The Breaking Point (1950) User Reviews

A Second Go at Hemingway

[evanston_dad · 8/10 · 26 April 2018]

"The Breaking Point" is technically considered to be a remake of Ernest Hemingway's "To Have and Have Not," first brought to the screen with Bogie and Bacall. But it feels like a whole different story in just about every conceivable way. John Garfield excelled at playing prototypical noir heroes, desperate men doing desperate things when feeling trapped by an unfair fate. This is the role he has here, and watching his character dig himself deeper and deeper into shady doings that he knows are shady from the outset is like watching a slowly unfolding car accident. Patricia Neal is extremely fetching and knows how to deliver a sardonic one liner like no one's business, but the script doesn't do a whole lot with her other than have her appear here and there as window dressing. The stand out for me was Phyllis Thaxter as Garfield's plain Jane wife. It's refreshing in a film from 1950 to see a housewife portrayed as something other than a mindless cipher for her husband's thoughts and desires. Instead, she has a mind of her own and reserves of strength he might not give her credit for.

The most quietly astonishing thing about "The Breaking Point" is its treatment of Garfield's friend and ship assistant, a black man played by Juano Hernandez. The fact that he's black is a complete non-issue in the film. He's treated as an equal by Garfield and his family, and none of the stereotypes about black people that were so prevalent in movies from this time period, even in movies with their hearts in the right places, are present here. The final scene of the film involves this character's son, and it's so striking, and so devastating, that in retrospect the entire film almost seems to be about that scene even though it has almost nothing to do with everything that's come before it.

Michael Curtiz provides the no-frills direction.

Grade: A

Brilliant Garfield performance, his second-last

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 5 October 2015]

With the Depression, the so-called "upper class," the subject of so many plays and films, began to fade and be replaced by the work of playwrights such as Clifford Odets.

John Garfield was the type of leading man who came out of that kind of working man play -- more rugged than romantic, more blue collar than white collar, more at home in a leather jacket than a tuxedo. That leading man type would peak post-war with the likes of Dean, Brando, Steiger, Newman, McQueen, and others. But their predecessor was John Garfield.

Here he stars in his second-last film, as he would soon be blacklisted -- it's "The Breaking Point," based on the Hemingway novel "To Have and Have Not," but not really like the Bogart-Bacall film, which borrowed the title.

In "The Breaking Point," Garfield plays Harry Morgan, who runs a charter boat in California. He has a wife, Lucy (Phyllis Thaxter) and two daughters (Sherry Jackson, Donna Jo Boyce). Times are tough (the original novel took place during the Depression) and Harry is having trouble making enough money to pay off his boat and raise his family.

Lucy wishes her husband would work for his father on his lettuce farm in Salinas, but Harry says all he knows is boats.

Because he needs money, Harry agrees to carry out a shady deal, transporting Chinese to the United States. But when he is cheated out of most of his money, he returns the men where he picked them up. However, someone rats on him and he nearly loses his boat.

When the boat's owner threatens to take the boat for nonpayment, Harry agrees to another shady deal; this one proves more dangerous.

Very intense film which also stars Juano Hernandez, who was wonderful in so many films until his death in 1970; Patricia Neal in her "babe" days, as a former boat passenger who is attracted to Harry; and Wallace Ford, as a foolish man involved in nefarious schemes. William Campbell, whose big claim to fame was that he was married to JFK's girlfriend Judith Exton, plays a low-level criminal.

John Garfield gives a brilliant performance as a stubborn, intense, desperate man who doesn't know where to turn. His last movie, He Ran All the Way, was a B movie and a clear indication that, thanks to the Communist witch hunt, he was on his way out. He died two years later.

Beautifully directed by Michael Curtiz, the end of the movie is especially poignant.

Forgotten Classic Noir.

[jpdoherty · 8/10 · 8 May 2009]

Made in 1950 Warner Bros. THE BREAKING POINT is one of Hollywood's great and classic Film Noirs! Meticulously directed by Michal Curtiz it is, after "Force Of Evil", John Garfield's best movie! Beautifully written by Ranald McDougall, from a short story by Ernest Hemingway, this was the third time it was filmed by Warner Bros. Both earlier versions "To Have & To Have Not" (1945) and "Key Largo" (1948) starred Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall but this version was the more definitive and broadest reworking of the story.

John Garfield giving one of his best hard boiled performances plays down-at-heel charter-boat captain Harry Morgan who reluctantly falls foul of the law while trying to make ends meet for himself and his family. His wife (Phillis Thaxter overbearing in an over written role) pleads with him to give up his boat THE SEA QUEEN ("pop says you can have a job anytime on his lettuce ranch in Salinas" to which Harry balks "I'm not going to squat on my hunkers down in Salinas, trying to pick lettuce quicker than the bugs can eat it, I'm a boat jockey, it's all I know"). But when a fishing party lets him down and he runs out of money in Mexico - a shifty shyster lawyer, F.R Duncan, (brilliantly played by Wallace Ford) entices him to take some illegal migrants back on his boat into the United States, Harry has no choice but to comply. "Don't fight it Harry - relax - roll with it - let it happen" Duncan repeatedly advises Harry, to which Harry rounds on him - "you're poison!-....you'd sell your own mother if she was worth anything"! Later in the movie Duncan inveigles him to take a quartet of gangsters out to sea when they flee after their racetrack heist - culminating in the picture's gripping and climactic set piece - a suspenseful and bloody shootout on board THE SEA QUEEN.

