I’m an ardent landlubber. I should be fine with ships and such since they’re in my blood. My Greek yaya’s side of the family were mariners and members of the Greek Navy. I must take after my papou’s side of the family who were mountain people. I’m not afraid of boats or the water but I’m prone to seasickness.
You’re probably wondering where this post is headed after that opener. The Breaking Point is set in a seafaring community, on the docks and on a ship:
The ship is owned by John Garfield who plays Harry Morgan. If that name sounds familiar it’s because Humphrey Bogart played the same guy in To Have Or To Have Not. Both films are based on the same Ernest Hemingway novel:
Bogie’s movie is loosely based on the Hemingway story. Garfield’s movie is more faithful to its origins. Both films are classics. I’m not retelling the Hawks-Hemingway story origin story, I’ll link to TCM’S take on it instead.
The Breaking Point is set in the OC: Newport Beach to be exact. Garfield plays a Navy vet whose fishing tour business isn’t going well. He spends most of the film scraping for small change to keep his dream boat afloat and his family fed. Garfield’s first mate is played by Juano Hernandez who you’ll recall from Intruder In The Dust.
Garfield is desperate to make a go of it. He cannot bear to be thought of as a failure by his family, especially his wife played by Phyllis Thaxter:
Garfield gets a job taking a seemingly rich guy played by Ralph Dumke fishing. He stiffs Garfield and even abandons the movie’s resident femme fatale, Patricia Neal, in Mexico.
After Dumke leaves them high and dry, Garfield asks Neal where she met that mook. In a voice dripping with sarcasm, she says, “In Sunday school.”
After Garfield, Hernandez, and Neal are stranded in Mexico, desperation sets in for the Captain. He begins working for a series of shady characters and his troubles deepen. He’s apparently unaware of the first rule of holes: when you’re in one, stop digging.
Wallace Ford plays a sleazy lawyer whose role in the movie is to tempt Garfield to do illegal shit for criminals like the coyote played by Victor Sen Young:
Victor Sen Young is best known for playing Charlie Chan’s bumptious number two son. The Charlie Chan series is one of my guiltiest pleasure so I know that Victor’s movie father must have been disappointed in him.
The story takes many twists and turns but that’s all the plot I’m willing to share. This feature is called pulp fiction, not pulp spoilers, after all. Suffice it to say that Garfield is wounded at the end of the movie but the guys he was shooting it out with fared worse:
The Breaking Point is brilliantly directed by Michael Curtiz of Casablanca fame. He keeps the story moving with the able assistance of cinematographer Ted McCord and screenwriter Ranald MacDougal. The script is loaded with juicy lines, the best of which are spoken by Patricia Neal, femme fatale extraordinaire.
The acting is excellent. Garfield gives one of his finest performances as the desperate mariner. Patricia Neal is drop dead gorgeous as Garfield’s temptress. Juano Hernandez and Wallace Ford are solid in support, and Phyllis Thaxter is on point as Garfield’s worried wife.
Grading Time: I give The Breaking Point 4 stars and an Adrastos grade of A. It’s a stone cold classic.
Let’s abandon ship and check out the posters for this noir classic. We begin with a side-by-side image of the American and Mexican one-sheets.
It’s quad time:
I’m feeling a bit green at the gills. Let’s all go to the lobby and see what they have for seasickness.
No meds so I guess a fountain drink will have to do. I’m feeling like a pepper, so Dr. Pepper it is.
I’ll try not to spill my big ass soda on the lobby cards, which are a mixture of color and black and white.
It’s time for this landlubber to head for the docks. The trailer just happens to be parked there:
The last word goes to Eddie Muller’s Summer Of Darkness intro and outro:
