The Garment Jungle

Plot synopsis:
A story about the struggle of the International Ladys Garment Worker Union (ILGWU) to unionize a New York sweat shop, Roxton Fashions, in the Garment District. Lee J. Cobb plays Walter Mitchell the owner of a company that is determined to keep the union out of his shop. His partner does not agree, and only wants the workers to have a living wage. He dies in an accident. Kerwin Mathews palys his son Alan, who comes back to New York after a long absence. He does not understand his fathers angry resistance to t he union, and sympathizes with the union. Walter Mitchell has been paying Artie Ravidge played by Richard Boone to keep the union out by roughing-up the union. Italian immagrant and unionist, Tulio Renata, played by Robert Loggia is killed by the goons. Ultimately, Walter Mitchell comes to see that what he is doing is wrong, and embraces the union. This results in his own murder. His son Kerwinl develops a relationship with Renatas widow Theresa played by Gia Scala. They team up to expose ledger books that detail the extortion payments made by Walter Mitchell to the goons. In the end Ravidge is convicted of murder.

Tags: murder

Review:
The cast is excellent from top to bottom, even the weak link here Kerwin Mathews is better than most of his other roles in films.
Cobb tackles his role with gusto and scores a home run as the tough hardheaded father/boss.The always excellent Richard Boone shines as the ruthless mob enforcer.
Robert Loggia makes the most of his role in his film debut, Joseph Wiseman's character reminds one of his role as Charley Gennini in Detective Story.
And last but not least we come to Gia Scala as the feisty Italian Theresa Renata (Gia was half Sicilian from her father and 1/2 Irish , who left Italy for New york City to eventually study with Stella Adler and the Actors Studio) Gia shows so much promise here.
( Well after all she was half Irish) One only has to see how badly her looks and talent had eroded in her 3rd to last acting role in the TV show "Tarzan" with Ron Ely. Toward the end of the show,she has scenes where she is not even looking toward the camera,perhaps having to do a voice over,(unable to remember her lines) and the ending is strange ,like she did not even show up for filming and they had to patch together a ending to the show, with no Gia on the set.
This is a sharply-made film about a battle at a garment factory over unionization with terrific performances from Lee J.
Cobb, a young Robert Loggia, and a menacing Richard Boone as a union buster.
Kerwin Mathews gives only a passable lead performance, but then again his novice acting sort of fits his role as an outsider, which was necessary to give the audience a view of the garment industry from an outsider's perspective.
This was the brutal New York battleground in which the aptly named The Garment Jungle took place the following year, a tough and absorbing drama about the fight to unionize the rag trade.Lee J.
Cobb runs a women's-dresses firm; his ardently pro-labor partner, in the opening moments of the film, plummets to his death down a freight elevator shaft.
Proud entrepreneur Cobb, though shaken, persists in his campaign to keep unions out of his shop by paying protection to a ruthless mobster (Richard Boone).
Cobb's son (Kerwin Matthews) returns from a stay in Europe and, sympathizing with the piece-work jobbers, starts poking his nose into his father's business arrangements.
But Matthews discovers the location of ledgers recording the history pay-offs....Vincent Sherman, a veteran of both Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, directed, with some measure of assistance from Robert Aldrich.
Hard guys dominate the movie, as they did in On The Waterfront, another look at New York City's labor relations (while nowhere near as mythic as that epic, The Garment Jungle matches it in brutality and in an unapologetically leftist point of view).The movie boasts clarity and pace; there's even some nicely observed detail.
Cobb reins in his basso-profundo growl and curmudgeonly shtik, while Boone, Loggia (in his credited debut) and Joseph Wiseman (as a union stoolie) give restrained, convincing performances.
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 Garment Jungle is directed by Robert Aldrich and Vincent Sherman.
Cobb, Kerwin Matthews, Richard Boone, Robert Loggia, Gia Scala and Valerie French.
Music is by Leith Stevens and cinematography by Joseph Biroc.Alan Mitchell (Matthews) returns from the War to help his father Walter (Cobb) run the family fashion designer factory.
Unfortunately he finds a business being protected by local hoodlum Artie Ravidge (Boone), who has the backing of Walter, and who is defiant in not letting the Union into the company.
Things are about to turn very ugly and Alan is right in the middle of it.Robert Aldrich is uncredited in a lot of sources, but the film was 98% his work.
Cobb had a sulk about where his character was going, it all came to a head and Columbia head Harry Cohn, not needing much of an excuse to fire Aldrich (who was sick as well), brought in Sherman to finish the film.
Or at least that's the party line story...Aldrich's mark is all over the film, the harsher edges involving racketeers and violence are unmistakably his.