Peppered with sparkling dialogue throughout, everything in the film is splendidly executed. The movie just rattles along at a well defined pace. Crisply photographed by the great Warner cinematographer Ted McCord ("Johnny Belinda"/ "Treasure Of the Sierra Madre") his brilliant low-key black & white camera work gives the movie a compelling visual style. Oddley enough though the movie goes virtually unscored but it does have a lovely and beguiling orchestral piece heard over the opening credits and for the finale. There is no music credit on the picture except for Music Supervision by Ray Heindorf but the piece sounds suspiciously like something Max Steiner would have written. In a letter from the esteemed composer to this writer in 1968 he intimated to me that he had indeed written the piece - without credit - adding that he wrote it as a favor to Ray Heindorf. The following year Steiner, again without credit, would oblige Heindorf with a helping hand with the score for the Cagney classic "Come Fill The Cup".

"The Breaking Point" is a terrific movie that badly needs a DVD release! I am surprised that Warner Home Video have not already included it in one of their noir box sets. Perhaps it will turn up in their next one? Or maybe in an overdue Garfield set - who knows?

Classic line from "The Breaking Point"....... when smart-mouthed good time girl Patricia Neal, drinking in a Mexican bar - ignores the clamour of a cock-fight taking place in the background - Garfield asks "don't you like cockfights? To which she blithely replies "all that trouble for an egg".

Outstanding Garfield Flick

[dougdoepke · 18 February 2018]

An underrated flick in the Garfield canon. His charter boat captain, Morgan, may not be very likable, but the actor makes him a compelling tough guy. So, how's Morgan going to pay his debts and keep his charter boat. It's a struggle, especially when wheedling deal-maker Duncan (Ford) keeps tempting him with illegal transporting. It's really a battle for Morgan's soul though he doesn't realize it. On one hand there's faithful wife Lucy (Thaxter) and two small daughters, along with deck hand Park (Hernandez) depending on him for support. On the other, is smoothy Duncan, sultry temptress Leona (Neal), and an array of criminal types offering him money for illegal services. Trouble is Morgan loves both Lucy and his boat, so will he stay honest and get a new livelihood, or will he succumb to seductive overtures from Duncan and turn criminal boat captain.

Garfield's Morgan is not a nice guy, so the outcome is uncertain. Every other word is a smart-alecky remark, and though he loves wife Lucy and the two little girls, he seems to forget them when obsessing about his boat. Clearly, his ego is tied up with being a captain.

It's a perfect Garfield role, and he gives no quarter. At the same time, Thaxter works wonders as the sympathetic wife without getting smarmy, a really difficult role. And shouldn't overlook Neal whose grinning blonde temptress resembles a figure from perhaps the lower regions. Then too, inclusion of Black actor Hernandez was a bold one for 1950 when Black actors were still mostly servants or comic relief. Moreover, his inclusion results indirectly in one of the most brilliantly poignant final scenes in film annals. I get the feeling the writers were doing their best to avoid a typical Hollywood ending, which was still the norm.

All in all, the movie deserves a ranking just below Garfield's celebrated Force of Evil (1948) as a study in self-realization. Please, TCM, revive the flick whenever you can.

Gripping, touching, beautiful, and a great story

[secondtake · 8/10 · 5 September 2013]

The Breaking Point (1950)

Forget for a second that this is a Hemingway story, or that it was more famously and loosely made into a movie ("To Have and Have Not)" with Bogart and Bacall in 1944.

Here was have John Garfield playing with great realism a boating man, Morgan, who has hit hard times. So he is tempted by an illegal run for some big money. And it goes badly. Then, to get out of that jam, he is drawn into yet another one, which goes even worse.

So this is really a story of a man against the odds. He's basically a good person, which we see in how he treats his partner, his wife, his kids. But it's partly because of those others that he feels he has to come through and make some money. In a way, this is what Hemingway's novel is all about--how a man copes with crisis. (This is always what Hemingway is about, in a way.) It's great starting material.

The two women in the story, made to look slightly similar, are key in a Hemingway kind of way, too, because a Hemingway man is essentially torn by love all his life. Morgan's wife is terrific in a simple, unexciting way, and when Patricia Neal appears very sexually hungry, Morgan at first is not interested. Neal's character is not quite a noir femme fatale, since she really wants nothing for herself, but is a distraction and siren.

The two of them are terrific. Around them are a whole swarm of characters, some with important roles and excellent character actors, but we really get inside the head of Garfield and we really feel the weirdly brazen and carefree intensity of Neal.

So why is this a forgotten film? For one, Garfield is a low key leading man. He always is. His effect is subtle. And Neal isn't a steaming hottie or an outrageous caricature like some leading (blonde) women in these crime films. And then, frankly, they don't totally have chemistry on screen, which is neither one's fault alone, and which isn't so inaccurate to the story.

