Border Incident

Mike has been adding movies to the top of the Netflix queue again. The less said about "The Witch's Mirror," the better all our lives will be, although I do need to remember to"The Sands of Iwo Jima." But first, while it's fresh in my mind, "Border Incident," a 1949 movie directed by Anthony Mann and starring a young Ricardo Montalban as Mexican special agent Pablo Rodriguez. A timely film, it teams Montalban with George Murphy as an American immigration agent. Together, they attempt to break a Mexican farmworker smuggling ring operated by the ruthless, yet civilized and genteel, Howard Da Silva. The movie also illuminates and celebrates the little-known Bracero guest worker program, in force from 1942 through 1964, which was  designed to alleviate agricultural labor shortages due to WWII.

The film begins slowly and, frankly, badly. As was not uncommon at the time, the first 10 minutes or so are strongly reminiscent of educational films of the day, as the narrator provides information about the farmworker situation that verges on propaganda. In an unintentionally humorous scene, farmworkers are massacred in the Canyon del Muerte (yes, I know, that's not humorous) and their bodies dumped into quicksand. The bodies disappear in mere seconds beneath what looks like moist sawdust.

The next 10-15 minutes continue the exposition, this time with a cast of extras who make a valiant effort, but have a tendency to mumble their lines. Once Montalban and Murphy take center stage, the action -- and the acting -- improve. We are also introduced to the ringleader on the Mexican side of the border, Hugo Wolfgang Ulrich, played by Sig Ruman in a very different role from those he played in the Marx Brothers' films. Veteran actor Arthur Hunnicutt will be immediately familiar to fans of . .  well, just about any 1960s and 70s television show, this time playing against type as one of the Hugo's murderous thugs.

Despite a tendency to preach, the film does an admirable job of attempting to portray the exploitation of the farm workers and the ruthlessness of those who are using them. The illegal braceros are paid one-third the legal rate; 20% of their pay is taken by the foreman and another 40% withheld for meals. One of the workers notes that he would have made more working in Mexico.

As the beginning scenes demonstrate, it does not shy away from violence. The ending, however, is so utopian and so patriotic that I had to salute. Braceros are once again working under the watchful and protective eye of two governments, in safe and sanitary conditions, and earning their full due. The movie was made before opposition from organized labor brought the program to a close, primarily because it served depress wages and decreased the number of domestic farm workers.

Filmed in and around El Centro and Mexicali, the setting and scenery are as much a part of the cast as any actor, thanks to cinematographer John Alton's deft handling. Much of the film takes place at night, and the moon, car headlights, porch lights -- all kinds of light -- are used to great effect, as, of course are shadows.

It is not, however, as many on IMDB would have it, a film noir. Yes, it is in black and white and many of the cinematic effects are derived from that style, but the essence of film noir is the decent man caught in a web of circumstance beyond his control. Noir, is at heart, cynical; the ending of this film is anything but. Oh, yeah, and there's no femme fatale. There's a bleached blonde floozy, but that's not the same thing at all.

It's not a psychological drama, either; not really. It's a propaganda piece made by two very skillful and experienced movie makers.