Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Joanna Mccarty Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

MartinHafer This film currently has an IMDb score of 6.9 and I think this is a bit generous. I felt the film was an adequate time-passer and nothing more.This film is from John Payne's tough guy era--after he stopped playing pretty boys such as in musicals when he was younger and more handsome. Now middle-aged, many of his film were much grittier--and he made a bunch of noir films during the 1950s. Some were very good and often he was very good as a heavy, but here he comes off as almost funny--barking orders and giving a rather heavy-handed performance. In other words, he seems to be a caricature of a bad guy here and it never comes off as very believable. Some of this is surely due to the script. Regardless, the film is unconvincing and, at times, a bit silly. Not a terrible film, mind you--just not all that good.By the way, look at the machine gun scene. A group of guys are mowed down at point blank range and only the tiniest trickle of blood is seen on one victim's hand. Ha!

Karl Ericsson I would have expected more from Dalton Trumbo's script. This boss comes over as something of an angel by today's standards. From a "leftist" writer this is somewhat surprising. You must not try very hard to feel sorry for this boss. I would rather have seen him murdering people with delight and becoming president or worse and, of course, never get caught. And after two terms as president, I would have had some lackey of his becoming president and on and on and then let him die of old age at least a hundred years old after having nothing but a "pleasant" life nurturing every lust and nastiness under the sun. This is not that kind of picture, for sure. He has contacts with the underworld but most unwillingly and when one of these contacts bumps off a policeman he is not happy about it and almost does not mind getting caught! Come on Dalton, I don't see much danger in bosses as far as this film goes.

bmacv The Boss, filmed from a script by the blacklisted and hence uncredited Dalton Trumbo, starts in 1919 and ends somewhere in the Great Depression. It's about the corruption of a municipal machine that focuses on demobbed doughboy John Payne who, when his older brother dies, inherits his political clout. On the night of his return he godrunk and married a stranger he comes to scorn (Gloria McGhee, whomakes you yearn for more of her). His only unwavering loyalty lies withan old wartime buddy (William Bishop), who has married the girl Payne loved. So all his passion goes into strengthening his hold over the city, including forging an unholy alliance with the (unnamed) Mafia.Despite a precisely staged shootout in the train depot (did Brian De Palma borrow from this as well as from The Battleship Potemkin, for The Untouchables?), The Boss is really a somewhat Kane-ish look at the rise and fall of a lone wolf; Payne's tough yet touching performance lends an almost tragic tinge. The result is an involving period piece that dwells on the late fringes of film noir. (One topical note: the men's costumes were by Dick Cheney.)

jaykay-10 Dalton Trumbo, who scripted this picture pseudonymously, was so anxious to make his political and sociological points that he (nearly) let the story and characters get away from him. The plot moves, not naturally or logically, but in order to serve the author's purposes. Characters who have been steadfast and dependable, whatever their motives, betray those close to them. The fulfillment of one's ambition requires unprincipled, corrupt behavior, with only indifference or contempt for those who are hurt in the process. The sole semblance of loyalty is found among criminals. Trumbo's viewpoint clearly grows out of his personal experiences, and distorts what might have been a highly effective portrayal of a powerful man who lost more than he gained. The character of Matt Brady is a given: arrogant, thoughtless, insensitive, impetuous. But why? As much as these characteristics help to move the story where the script wants it to go, we are offered no insight into the main character's psyche, and little of significance concerning his background. And his drunken insistence that he and the woman of the streets he picks up are to become man and wife that very night (and thereby provide another key element for the plot) is - to say the least - a bit hard to take. Yet with it all, this film has more than a few effective moments. Those, and the substantial theme being presented, will leave the viewer with much to ponder.