And about Hemingway? The book is great. You have to like his style and his manly view, but if you can adapt to that, read it. Easy reading, too. And he set the scene in the waters between Florida and Cuba, which is where he lived and fished. The Bogart version was set in the war, working for the French Resistance in Europe. The Garfield version was set (and shot) in California, with a trip to Mexico. A later version (1958) is set in Florida.

This is actually a first rate movie. Part of the success depends on the writing-both Hemingway and the sharp, noir-influenced screenplay by Ranald MacDougall. Note that the photography is by the great Ted McCord (Sound of Music, East of Eden, etc.).

The plot has some deeply personal aspects, both with Morgan's wife and kids as they barely scrape by and with the temptation of the sort of femme fatale played with a cool sharpness by Patricia Neal. And it has a serious crime plot with several angles that develop and disperse and develop further. It moves from dark night scenes to open water scenes to a faked fog ending (a flaw, visually, because you can tell it's just been processed for lower contrast even though the sun is out).

The movie also has some aspects that strike me as socially relevant, starting with the smuggling of a group of Chinese people out of Mexico at the start and ending with the tragic dilemma of a little African-American boy left literally alone on a big open dock at the final fade. This last aspect (which I can't get specific about without spoiling something) points to one of the really big interpersonal parts of the film that is key, and that I wish had been developed just a hair more because it's so key.

On my third viewing, I continue to like it a lot. See it.

Things Didn't Go Right for the Boat Jockey

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 19 September 2012]

The Breaking Point cannot properly be called a remake of To Have And Have Not as that classic film was altered to make the story relevant for domestic consumption in wartime America. There was also added the legendary chemistry of Bogey and Bacall in their first film together. Ernest Hemingway did not write that for the movie-going public.

The Breaking Point is far more Hemingway and far more realistically done. John Garfield makes a perfect Hemingway hero and the locations along the California coast aren't glamorized in any way. This is a working class locale and the black and white cinematography and wind swept look given by same reflects Garfield and the area he is raising his family in.

Garfield plays a World War II veteran who wanted to earn a living on the sea and have Phyllis Thaxter raise their daughters in that coastal location. But business comes in cycles and a bad season finds Garfield owing everyone including the butcher, the baker and candlestick maker. Most of all he owes for fuel and that guy is ready to take the boat for payment.

When a charter client stiffs him on the bill, Garfield is forced to make some bad choices to pay his bills and support his family. Providing some of those bad choices is Wallace Ford playing a truly sleazebag shyster living on the Mexican side of the Pacific coast who ostensibly will get you a quickie Mexican divorce, but dabbles in all kinds of illegal fields. Actually I'm being unfair, shysters make bad lawyer jokes about Ford.

Providing a little temptation for Garfield is Patricia Neal who is trying very hard for the same Lauren Bacall effect. She's the girlfriend of the client who stiffed Garfield in the first place and she has most original and cynical point of view about life and men.

The Breaking Point provides John Garfield with one of his best performances in his next to last film. And he far more fits the Hemingway conception as does the overall film itself.

another version

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 26 July 2020]

Harry Morgan (John Garfield) charters his boat for fishing trips. He has financial troubles and a family at home. Hannagan and his companion Leona Charles (Patricia Neal) hire Harry for a trip to Mexico. Sleazy Duncan and Mr. Sing hire Harry to smuggle Chinese migrants into the States. Everything keeps going wrong.

It's six years after Bogie introduces a 19 year old Bacall in the less than faithful adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's To Have and Have Not. The studio tries it again with a more direct adaptation of the story. While Garfield is no Bogie, he brings his own abilities. He has a rougher personality. He's less appealing but he's something else. He is very much Harry Morgan. He does the wrong things a lot of the times. He's not heroic. He's one step away from being a criminal with excuses. There are great moments with his family. It may not be as iconic as a Bogie movie but this is real good.

Superior film

[jjnxn-1 · 9/10 · 10 March 2012]

Exceptional version of Hemingway's To Have and Have Not is far superior to the Bogart/Bacall film. While the Bogie film was a good picture awash in style and the chemistry of the two leads this is far more realistic without the atmosphere perhaps but loaded with pleasures nonetheless.

For starters this contains one of John Garfield's best performances. Always a fine actor he gets under the skin of his character and makes you understand his desperation and moral conflict, he's riveting every second he is on screen. This was one of his last films before his tragically early death, a sad loss of a great talent who isn't as well remembered as he should be today.

Patricia Neal also scored strongly in this the best of her early roles. She is tough and world weary but also kind and sexy with her whiskey voice and blonde hair. Although it's never stated specifically it's very clear that her character is a prostitute, for the time period a bold point. She and Garfield work very well together and it's a pity his death prevented them from being paired again.

The two other main actors, Phyllis Thaxter and Juano Hernandez, contribute exemplary work as well providing terrific support. Phyllis and Particia Neal are interesting contrasts and their scene together is a study in underplaying. Her scenes with Garfield are also very good, without being explicit they make it clear theirs is a full and happy marriage in all regards with the normal strains and joys.

