. But, Cobb seems unconcerned and lets his mob friend (Richard Boone) do whatever he wants. Later in the film, you learn why Boone is given so much freedom. But, the more the union and the son push, the harder Boone and his goons push back--and soon people start to die.As one reviewer pointed out, Cobb's performance was amazingly low-key--as Cobb very often played bigger than life characters. Matthews was also good as the earnest son--as was Boone. But the reason I give this film only a five is that some characters (such as the wife of the slain union organizer) seem to have no reason to be in the film and there are also a few plot lines that just aren't developed well. For example, late in the film, Cobb decides to become honest and go to the police. First, why would he do this? He's been working with these hoods for years. Second, if he would betray his murderous friends, do you think he would tell these mobsters FIRST?!?! Any sane person would act friendly towards them and then hand over the incriminating evidence to the district attorney. You would NOT tell known murderers that they don't scare you and you're going to break with them!!! Talk about bad script writing--and this is why a generally interesting and well-acted film still only gets a five.

Robert J. Maxwell Something of a disappointment. Lee J. Cobb is the anti-union head of Roxton Garments in New York. His partner in the business is killed when an elevator is unleashed and plunges twenty-seven floors to the bottom of the shaft, in the scariest scene in the film.Cobb doesn't know it, or doesn't let himself realize it, but the man behind the killing is Richard Boone, who protects the business from union organizers.Then Cobb's son, Kerwin Mathews, returns from Europe determined to learn the business and join his father in running a clean shop. He's shocked -- shocked! -- to learn that Boone has been clobbering the union members and killing a few who have become irretrievably irritating.Robert Loggia is one of the organizers who is killed by a couple of Boone's goons, led by Wesley Addy. Loggia leaves behind a widow, Gia Scala, with whom Mathews, understandably and decorously, takes up.In the end, Cobb pays for his self deception, Addy and Boone get their just desserts, and Mathews winds up with the succulent Scala, after whom an opera house is named.There isn't a sparkle in any line of dialog. A couple of lines are stolen verbatim from "On the Waterfront" -- "pistoleros", "you'll talk yourself right into the grave." The plot is schematic and holds absolutely no surprises. Vincent Sherman's direction is pedestrian. The photography is flat an uninspired, though there are a couple of nice shots of New York streets.Lee J. Cobb can act. In this case, it must have been easy for him because he replays Johnny Friendly from "On the Waterfront," only this time with a soft heart. Richard Boone can act too. Joseph Wiseman, in a minor part, does a good job. Gia Scala hits her marks, says what the script demands, and does what the director tells her to. A stunning woman, her life soured early on. The director and photographer do a good job on Wesley Addy. He has white hair, a blanched face, eyes the color of a glacial lake, and he's sometimes shot through a wide-angle lens than turns his surprisingly fleshy lips into those of some kind of parasitic fish. I don't see him as a low-tier muscle man though. He and Boone should have switched roles. Harold J. Stone is his reliable self, although he's forced to be more "Italian", as Tony, than comes naturally to him. Nobody else in anything resembling a major part is more than mediocre, and some performers don't clear even that bar. Kerwin Mathews may be a nice guy in real life, but he's blandly sterile and belongs in domestic dramas on afternoon television.Great title, suggestive of intrigue and shadows. Some good people in the cast. A potentially explosive expose of a business nobody knows much about but which deals in megabucks.And it all comes out like this.

Fred Sliman (fs3) Certainly among the lesser-known 50's racket-noirs (even many inferior are more discussed and collected), this one hits hard, looks good and has the unmistakable touch of prime-era Aldrich, though it was only partially done by him. Frequent cinematography collaborator Joe Biroc puts the stamp on that ensures a vivid look at a harsh story.The cast is uniformly good, with Cobb leading in one of his best performances. The blending of two directors' work here unusually doesn't detract from the impact of this one. Look for it on television, or the hard-to-find, out-of-print video, whenever possible.