The Mob

Familiar gang-busting stuff set in On the Waterfront territory, with Crawford as a cop who, inadvertently goofing on duty, is officially reported as suspended and sent undercover to make good the damage by finding out who is masterminding the brutal extortion racket among longshoremen. William Bowers' script manages one or two genuine surprises - with Crawford at one point being hired to eliminate himself - but its main contribution is a nice line in sharp, waywardly witty dialogue. Given fast, flexible direction by Parrish, excellent camerawork (Joseph Walker) and a full house of vivid performances, the result is an unusually tense and enjoyable genre piece. Pity about the last reel, when everything collapses (though not too destructively) into routine histrionics.