All this fine work would be for naught if not supported by an excellent screenplay and tight direction from the versatile Curtiz, a man who could direct any genre without problems.

Less romantic in tone but a gripping drama that has been unfortunately obscured by the fame of the other version this is well worth seeking out.

Good, though uneven, drama

[grantss · 7/10 · 5 February 2016]

Decent, though uneven, drama.

Based on the Ernest Hemmingway novel, "To have and have not". Harry Morgan (played by John Garfield) runs a charter boat service out of Southern California. One day he is chartered by a man to take him and his female companion to Mexico and back. In Mexico he is deserted by the man without payment. In order to make enough money to get back, he takes on a rather dubious client...

The first adaptation of Hemingway's novel was made in 1944. It was titled "To have and have not" and was set in Martinique in the Caribbean during WW2. Directed by Howard Hawks, it starred Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall (in her debut movie) and was an intriguing, gritty drama with some great twists.

The Breaking Point is the second adaptation. Directed by Michael Curtiz (of Casablanca, among others, fame), other than the initial setup, this movie ultimately has a different plot to the first (which, apparently, differed quite significantly from the novel). Less of a thriller and more of a human drama this time.

Not as gritty, or as riveting. The middle section drags a bit and the scenes showing Morgan's relationships with his wife and another woman seem overly melodramatic and largely unnecessary. The final few scenes, however, are fantastic and make up for the lull in the middle section. The final image of the movie is one of the sadder and more haunting ones in cinematic history.

Good work by John Garfield in the lead role.

I prefer the original, "To have and have not", but this movie isn't bad either.

Great and Underrated Garfield Movie

[prometheeus · 9/10 · 23 January 2006]

I just saw this movie in the last week at a recent Film Noir Festival here in San Francisco. Garfield owns this role as a down on his luck captain of his boat. He is willing to take shady deals to make money for him and keep his family (his two young daughters) with money. His wife played by Phyllis Thaxter gives a fine turn as a wife and mother. Patricia Neal is smooth and dangerous in her role as a two timing blonde broad. The daughters that played the kids were effective and smart like their ages were depicted. Garfield's mate Wesley Park was very good in his role of Garfiled's suffering partner. The reptilian role of the attorney was convincing and nasty. The final minutes of the movie had me choked up with the performances from Garfield and Thaxter. Another great movie by Michael Curtiz. Why isn't this movie on DVD?

Beautifully Acted By All

[Handlinghandel · 6/10 · 22 April 2006]

John Garfield is the star. What a star he was, too! He's near the end of his too-short career here but is fine. Phyllis Thaxter, as his wife, will steal your heart. She gives a beautifully performance.

One of my favorites, Patricia Neal, is good too. But she doesn't look beautiful, which she certainly was. Her costumes do not compliment her, nor does her hair in this movie.

Juano Hernandez as Garfield's fishing buddy is very touching in an understated role. And Wallace Ford is exceptionally good. He plays an extremely shady lawyer -- a loudmouthed braggart and a coward. It's the sort of role and performance that get singled out for Academy Awards but apparently he got nothing -- not here nor anywhere else in his long, interesting career.

The story centers on Garfield's boat and his travels. It's about him, his foundering career, and his family. Initially Neal plays an integral role but once she is no longer a passenger, her character's relationship to the rest of the plot is tenuous.

Garfield in one of his best

[joedonato234 · 9/10 · 25 May 2011]

This is a remake of TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT that supposedly from what I've read sticks closer to the Hemingway story. Garfield could play the strong but tormented guy like nobody's business, here however we have most of the information needed in understanding just what's eating at this guy, wearing him down and making him afraid. "A man alone hasn't got a chance," he keeps repeating. But Harry isn't alone. He's got a family that loves him, a plain but good woman he adores, and who adores him. A best friend who is his shipping mate, yet he still can't shake the feeling that somehow the universe is against him, working overtime. He's like a man that needs some spiritual guidance. Something is missing. On first viewing this plays like a well done yarn. On subsequent viewings however, this film begins to haunt. The characters and scenes play on a deeper, more meaningful level. The domestic scenes, usually the throwaway, boring parts of a story like this, become the rock and Garfield and Phylis Thaxter emit genuine emotion and affection for one another that is unusually realistic. Patricia Neal is the temptress here, and in an unusual move, we're not supposed to fall in love with her or maybe even like her, which is evident in how she's physically presented. Her haircut is really bad and she's basically unflatteringly lit and photographed. She too looks realistic: like a once beautiful creature who's been around the block too many times and is starting to look all used up.

Juano Hernandez rounds out the main players as Garfield's friend and shipmate. It was Garfield who insisted the character be a black man and had the relationship between the two beefed up. According to Garfield's daughter, the studio didn't like the idea and tried to talk him out of it, eventually giving up. This casting led to someone (director Michael Curtiz?)coming up with that final shot in the film that hits like a sucker punch to the gut, unexpected and unforgettable.

Watch this one a second time and see if you agree.

