by Daniel White
"Good morning, Roxton fashions, one moment please."
If you can accept Arrow Collar Man Kerwin Mathews as corned beef on rye guy, Lee J. Cobb's, son, then you can savor The Garment Jungle (1957). A screwy, frenetic crime drama, the flick is an amphetamine-addled romp that tackles some weighty issues. My advice: ignore the issues and bask in the "overness" of it all. Overacted, overwrought and especially over the top, The Garment Jungle is best enjoyed when not taken too seriously. Swimming with some ferocious method acting sharks, Mathews initially appears reticent and ill at ease.
As Alan Mitchell, he's a Korean war vet, returning home, eager to work with dad, Walter (Cobb), in the garment business. Determined to keep the union out of his shop, Walter is blind to the roughhouse tactics that associate Artie Ravidge (rhymes with savage) employs. Even when friend, co-owner and union sympathizer Fred Kenner plunges 12 floors to his death in an elevator accident...
Initially begun by Robert Aldrich, Columbia head Harry Cohn replaced him with Vincent Sherman several weeks into filming. As tumultuous as anything unfolding onscreen, the backstage squabbles have all the makings of an exciting movie themselves.
Unrestrained Lee J. Cobb is madly entertaining. Along with Richard Boone (Ravidge), Robert Loggia as a union organizer, and practically everyone else (except the wooden Mathews), these guys are "ACTING". Forget that corned beef I mentioned previously, a whole lotta ham is on display here!
Gia Scala has a nice bit in a bar where she's breastfeeding her baby. Aldrich/Sherman handle the scene beautifully. It's a shocking moment, not just for the content, but how well directed it is. A poignant pause amidst all the mashugana (apologies to my Jewish friends if I've misused this wonderful Yiddish word). Hell, eventually Kerwin "stiff as a board" Mathews loosens up, let's his hair down and engages in some impressive chewing of the scenery as well. Atta boy, Kerwin!
With moody, noirish, on location NYC cinematography (Joseph F. Biroc), The Garment Jungle is currently available on YouTube.
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