The System (1953)

movie

(139)

Country: USA
Genres: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Release: 1953-04-18
Director: Lewis Seiler
Writers: Jo Eisinger , Samuel Grafton , Edith Grafton
Language: English
Stars: Frank Lovejoy , Joan Weldon , Robert Arthur , Paul Picerni , Don Beddoe , Jerome Cowan , Dan Seymour , Sarah Selby , Fay Roope , Frank Richards
Runtime: 90 min
Awards: N/A
AKA: Het systeem (Belgium) , El sistema (Mexico) , Nódoa Infamante (Brazil) , Le système (Benin) , Gangsterisyndikaatti (Finland) , Le système (France, French Republic) , I pirati della metropoli (Italy) , The System , A Máquina do Crime (Portugal, Portuguese Republic) , Zentrale Chikago (Austria) , The System (United States of America)
Plot: Gambler John Merrick (Frank Lovejoy) is the head of a bookie syndicate and the newspaper is crusading against him and the rackets, primarily because Merrick is in love with Felice Stuart (Joan Weldon), daughter of the newspaper publisher who can not break up the romance through persuasion. A senate committee investigating crime gets involved, the racketeers, other than Merrick who is a "nice guy", strike back and kill a reporter, and Merrick's own son, Jerry Merrick (Robert Arthur), commits suicide. Merrick, to his own disadvantage, helps bring down the syndicate. Since it is in black-and-white-, deals with crime and was an American-made film, some will call it "film noir" since that seems to be the current guidelines for putting a film in that, at one time limited-and-defined genre. It ain't, and neither are most of the others currently so classified.
IMDB:tt0046389