Chinaman's Chance

[writers_reign · 7/10 · 18 February 2017]

John Garfield's penultimate film was a more faithful adaption of Hemingway's minor novel To Have And Have Not yet ironically the original title had to be changed for reasons that elude me as I have always believed that titles cannot be copyrighted. Be that as it may Garfield turns in a fine performance as Harry Morgan, married this time around and sailing out of California rather than Havana. Phyllis Thaxter is excellent as his world-weary wife and Patrica Neal's whore in all but name complements her perfectly and gets the lion's share of the one-liners. Wallace Ford is suitably oily as the architect of all Morgan's troubles and Juan Hernandez lends sterling support as Morgan's crew-cum-friend.

Meandering story

[jimdavidson-19532 · 5/10 · 3 November 2020]

Hemingway must have been on a bender when he cranked out this yarn. It's got everything that a thirty-year-running soap opera could squeeze into two hours. The only thing recognizable (spoiler alert) is the end: Farewell to arm. Still, I'll give it five stars since I was convincingly suckered into wasting nearly two hours of my life hoping that a story would unfold.

Taut, terrific remake of "To Have and Have Not" more faithful to the original tale...

[Doylenf · 5 August 2011]

Ernest Hemingway is said to have liked THE BREAKING POINT more than any other film made from one of his stories and it's easy to see why--especially if you compare this to the earlier version, TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. While that film sizzled with their chemistry in the leading roles, the story here is much more compelling and has much more urgency in the telling.

Of course, it's always a shame that Hemingway's anti-heroes fail to understand that playing around with crooked gangsters can be detrimental to the health of all concerned, but THE BREAKING POINT makes you sympathize with the character of Harry Morgan that Garfield plays so well. The shady lady in this case is smoothly played by PATRICIA NEAL, whose patrician presence made Garfield inform her (or so we're told by Miss Neal herself): "You know, don't you, you're playing a whore." She tells this amusing anecdote in a documentary called THE JOHN GARFIELD STORY.

PHYLLIS THAXTER is the plain wife of boat captain Garfield, who lightens her hair when she gets a load of the woman (Patricia Neal) she suspects her husband is having an affair with. Thaxter gives one of her best performances as the loyal wife struggling to keep her husband straight, away from the gangsters she knows will ruin the lives of their small family. WALLACE FORD is excellent as the shady lawyer willing to take abusive treatment from Garfield as long as he goes along with the crooked schemes he has in mind.

The film has a stark film noir quality to the excellent B&W photography and builds to a quietly effective ending after the long shootout that ends the story, an ending that makes the viewer more aware of the consequences of Garfield's stupid decision to conspire with gangsters who shoot his best friend. Michael Curtiz does a superior job of directing.

Best John Garfield film I've seen...

[AlsExGal · 9/10 · 31 March 2019]

... He is the same guy as always, struggling against odds, railing about making it, etc., but toned down a bit. He takes umbrage but there is a restraint that is not present in his earlier more angry-young-man roles. Maybe because he looks as little filled out and older and is a family man to boot. There is a relative maturity in the character that is appealing. Despite playing the proverbial "same role" as some actors are thought of as doing, there is no sense that he is phoning it in. And he holds up more effective than ever with the ultimate no-nonsense imperative of tough guys. Tough but regular too, I like the opening sally, i.e., to the effect that when out to sea a certain tranquillity can reign but back on land nothing but trouble. I like that, especially with the ultimate irony to come.

The domestic scenes are not Hemingway, but added for the movie. A wonderful decision. It rounds out Garfield's character giving him a softer side and allows for the domestic sweetness and wholesome prettiness of Phyllis Thaxter to be his wife. I like to feel that her all-to-obvious new hairdo was not lost on her husband and that it might have helped him decide on another matter regarding a certain lady.

Garfield's remark to his 10-year-old daughter about being "too old to run around (the house) like that" (i.e., in night clothes) was a surprising but effective slice-of-life detail that perhaps only in a small way ushers in the new 50s sensibility regarding such matters that will make films more frank and real with youth (teens) issues.

Patricia Neal is stunning as the would-be femme fatale, - would-be because she falls short of treachery. Her worldly manner and sophisticated beauty provides a stark contrast to Garfield's women in the story. She wants to seduce, and pending the outcome, have the goods on him for revenge. Is she too sympathetic for this? Up in the air,,pending definitions. Reliable veteran character actor Wallace Ford has a good gig as a low-level conduit to the underworld. He has good dialogue, pushy and sarcastic with his own clients but totally subservient when around the big boys. A happy addition to the story. The poor boy alone on the pier resonates and is discomforting.

One of Garfield's best portrayals, and a heck of a good film.

