Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Spikeopath The Garment Jungle is directed by Robert Aldrich and Vincent Sherman. The screenplay is adapted by Harry Kleiner from "Gangsters in the Dress Business" by Lester Velie. It stars Lee J. Cobb, Kerwin Matthews, Richard Boone, Robert Loggia, Gia Scala and Valerie French. Music is by Leith Stevens and cinematography by Joseph Biroc.Alan Mitchell (Matthews) returns from the War to help his father Walter (Cobb) run the family fashion designer factory. Unfortunately he finds a business being protected by local hoodlum Artie Ravidge (Boone), who has the backing of Walter, and who is defiant in not letting the Union into the company. Things are about to turn very ugly and Alan is right in the middle of it.Robert Aldrich is uncredited in a lot of sources, but the film was 98% his work. Cobb had a sulk about where his character was going, it all came to a head and Columbia head Harry Cohn, not needing much of an excuse to fire Aldrich (who was sick as well), brought in Sherman to finish the film. Or at least that's the party line story...Aldrich's mark is all over the film, the harsher edges involving racketeers and violence are unmistakably his. The characterisations are pungent with varying degrees of menace, betrayal, cowardice and stoicism, with morals and ethics brought into sharp focus. Much of the pic is filmed indoors, which is a shame because when Biroc gets to photograph outside in the New York locales, we can see that we could have had a visual film noir treat. Instead we get a very good pro- Union drama with noir tints, though the softening of a key character, which Aldrich didn't aspire to, leaves you wondering just how much more spicy things could have been. 7/10

kidboots Once hailed as the successor to Ingrid Bergman, Gia Scala never grasped hold of the opportunities that were given to her. A beautiful girl born in England to an aristocratic Italian family, she came to America in her teens and was immediately pounced on by Hollywood. Universal felt she was going to be a star of the future and groomed her in language instruction (her Italian accent was very heavy). Other studios were interested and for the next few years she alternated between Columbia and MGM. "The Garment Jungle" was her first for Columbia and contained her most sensitive performance. She proved she could have been a big star as she tackled the demanding role of Theresa, the fiery young wife of union leader Tulio Renato (Robert Loggia). Lee J. Cobb could always be relied on to give explosive performances and this film starts with a bang with a heated conversation between Walter Mitchell (Cobb) and his partner who wants to bring in the unions and rid Roxton Fashion House of Artie Ravidge's (Richard Boone) protection racket which is calling all the shots. Within minutes he is dead - victim of a faulty elevator or was he murdered? For all his tough, blustery exterior Walter just doesn't connect the stand over goons who surround him with the murders and beatings that begin to happen. That is left to his son, Alan (Kerwin Matthews) who walks right into the middle of the conflict, wants to follow his father into the garment trade but also sees what his father cannot - that by disallowing the unions into the factory, the gangsters are given free reign. The movie then follows the son as he tries to learn the truth and meets passionate union official Tulio and his beautiful wife Theresa.Taken from a series of explosive articles by leftist columnist Victor Riesel, I think Kerwin Matthews is up to the job, of the son who has instant sympathy with the under paid piece work machinists. By the end Walter has finally realised the damage done by turning a blind eye to the stand over men and their tactics but it is up to the women to save the day. Walter's mistress Lee Hackett (Valerie French) has kept the ledgers which show every protection payment and Theresa, on her own initiative, tries to out run the gangsters in her effort to get the books to the police station.One scene that will stay with me is when Alan and Teresa go into a diner and in a very tender moment, Theresa attempts to breast feed her baby then retires to another booth where she can do so in quiet. It is a beautiful scene, sensitively realised by director Vincent Sherman. It was while on a promotional tour of the movie that Gia learned her beloved mother had cancer - she never really recovered from the shock and her life and career were never the same.

MartinHafer A son (Kerwin Matthews) wants to join his father in the garment business. What the son doesn't know is that the father (Lee J. Cobb) is in deep with the mob--and the mob isn't about to let a union infiltrate the company. When the son sees mobsters beating up union organizers, he's appalled and can't believe that his father would condone this. But, Cobb seems unconcerned and lets his mob friend (Richard Boone) do whatever he wants. Later in the film, you learn why Boone is given so much freedom. But, the more the union and the son push, the harder Boone and his goons push back--and soon people start to die.As one reviewer pointed out, Cobb's performance was amazingly low-key--as Cobb very often played bigger than life characters. Matthews was also good as the earnest son--as was Boone. But the reason I give this film only a five is that some characters (such as the wife of the slain union organizer) seem to have no reason to be in the film and there are also a few plot lines that just aren't developed well. For example, late in the film, Cobb decides to become honest and go to the police. First, why would he do this? He's been working with these hoods for years. Second, if he would betray his murderous friends, do you think he would tell these mobsters FIRST?!?! Any sane person would act friendly towards them and then hand over the incriminating evidence to the district attorney. You would NOT tell known murderers that they don't scare you and you're going to break with them!!! Talk about bad script writing--and this is why a generally interesting and well-acted film still only gets a five.

Sturgeon54 I'm in total agreement with the other reviewers here. This is a sharply-made film about a battle at a garment factory over unionization with terrific performances from Lee J. Cobb, a young Robert Loggia, and a menacing Richard Boone as a union buster. Kerwin Mathews gives only a passable lead performance, but then again his novice acting sort of fits his role as an outsider, which was necessary to give the audience a view of the garment industry from an outsider's perspective. Whether or not one scene or another was directed by Sherman or Aldrich makes little difference - the movie fits together fantastically, and has aged quite well. This movie would make a fine contrast to Paul Schrader's excellent 1978 expose movie "Blue Collar", which took an opposing negative view of the union.