The Boss

Based on a script inspired by true events and penned pseudonymously by the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo, Byron Haskin’s The Boss is an unusual and relatively unknown noir drama that combines crime and corruption with an almost operatic sweep through 1920’s and 30’s organized crime. In a role perfectly suited to his tempestuous, eternally bitter noir persona, John Payne, who also co-produced the film, plays Matt Brady, a World War I veteran who follows his brother Tim (Roy Roberts), who promptly drops dead, into city government where his rapid rise fuels — and is fueled by — blatant corruption like negotiating kickbacks, trading on inside information, killing the development projects of his enemies, and placing his friends in top government positions in a naked attempt to control every aspect of the (unnamed) city. (Admittedly, Brady’s rise to such power from a nobody status is a bit glossed over.) William Bishop plays best friend and attorney Bob Herrick, whose conscience may ultimately take Brady down, and the perfectly attractive Gloria McGehee plays “ugly” wife Lorry whom Brady marries on a drunken impulse and hides from the public while he pines for his former girl Elsie (Doe Avedon), now married to Bob. (“Lots of husbands kiss their wives,” says Lorry. “Don’t be afraid, Matt. Kiss me.”) Haskin does a fairly nice job with pacing, alternating character development with well-crafted thrills (a long-drawn-out bar fight, a Tommy gun massacre in a train station), and Payne knows how to combine volatility and vulnerability like few others, his temper increasingly softened and his hair increasingly gray throughout the film. Still, be warned that some of his delivery is so over-the-top that it’s unintentionally laughable.