Retitled 'Try and Get Me' for re-release, this crime drama flows better under its original title, with 'Fury' referring to swelling mob anger as an unemployed father confesses to aiding in the murder of a man he was holding for ransom. And yet, while angry mobs and the sort of sensationalistic newspaper reporting that encourages mob hysteria are important factors, they are left to the final third of the movie with the bulk of time spent on the budding friendship between the father and psychopath who lures him into a life of crime. This is a positive in that the film exposes the vulnerability of men without steady jobs and bills and personal pride to contend with. The first hour of the movie also gives Lloyd Bridges a chance to a shine in a tricky turn that requires him to talk and act sanely with a wild streak bubbling just beneath the surface. The final half-hour of the film is less effective than it could have been though. The film's messages are hammered home with the newspaper reporter character bluntly told "as a journalist you have a great responsibility" and "men don't live in a vacuum". Lead actor Frank Lovejoy also has a hard time playing mentally unhinged in a credible manner. With such a solid first hour though, this is a difficult movie to overlook and it remains well filmed towards the end, with lots of creative camera angles, even when the material turns didactic.
Review of The Sound of Fury
