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Loan Shark

1952

He knows every racket's strength... and every woman's weakness!

A vicious loan shark ring has been preying on factory workers. When several workers at a tire factory suffer violence at the hands of the loan sharkers, a union leader and the factory owner try to recruit ex-con Joe Gargan to infiltrate to the gang. At first Joe does not want to get involved, but changes his mind when his brother-in-law dies at the hands of a savage loan shark hood. Joe works his way into the mob, but in order to keep his cover, Joe can't tell anyone what he is up to. This results in him being disowned by his sister and girl friend.

George Raft Dorothy Hart Paul Stewart John Hoyt Helen Westcott Henry Slate Russell Johnson Margia Dean Benny Baker Lawrence Dobkin Spring Mitchell

Alternative Title

Banditi senza mitra

Genres

Crime Drama

Theatrical

23 May 1952

USANR

USA

23 May 1952

TheatricalNR

79 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Avirup

There's literally noirs about every possible racket, unfortunately this doesn't have much on loan sharks but has fair bit about tires. Also I don't know how old these people are supposed to be here but they all look too old for their roles especially Raft, but regardless of that a decent cast. Overall nothing really great or consistently interesting, some of the usual B-picture charm and little bit of grittiness keep things moving. I liked the effort to make the fist fights look hard-hitting, wasn't entirely successful but was most certainly one of the entertaining aspects. Good pre-credits scene too.
Review by Fnord ★★★★ 3

Well, this starts with a brutal fucking beating complete with smashed camera gag before the credits even roll so that’s promising. Russell Johnson shows up in the first scene after the credits and I was like “Hey, it’s Russell Johnson!” Then I realized “Uh oh I know the name of The Professor from Gilligan’s Island” After a couple of seconds thinking I realized I know the whole cast of Gilligan’s Island, except Mrs. Howell (which I looked up, Natalie Schaefer, oh no) so that’s not good. I had to pause, take a long slow swig of coffee and think about what I’ve done with my life. OK, back in and George Raft (!) is our hero, still walking around like…
Review by Ira Brooker ★★★ 2

Newly paroled convict George Raft moves in with his sister and takes a job at the neighborhood tire plant, where half the crew is in debt to a small-time loan shark operation. When the mob graduates from beatdowns to murder, Raft goes undercover to take them down from the inside.
I don't get people's beef with George Raft. I'll grant that he's pretty one-note, but it's a note I like, even if Bogart played it better. He's well within his range here as a good-hearted tough guy navigating moral grey areas. At 51 he does seem a bit old to be punching out thugs or romancing 30-year-old Dorothy Hart -- George Raft in his 50s is a far cry from,…
Review by Manifesto734 ★★★

If you're a noir fan and have under 90 minutes of free time, this might be for you. Currently on Prime.
This is the only Seymour Friedman film I've seen, and it was fine, but not remarkable. It takes the infiltration angle, as an ex-con's brother-in-law is killed by a loan shark ring that has taken ruthless control of the workers in a tire factory, hooking them with loans they can't repay. It immediately starts with multiple characters being beaten by the goon squad, showing us right away the kind of violence and intimidation our characters will be facing, and it works to hook us in the first minute.
George Raft plays Joe, our con who wants to be a…
Review by PUNQ ★★★

A nifty crime flick with George Raft bringing a surprising amount of thrills to the Loan Shark (1952) racket. Plays it the cold and broken way, like we all know Raft to be good at, with some sparks igniting when around the dames. However, when around the guys it often gets ruthless and we get a solid noir out of it.
Review by matnol9 ★★★

A solid performance by George Raft as Joe Gargen the ex Pug now ex Con who pays his sister a visit..he would like to just earn a decent living and keep his hands clean (which in a court of law are considered a deadly weapon) He’s employed at a tire manufacturing facility and has the crude task of infiltrating a violent loan sharking outfit, who have a stranglehold on a good many of the plant workers, which now has left his sister a widow.
Raft’s character has a lot to handle here and with similar backgrounds to Raft’s of growing up in the tough west side neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen…he doesn’t mince his words or let his guard…
Review by [radio edit] ★★½ 1

Great pre-credits sequence and a wonderful-if-extremely-brief oddly acrobatic fight sequence.
For the rest of the film George Raft delivers his dialogue like a George Raft impersonator practicing in his car on the way to work while everyone else is so low-energy they're probably technically classifiable as being in REM sleep.
Suddenly becomes unaccountably peppy in the back 15 minutes and half-heartedly attempts a weird setpiece in a theatre. Sticks to the unmercilessly unfashionable Ditko-favoured form of villain reveal too.
Review by Ese 👉 Víctor 2

Part of Kidney Stone (2022) Distraction List
An aging star vehicle that aged poorly. Male gaze doesn’t have to mean casual sexual assault, it just happens to mean that here.
Review by anne_f_ ★★★½

Joe, played by George Raft, returns to his home town after being released from prison, but finds that his brother-in-law and workmate are all deeply in debt to a vicious loan shark. The brother-in-law is killed after getting behind with his loan payments amnd so Joe decides to find who is behind the loan business.
All highly unlikely but the story holds itself together and doesn't drag.
Review by lemonski ★★½

This one is pretty predictable, but a not-unpleasant time filler nevertheless. George Raft is always great to watch, although by this time getting a bit old for the action caper.
Review by SE Frost ★★★ 2

A tidy noir story of an ex-con who goes undercover to avenge his brother-in-law's death at the hands of a loan shark. Typical fare, but fans of the genre or George Raft should enjoy it.
Plus you get to see tires made, which is sort of neat. Also: Russel Johnson (This Island Earth, Gilligan's Island) has a small role as a low-level operative for the organization!
Review by Malorie Blaise ★★★

We can figure out a way to settle this 😨
— I did, 50 thousand dollars

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Where to watch

Loan Shark

Synopsis

He knows every racket's strength... and every woman's weakness!

Cast

Director

Producer

Writers

Editor

Cinematography

Art Direction

Set Decoration

Composer

Sound

Studio

Country

Language

Alternative Title

Genres

Releases by Date

Theatrical

23 May 1952

Releases by Country

USA

23 May 1952

Popular reviews

Where to watch

Loan Shark

Synopsis

He knows every racket's strength... and every woman's weakness!

Cast

Director Director

Producer Producer

Writers Writers

Editor Editor

Cinematography Cinematography

Art Direction Art Direction

Set Decoration Set Decoration

Composer Composer

Sound Sound

Studio

Country

Language

Alternative Title

Genres

Theatrical

23 May 1952

USA

23 May 1952

Popular reviews

Director

Producer

Writers

Editor

Cinematography

Art Direction

Set Decoration

Composer

Sound