Cover of Black Legion
Directed by Archie Mayo & Michael Curtiz (uncredited)
Produced by Robert Lord
Written by Story: Robert Lord
Screenplay: Abem Finkel & William Wister Haines
Starring Humphrey Bogart
Dick Foran
Erin O’Brien-Moore
Ann Sheridan
Music by W. Franke Harling, Howard Jackson & Bernhard Kaun (all uncredited)
Cinematography George Barnes
Editing by Owen Marks
Studio Warner Bros.
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date(s) January 17, 1937 (NYC)
January 30, 1937 (US)
Running time 83 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Black Legion is a 1937 film that depicts an offshoot of the notorious Ku Klux Klan. Many of the messages contained in the film are just as poignant today as they were 70+ years ago, that is that in times of trouble that it is easy to blame and scapegoat migrants. Having recently read the ramblings of a Melbourne white supremacist who among other things labelled me a ‘race traitor’, shows that despite what some people say, deep racism is still around. Just by browsing the Anti-Bogan website you can see just how warped some people still are about these things.
In Black Legion Humphrey Bogart plays Frank Taylor, a factory worker who gets passed over for a promotion at his job, which goes to Polish American Henry Brandon. Taylor ends up falling for the propaganda of the Black Legion, a clandestine white supremicist organisation. Thanks to the ideas promoted by the Legion, Taylor begins to blame foreigners for his woes. There are consequences for Taylor as he loses his wife and child and then murders his best friend after letting slip his membership of the Legion.
The film is very well acted and the young Bogart is great. This was still a year or so before he became a big star. The film is a little preachy, but it is still totally absorbing.
Related Articles
- LEGIONES To Release New 7″ EP (bravewords.com)
- Wisc. Governor Makes a Cold-Blooded Threat to Sic the National Guard on Union Workers (talkingunion.wordpress.com)
- MARDUK Added To Germany’s Summer Breeze Festival (bravewords.com)
- ENTHRONED Issue Post-European Tour Update (bravewords.com)
- Happy Valentine’s Day from the Legion of Super-Heroes (politedissent.com)
- Foreign Legion: The Truth Behind a Band of Elite (socyberty.com)
- Warner Bros Releases The Dark Knight As A DVD-Like App (cultofmac.com)
- Warner Bros. To Sell Movies As Apps Through App Store (slashgear.com)
- RAPatton: I Am Legion Marches To Screen ” Spinoff Online – Covering TV, Film and Entertainment News Daily (spinoff.comicbookresources.com)
- A brief, brief look at Galaga Legions DX (joystiq.com)