[bluenova19692002 · 8/10 · 4 April 2013]

SPOILERS-- Based on Hemingway's To Have and Have Not, the story was first brought to the screen in 1944 starring Bogart and Bacall, and was partially adapted for Key Largo (1948), again with Bogart and Bacall. This version has not been as available as other Garfield films, but finally has re-surfaced. It is much closer to the novel, than the '44 version, although the latter is an excellent film, largely due to the two leads. In this version, Garfield plays a WWII Navy vet who only knows how to do one thing well, and that is be a skipper. He desperately loves his plain, but faithful wife, and adores his two small girls, but is frustrated with his inability to provide for them adequately chartering his boat to tourists. He sort of gets involved with "good-time girl" Neal, and additionally, through the machinations of crooked attorney Ford, with transporting some illegal Chinese immigrants (resulting in Garfield killing a middle man who pulls a gun on him), as well as some gangsters who rob a race track and need someone's boat to help them escape. Caught in a moral dilemma, Garfield's character attempts to redeem himself by overpowering the gangsters and receiving the reward money, but it doesn't quite end like he planned. (The scene where Garfield's shipmate, Juano Hernandez, in a very smooth performance, gets gunned down by a gangster, is sudden and vicious enough to jolt one's nerves.) The second-to-last scene with Garfield and Thaxton, as the latter tries to convince her husband that his shot-up arm needs to be amputated or he will die, is a high point in both of their careers. (A shame that Garfield would be pass away in less than two years after the film's release, the victim of blacklisting.) And in an unusual ending motif, the last we see is a slow tracking shot of Hernandez' little boy, waiting at the docks for the father who will never come back...8 out of 10*s.

A good film noir

[Jeremy_Urquhart · 7/10 · 8 September 2022]

This is a rock solid and well above average film noir. It concerns the captain of a small commercial boat who struggles to make ends meet and provide for his family. When the opportunity comes along for him to use his boat for risky, illegal, but somewhat well-paying work, he feels he has no choice but to accept. In typical, classic crime film fashion, things spiral out of control from there.

The one thing that holds this back from being great is a slightly slow middle third. The opening is good, as is the last half-hour, but it stalls for time a bit between those two parts. You could almost zone out for the middle half-hour and not miss much; it really only serves to set up the climactic scenes, and takes a fairly long time to do so.

Funnily enough, the more time it spends on the boat (which it does for much of the first third and final third), the better the film gets; the claustrophobic, constantly rocking setting really helps with the film's tension and high stakes story.

Also interesting is how such an old movie had a Black supporting character whose race wasn't really a mandated part of the plot. It's rare to see much diversity in films that are this old, and usually, it's only if it's a historical film that demands certain actors be of a certain race. I'm not saying The Breaking Point is the only film to do this (and it's not progressive by modern standards or anything), but it stands out for a film released in 1950.

Great Garfield

[tomsview · 8/10 · 7 February 2016]

He's abrasive, truculent and dangerous, but Garfield is also mesmerising in this powerful film.

Based on a novel by Ernest Hemmingway, the story is about WW2 veteran Harry Morgan (John Garfield) who runs a charter fishing boat business that is sinking financially. The lack of money impacts on his long-suffering wife, Lucy (Phyllis Thaxter), and his friend Wesley Park (Juano Hernández).

When he is ripped-off by a client in Mexico, Harry becomes involved with shady deals involving using his boat for people smuggling and eventually rescuing gangsters. Along the way, his loyalty to Lucy is tested when he meets party girl Leona Charles (Patricia Neal). Everything comes to a head in a battle on the boat, but the ending is a tough one with a particularly poignant last scene.

I only saw this film recently when it turned up on TCM. I thought it must have some connection to Huston's "Key Largo" because both have a very similar shootout on a fishing boat at the end. However, the only connection is that Huston probably pinched the ending from Hemingway's novel – "Key Largo" is actually based on a play by Maxwell Anderson. Later I realised that I had indeed seen the other two versions that were made from Hemingway's novel. All three are superior films; the Audie Murphy version, "The Gun Runners", probably features his best performance.

"The Breaking Point" was directed by Michael Curtiz, and the style of the man who made "Casablanca" shines through.

Harry's descent to the dark side is understandable in the context of the story; circumstances continually conspire to bring him down, and he is too trusting of people who are basically scumbags. Garfield was perfect in the role – Harry Morgan is a man who has the nerve to walk the line between the legal and the illegal. He was a war hero, and feels that his service to his country should have provided better opportunities now that the war is over.

The script is smart and the dialogue crackles in the exchanges between Garfield and Patricia Neal. In fact, the lines are nearly as brilliant as were those for Bogart and Bacall in the first adaption of the story, Howard Hawks' "To Have and Have Not".

Sunny coastal footage is balanced with dark, moody studio shots highlighting the dark and light of the story. This is a classy piece of work from a novel that seems able to stand any number of interpretations.

A Hemingway message movie, and it delivers

[PaulusLoZebra · 7/10 · 29 May 2023]

As pure entertainment, viewers will be pleased with Michael Curtiz' The Breaking Point, as it's a good drama, a good story, with atmospheric seaside cinematography, tense action sequences, and several fine performances. But bigger rewards await those willing to be drawn more deeply into the film. Tthe Ernest Hemingway story is beautifully portrayed. John Garfield plays a tough, straightforward man, successful as an officer in the war, who returns home to tough economic times and struggles doing the only thing he knows, captaining boats. He has a great friend and partner, a wonderful wife and children, but can't deliver sustained earnings nor pay his debts. Even when he has legitimate work he gets cheated. Eventually he is offered illicit sources of income. This is the story of how he deals with those temptations.

