Sam Fuller seems to have spared all expense with this low-budget indy which is glaringly short on people and automobiles for a contemporary urban mob film.
As a teen Tolly Devlin witnesses his father being beat to death in an alley. Swearing vengeance on all involved he does a bid in a reformatory before graduating to the state pen where he sadistically offs his first victim. Upon release he falls for a dame, dupes a police inspector and exacts revenge on the drug pushing scum now living the high life as respectable citizens.
Part of my enjoyment of watching a Fuller film is the way he stretches his budget. A low ratio of filmed takes can contribute to inconsistent performances that suffer from his occasional prosaic and stilted dialogue which is the case with Underworld. The Desilu style sets look like they were borrowed without permission after everyone went home and some of the props in the commissioner's office look like some of Fuller's "Big Red One war memorabilia from his den. He can't afford major stars but Cliff Robertson gives a highly credible performance as Devlin and its nice to see perennial minor character actor Robert Emhardt in a more substantial role as the mob kingpin.
It is for his tenacity to see his vision through with near complete independence that I am willing to cut Fuller some slack but in Underworld USA he gets sloppy with his editing and montage and his pacing becomes erratic in an environment that's glaringly artificial. It deserves to be whacked.
As a teen Tolly Devlin witnesses his father being beat to death in an alley. Swearing vengeance on all involved he does a bid in a reformatory before graduating to the state pen where he sadistically offs his first victim. Upon release he falls for a dame, dupes a police inspector and exacts revenge on the drug pushing scum now living the high life as respectable citizens.
Part of my enjoyment of watching a Fuller film is the way he stretches his budget. A low ratio of filmed takes can contribute to inconsistent performances that suffer from his occasional prosaic and stilted dialogue which is the case with Underworld. The Desilu style sets look like they were borrowed without permission after everyone went home and some of the props in the commissioner's office look like some of Fuller's "Big Red One war memorabilia from his den. He can't afford major stars but Cliff Robertson gives a highly credible performance as Devlin and its nice to see perennial minor character actor Robert Emhardt in a more substantial role as the mob kingpin.
It is for his tenacity to see his vision through with near complete independence that I am willing to cut Fuller some slack but in Underworld USA he gets sloppy with his editing and montage and his pacing becomes erratic in an environment that's glaringly artificial. It deserves to be whacked.