Knock On Any Door

NICHOLAS RAY, OPUS 3
****1/2 1949. Based on Willard Motley's Knock on Any Door, produced by Humphrey Bogart's production company and directed by Nicholas Ray. Andrew Morton accepts to take charge of Nick Romanos' defense. Romano is accused of having murdered a policeman. Convinced that his client is innocent, Morton explains to the jurors how he met the young man. Nicholas Ray handles here two of his favorite themes one will often discern in his filmography: firstly the innocence of youth, a theme found in the way Morton defends Nick Romano, the cinematic brother of THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT's hero and of the James Dean of Rebel Without a Cause (Two-Disc Special Edition). When he pleads not guilty, Morton tries to show the frailty of the accusation's evidences and when he finally pleads guilty, he'll point up the responsibility of the society in front of Nick Romano's...

Bogie doesn't look or sound his best, thanks to GOODTIMES
Cover art on this GOODTIMES release of the 1949 crime drama KNOCK ON ANY DOOR proclaims it as "Bogart at his best."

Unfortunately, this product is not VHS at its best, for in their day the GOODTIMES folks issued non-HiFi tapes recorded at the inferior LP speed, which means both sound and picture are of a degraded quality.

As of 10/09, KNOCK ON ANY DOOR was not available on DVD, therefore the VHS to get is THIS OFFICIAL STUDIO RELEASE. It's recorded in SP mode and has a HiFi audio track.

JOHN DEREK - a pre-James Dean
I saw this years ago and was spellbound... Bogart and John Derek(Sinatra badly wanted the role but was thought too old)are at their best.... It really is in the same vein as Rebel without a Cause, Splendor in the Grass, My Own Private Idaho.... films about young people-coming-of-age and the problems the grown ups/the system/society does to individuals that not quite follow the stream.... It is a must-see because of these ingredients and that is was one of first of its kind.

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