Most of the previous reviews get it right about Black Legion; it's not Bogart's best by a long shot. But here's the catch: it's not a "thinly veiled" swipe at the KKK. It's about the actual, real-life Black Legion. I know; you've never heard of it. Neither did I, until I was cleaning out the stack of magazines in our Indiana farmhouse. Let's hear it for hoarding, because there it was, as large as one of those Life Magazines - a profile on ...the Black Legion. I was horrified, but it did exist: "The Black Legion was a secret vigilante terrorist group and a white supremacist organization in the Midwestern United States that splintered from the Ku Klux Klan and operated during the Great Depression of the 1930s. According to historian Rick Perlstein, the FBI estimated its membership "at 135,000, including a large number of public officials, possibly including Detroit's police chief." In 1936 the group was suspected of assassinating as many as 50 people according to the Associated Press.[1]The white paramilitary group was founded in the 1920s by William Shepard in east central Ohio in the Appalachian region, as a security force named the Black Guard in order to protect Ku Klux Klan officers.[2][3] The Legion became active in chapters throughout Ohio. One of its self-described leaders, Virgil "Bert" Effinger, lived and worked in Lima, Ohio."So why is there so little in our history books about it? It was a relatively short lived hate group, but it showed up in other places: "Hollywood, radio and the press responded to the lurid nature of the Legion with works that referred to it. Legion of Terror (1936) starred Ward Bond and Bruce Cabot, and was based on this group. Black Legion (1937), a feature film, starred Humphrey Bogart. True Detective Mysteries, a radio show based on the magazine of the same title, broadcast an episode on April 1, 1937 that referred directly to the Black Legion and Poole's murder. The radio show The Shadow, with Orson Welles in the title role, broadcast an episode on March 20, 1938, entitled "The White Legion"; it was based loosely on the Black Legion. Malcolm X and Alex Haley collaborated on the leader's The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965); he noted the Legion as being active in Lansing, Michigan where his family lived. Malcolm X was six when his father died in 1931; he believed the father was killed by the Black Legion. The TV series History's Mysteries presented an episode about the group entitled "Terror in the Heartland: The Black Legion" (1998).I realize I haven't written much about the movie; others have done that well. But we need to accept that this... is based on real life.

Archie Mayo and Michael Curtiz co-directed this hard-hitting drama that stars Humphrey Bogart as Frank Taylor, a machinist in a factory who loses a promotion to a "foreigner", and has his disappointment turn to bitter hatred when he is coaxed on by a co-worker(played by Joe Sawyer) to join a secretive organization called the Black Legion, which preaches violence against all foreigners. They resemble the Ku Klux Klan, and Frank gets sucked into this violent world, that turns him mean even to his own wife. When his friend and neighbor Ed Jackson(played by Dick Foran) becomes a target, Frank tries to get out, but it is too late... Compelling film is surprisingly potent for its time, and uncompromising in its content. A bit predictable and obvious at times, but remains most prescient and worthwhile viewing.

Assuming you are a Bogart fan you will enjoy this unexpected glimpse into his character's deep past. Toothy and gushing, not far from the Bowery Boys (they wear jagged beanies like Jughead), yet he is already a successful family man with the astounding O'Brien-Moore.It is a worker's paradise, yet he gets sucked in to a violent secret society designed to further the good of WASPS like himself. So now at last you see Bogart playing the Fascist! Or the film's interpretation of what Fascism really is. Of course it is not altogether ridiculous but it is really no more than a Boston Blackie action film, typical of the time.It is good though, very entertaining film. You will see images of Bogart which are entirely uncharacteristic.

Black Legion (1937) *** (out of 4) Pretty hard-hitting Warner drama about factory worker Frank (Humphrey Bogart) who loses a promotion to a Jewish man so a friend (Joe Sawyer) introduces him to the "Black Legion", a KKK-type group. Soon the men are pushing out those who they don't consider real Americans and Frank begins to lose control of his wife (Erin O'Brien-Moore) and best friend (Dick Foran). There's no question that this film has it's heart in the right place but at the same time you can't help but know the real history of things and have a hard time buying into this "equal" talk here especially when you know very well that things were a lot uglier in this country in terms of race issues. This film pretty much just talks about foreigners and never mentions the fact that groups like this were going after blacks so leaving this out, as if they were important enough to throw into the subject, is a bit misleading and really goes again the message of treating everyone equal. With that in mind, the rest of the film is pretty good and contains some very good performances and some dark situations. I wasn't shocked that a blue-collar studio like Warner would dig deep into the subject matter and try to give an honest look at the events. What did shock me is that the film stayed true to its dark nature and carried it out till the end. This might explain why the movie was banned all across the world but I give the studio credit for not weakening out towards the end. The Oscar-nominated story might leave out certain groups but it works outside of that one issue. I think the movie does a great job at making people understands Frank issues and I think the movie does a great job at making us side for Frank. I'm sure many Americans were feeling frustrated just like this character so the movie lets us feel for him but then it makes sure that people know violence in these types of groups isn't the way to correct things. The movie, except for the very end, never becomes preachy and instead it lets the story do all the talking and we're never constantly beat over the head with any type of message. We get to view the events that happen and I think most people will clearly get what the film is trying to say. Bogart turns in a wonderful performance and I was really surprised at how good he was in this type of role. I'd certainly say this is the best work I've seen from him in these pre-fame years as he really makes for a believable character. I think he really fits into that working class nature and he makes you understand everything Frank is feeling and fearing. Dick Foran is just as good as his best friend who tries to get him to quit the group and O'Brien-Moore and Ann Sheridan add nice support as the wives. Apparently Michael Curtiz stepped in when it came time to director the Black Legion scenes and I believe it as these sequences seem a lot different than everything else. That's certainly not a bad thing as they contain some nice drama and just contain an overall different feel. This is certainly an impressive film but at the same time I wish the "message" would have gone for everyone being effected by groups like this instead of it just limiting itself to those running the studio.