His mingling with unscrupulous people brings him into sexual temptations as well. Even though this is a similar story to the captain's economic one, and isn't really necessary for the story or the film, the extra spice it brings adds another dimension to the captain's misery and another challenge for his caharcter. Patricia Neal's performance is not to be missed. She is an amazing, intelligent and highly effective femme fatale.

Phyllis Thaxter and Juano Hernandez are both excellant as the captain's wife and best friend (and partner and first mate).

The fatalism of the story, and the permanence of the bad choices we make, are clear from the film's bittersweet ending, with one of the greatest final shots that I can remember.

Could this be Curtiz' masterpiece?

[MOscarbradley · 10/10 · 21 April 2018]

"The Breaking Point" comes from the same short story by Hemingway as "To Have and Have Not" but you would never really know it. If the Hawks movie was "Casablanca"-light, this is top notch Hemingway with a terse, beautifully written screenplay by Ranald MacDougall. Michael Curtiz, who directed "Casablanca" made this and it shows he had a much tougher edge than perhaps we're used to, but then remember Curtiz also made "Mildred Pierce" and she was no pushover.

John Garfield is the hard-nosed cruiser captain, tougher even than Bogie if you can believe it, and instead of Bacall we have Patricia Neal, brilliant as the blonde who has been around the block a few times. Instead of cuddly Walter Brennan we get the great Juno Hernandez who is a long way from cuddly and Wallace Ford is his usual magnificent self as the scuzzball who does the dirty on everyone.

Some people rate this as Curtiz' masterpiece and it's not hard to see why even if I still prefer "Casablanca" and that waitress. There isn't an ounce of fat to be found in this picture, not a single shot that is out of place and if you do want to think of Curtiz as an auteur and not just the greatest of studio directors then this is one to go for.

The Breaking Point

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 27 December 2022]

A rather disillusioned "Harry Morgan" (John Garfield) is the skipper of a boat offering charters to tourists and fishing trips, but business is not very good. He is deep in debt and, together with his pal "Wes" (Juano Hernandez) is struggling to make ends meet. He isn't helped by pressure from his wife "Lucy" (Phyllis Thaxter) who just wants him to get a steady job - on her uncle's lettuce farm! The plot now takes a fairly predictable twist as they find themselves stranded in Mexico with only one way back. That solution is provided by crooked lawyer "Duncan" (Wallace Ford) who offers to bail them out if they smuggle some contraband. Pretty soon the choices he makes start to impact on his family, and his relationship with his wife is further tested by his friendship with the rather disdainful (of men, anyway) "Leona" (Patricia Neal). Michael Curtiz packs a great deal into this 90 minute adventure thriller, and Garfield and Neal work really well together to give their scenes a bit of electricity as the former finds himself getting steadily more out of his depth. The dialogue, based on the Hemmingway book, is quick-fire and the gritty plot has plenty of punch with the momentum controlled really quite effectively right until quite a dangerous denouement!

John Garfield Does it Again

[susansweb · 8/10 · 10 January 2002]

No one played the haunted/hunted character better than John Garfield (Humphrey Bogart is a close second). Here, Garfield is a boat captain that gets in way over his head. The thing with Garfield's characters, is that even though the audience sympathizes with his plight, the character always brings it on himself. With Garfield's usual acerbic delivery, his Harry Morgan is hard to like but when he is with his family, one sees that he is basically a headstrong but good guy. Even though Michael Curtiz directed this, the tone and especially the ending shot kept reminding me of Fritz Lang. I think this film should be commended for the ending, which although a somewhat happy one, reminds the audience of the affect of one's actions on everyone. This generally was ignored in a lot of the crime dramas from the 30's to the 60's. My only complaint is the Patricia Neal character seemed tacked on for romance sake. She didn't add much and certainly didn't have an impact on the main thrust of the story. But that is a minor quibble. Another gem for one of the move overlooked actors - John Garfield.

This is my business this is what I'm good at

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 8 September 2011]

***SPOILERS*** Fishing boat Captain Harry Morgan, John Garfield, reaches his breaking point when all the pressures of keeping his prized possession-his boat-drive him to commit a robbery at the Santa Anita Racetrack. After being involved in a Chinese smuggling operation in order to be able to get back to the US from Mexico after his two fishing customers Hannagan & his moll Lona Charles, Ralph Dumke & Patrica Neal, stiffed him Capt.Morgan, or Cappy as he likes to be called, ends up killing his pre arranged, on his boat, contact Mr. Sing, Victor Sin Yung. That's after Mr. Sing pulled a piece, or gun, on Cappy when he refused to pay him his shipping free or $200.00 a head for each of smuggled 8 Chinamen that he promised Sing to sneak into the USA.