Instead we get a very good pro- Union drama with noir tints, though the softening of a key character, which Aldrich didn't aspire to, leaves you wondering just how much more spicy things could have been.
Cobb in a further attempt to buttress his reputation after being a friendly witness at the House Un-American Activities Committee chose yet another labor story in The Garment Jungle.
Cobb plays a factory owner of an unorganized shop in the garment center who has uneasy and unofficial partnership with racketeer Richard Boone.
Boone provides the muscle to keep out organizers from the International Ladies Garment Workers Union from Cobb's place of business.After the death of Robert Ellenstein who was Cobb's partner, Cobb's son Kerwin Matthews who had not taken an interest in the business up till now is shocked that Cobb is in deep with someone like Boone.
Probably in real life he would just make sure he didn't know.Boone is his usual good self, but the outstanding performance in the film is a young Robert Loggia who is passionate and dynamic in his role as an ILGWU organizer.
Also standing out are the two females in substantial roles, Gia Scala as Loggia's wife and Valerie French as a buyer who has a thing going with Cobb.I don't think it was an accident that Lee J.
He probably understood what Cobb went through in making that decision to be a friendly witness and this film I have no doubt was under ILGWU strict auspices.One thing that was very much in keeping with the times was Loggia's role as an organizer.
Loggia's role as an organizer of Latino background was spot on.Despite some flaws and it's not in the same class as On The Waterfront, The Garment Jungle is a good film with some strong performances by a few players..
Director Sherman effectively dovetails the lives of the Haves and the Have Nots in New York's famed garment district.
For its time (1957), this was a film that attracted an adult audience and delicately handled a very adult subject matter (think "On the Waterfront," but not quite as sophisticated).Loggia, Scala and Boone deliver memorable performances.
Matthews is generally flat, and even Cobb seems uninvolved with the proceedings.The breast feeding scene and the expletive statement "Go to Hell!" voiced by Matthews during a bitter fist fight with Boone demonstrate that the Code was cracking; both scenes are well done and not exploitive.The violence is often brutal and anything but subtle.The all-too-few location scenes are nicely juxtaposed with the studio shots.The film's down side is that the factory floor and union meeting sets are much too small and do not include enough people to give the moments a sense of realism.Keep in mind that this film would have been taboo in Hollywood five years earlier with HUAC and the very real threat of blacklisting.See it for Scala, Loggia and Boone..
In New York City's garment district, women's dress manufacturer Lee J.
This is why Mr. Cobb tells his handsome young son Kerwin Mathews (as Alan Mitchell), back in the US after several years overseas, to look at other employment opportunities.
Mathews soon discovers "Roxton Fashions" is tied up in deadly "protection" from mobster terrorist Richard Boone (as Artie Ravidge) and his goons...Writer-producer Harry Kleiner reportedly changed directors, from Robert Aldrich, to Vincent Sherman, which may be why this interesting drama doesn't live up to its potential.
In his best moments, Cobb channels his "On the Waterfront" (1954) role.
Mathews gets stronger, but seems left to his own devices...The real female lead is Gia Scala (as Theresa), as the wife of union organizer Robert Loggia (as Tulio Renata).
One of Mathews and Scala's most memorable scenes is a good example.
While the flaws stand out, much of "The Garment Jungle" fits nicely.****** The Garment Jungle (1957-04-25) Vincent Sherman ~ Kerwin Mathews, Lee J.
Cobb, Gia Scala, Richard Boone.
He made "The Garment Jungle" in 1957 after the original director, Robert Aldrich, was taken off the picture.
Cobb and featuring the likes of Robert Loggia, Richard Boone, Wesley Addy and Joseph Wiseman in supporting roles.
It was also lacking in a strong female lead; Gia Scala and Valerie French are as good as we get here and while both are very pretty neither was ever likely to be Oscar-bait.
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.
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.
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?
Terrific film in the genre of "On the Waterfront." This one involves efforts to unionize the dress industry and the violence by mobsters hired by bosses to thwart the unions from getting a hold on the workers.Lee J.
Cobb is perfect as the role of the garment boss who has paid for years to keep the union out of his business.
When his partner is murdered by gangsters when the former is willing to sign on with the union, this occurs just in time as Cobb's son, well played by Kerwin Matthews, arrives from Europe on the scene and is willing to learn the business.
He soon realizes why his father has kept him out and when an organizer for the union is murdered, he becomes totally sympathetic with the union movement as well as the widow (Gia Scala) of the slain organizer.The picture captures the woes of garment workers and the mobsters who were hired to keep them out.It is to be noted that the garment industry always had a history of difficulty with labor.