Now back in L.A with a possible murder rap, the killing of Mr. Sing, facing him the dispossession of his fishing boat for non payments is the very last thing that Cappy has to worry about. It's the sleazy and oily F.R Duncan, Wallace Ford ,who got Cappy involved with Mr. Sing & the 8 Chinamen who's now blackmails him into getting involved in a race track robbery planned by the notorious Danny & his Boys headed by Danny, Guy Thomajan, himself. Danny wants Cappy ,on his fishing boat, to be the gangs getaway driver after the robbery is pulled off. What's even worse if that's at all possible is that Cappy's old lady Lucy, Phyllis Thaxter, is threatening to leave him an take the kids along with her if he doesn't stop running around with the blond & sexy Lona who in fact Cappy really has no interest in! Lucy gets so jealous of Lona and her supposed attraction to her hubby Cappy Morgan that she dyes her dark hair blond, to the shock and dislike of her two young daughters, just to impress him!

Painting himself into a corner Cappy reluctantly goes along with Danny & his Boys plans to knock off the race track but has an ace, or a pair of .38's, up his sleeve if anything goes wrong. Like Danny knocking him off when he gets the job done by sailing him and his boys to the safety of Catalina island. As for the that lowlife and back stabbing F.R Duncan he gets his at the race track when trying to outrun the police and make it together with Danny a& Co. to the L.A pier he's shot in the back by racetrack security guards. That all happens while Duncan offers no resistance to the cops or security guards who shot him! Which is a big was a no-no to the then Hayes Commission, a good guy never shoots a bad guy in the back, back in those days but in him being the slime-ball that he was the Hayes Commission must have overlooked it.

***SPOILER*** wild shoot-out on Cappy's boat the "Sea Queen" by Danny & the Boys after they offed Cappy's first mate and good friend Wesley Park, Juano Hernamdez, and left him there to rot before dumping him, with Cappy's help, into the Pacific Ocean. Cappy knowing that his fate would be the same as Wesley's got his chance,in checking the boats motor,to pull out his hidden .38's and blow the whole murderous bunch,Danny & the Boys, away. But not after being plugged a good number of times himself by them that in the end Cappy had to have his right, and good, arm amputated in order for him to survive! Survive to start a new life as the manager at his wife Lucy's brother's lettuce farm outside Salinas California.

P.S Very emotional scene at the very end of the movie when we see a distraught confused and worried young Joseph Park, Juan Hernandez, all alone on the pier as all the attention swirls around Cappy in his heroic acts in the movie. No one and I mean no one bothered to tell Joseph the fate of his dad Westly who was shot and thrown overboard by Danny & the Boys. But on second thought since Joseph's dad was deep sixth and by then very probably shark bait no one on shore really knew what happened to him.

"Trust Me...Our Interests Are Identical"

[davidcarniglia · 9/10 · 26 January 2019]

This is great stuff. The Breaking Point has the best kind of noir hero: an ordinary guy whose desperation gets him mixed up in the sordid underworld. John Garfield's Harry is literally a fish out of water; his fishing boat business failing, he throws in with increasingly dangerous lot of characters. Patricia Neal plays the semi-femme fatale Leona, while Harry's steady but bedraggled wife, Lucy (Phyllis Thaxter), has the kids, Harry, and Leona to worry about. Both women give superb performances; very nuanced and three-dimensional. Juana Hernandez, as Harry's partner Wesley, is a sort of counterpart to Lucy, tremendously loyal, yet knowingly critical of Harry.

Harry does often seem insufferable. He's angry, moody, and terse most of the time. Of course, he hardly spends a scene without pressure. Strangely, Leona, though she really has nothing to do with the criminal elements, seems to insinuate herself more into Harry's life the deeper he falls into crime. She's a sort of emotional distraction from Harry and Lucy's otherwise comfortable domesticity; the underworld stuff is Harry's physical distraction. As others have noted, the bar scene with both women is unique. They size each other up, coming away with a touch of mutual respect. They're probably a bit envious of each other, but for different reasons. Even the kids act with subtlety; they have fun, but complain, plead, and whine just as kids do. No ideal family, no ideal relationships, but reassuringly decency. Just when you think Harry's ready to junk everything for Leona, he backs out; ultimately, she just sort of fades away.

Harry's not the greatest guy, but his stubborn streak is understandable. Why should he give up what he's good at, and likes to do, for something (the in-law's) lettuce business, that he knows nothing about? Equally, it makes sense to change, as Lucy points out. There's choices, but nothing is a sure thing. Like all good noir movies, the stakes only increase in danger until there's a literal breaking point. The pacing moves us quickly from Harry's financial jam to the scam that results in Leona's attachment to Harry, then to the smuggling episode, and finally the lethal heist. Ironically, the boat, which ought to represent freedom and adventure, becomes a vehicle for each tawdry subplot.

Despite plenty of violence, and a fairly high body-count, I found The Breaking Point oddly uplifting. Stubborn to the end, Harry gives in to Lucy's pleading that amputating his arm beats dying. You feel the domestic world restored, with all of its unpredictability. The opposite consequence falls on Wesley's son, as he's left all alone, seemingly unnoticed on the dock, his father dead. That's an incredibly poignant scene. Nothing good comes out of the criminal experiences; the point may simply be that not all is lost, either.

Everything's of a piece here. Visually, the scene with dusk silhouetting Harry as he's lost in thought before the heist sequence is captivating, as is the dark room in Duncan's office with the gangsters looming in and out of the lamplight. Definitely worth watching more than once. 9/10