Many of these places were in violation of National Labor Board rules and were continuously fined for abusing workers.This is a picture of rare quality with solid acting performances by a terrific cast.The film should especially be viewed by all the anti-union activists out there..
A son (Kerwin Matthews) wants to join his father in the garment business.
But, Cobb seems unconcerned and lets his mob friend (Richard Boone) do whatever he wants.
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.
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.
-- 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.
Unfortunately, he has extended scenes with three very strong personalities, Cobb, Loggia, and Boone, and except for the camera, you might even forget he's there.
I also suspect Sherman, a "woman's" director, was brought in to soften the ending into something more conventional and play up Scala's part, and especially French's otherwise non-essential role.
Nonetheless, those last 10 minutes contrast sharply with the noir sensibility that is unmistakably Aldrich's.At the same time, I wonder whose idea it was to have dad Mitchell's (Cobb) murder occur off-camera.
My guess is that the studio was leery of adding another violent scene to those already in place; after all, this was the period of the Production Code with its strictures on what could be said, what could be shown.None of this is to deny that Jungle remains a riveting social-conscience film with an unusually fine New York cast, a gutsy script, and some gritty street photography.
More importantly, had Columbia Studio left him alone and in charge, the movie could easily have become a classic along the lines of his Kiss Me Deadly instead of the unevenly good film it finally is..
She proved she could have been a big star as she tackled the demanding role of Theresa, the fiery young wife of union leader Tulio Renato (Robert Loggia).
Cobb could always be relied on to give explosive performances and this film starts with a bang with a heated conversation between Walter Mitchell (Cobb) and his partner who wants to bring in the unions and rid Roxton Fashion House of Artie Ravidge's (Richard Boone) protection racket which is calling all the shots.
That is left to his son, Alan (Kerwin Matthews) who walks right into the middle of the conflict, wants to follow his father into the garment trade but also sees what his father cannot - that by disallowing the unions into the factory, the gangsters are given free reign.
The movie then follows the son as he tries to learn the truth and meets passionate union official Tulio and his beautiful wife Theresa.Taken from a series of explosive articles by leftist columnist Victor Riesel, I think Kerwin Matthews is up to the job, of the son who has instant sympathy with the under paid piece work machinists.
No holds barred film noir of New York's fashion district..
From the very beginning, where one of the partners of a garment making industry is brutally murdered, to the gripping ending that features a memorable roof-top chase sequence, "The Garment Jungle" is to the unions of the garment industry what "On the Waterfront" was to longshoremen.
While it probably lessens the impact with the passage of time between the two films (three years can make a big difference), "The Garment Jungle" is still pertinent today because of the prevalence of major fashion houses and top models in that industry.
Cobb, a character actor I've come to respect more recently by seeing some of his less known films, gives a performance that is filled with small nuances of humanity thanks to the relationships he has with his son (Kerwin Matthews) and girlfriend (Valarie French).
Gia Scala and Robert Loggia are good as union workers fighting Cobb and crime boss Richard Boone while getting Matthews on their side.
Columbia's late 50's film noirs were the best; They seemed to keep the genre going a few years longer than other studios output..
**SOILERS** With a steel-like grip on the New York City garment industry mobster Artie Ravidge, Richard Boone,has been running a protection racket taking in as much as $2,000.00 a month from clothes manufactures.
That's to make sure that their business don't end up being burned by his hoods.The last thing that Ravidge wants is that the garment workers unionize thus putting him and his hoods out of business.
Cobb, partner and good friend Fred Kenner, (Robert Ellestein), who's in favor of unionizing the workers, killed in an elevator accident that Mitchell starts to have doubts about his relationship with him.
Things get even more strained for Mitchell when his son Allan, Kerwin Mathews, shows up-after being away for some time in Europe-to help in running his garment business.Seeing what Ravidge has been doing in strong-arming the workers in preventing them from forming a union Allan decides to throw his lot in with firebrand union organizer Tulio Renata, Robert Loggia.
It's when Tulio is later murdered by Ravidge's, with the help of a number of turncoats union members, thugs that even the wimpy Walter Mitchell decides that enough is enough in his having Ravidge, as a silent partner, run his garment business.
The fact that Tulio put his life on the line, and ended up losing it, gave the mostly intimidated workers the push that they needed to not only organize but throw Ravidge and his boys out of the garment industry.
As for Allan he soon took up the torch that Tulio dropped and, by risking his life, got the goods-his father's secret logs-that not only exposed Ravidge's murderous protection racket but had him arrested indited and finally convicted for the many crimes that he committed.