Edge of the City Reviews

The first film produced by David Susskind, directed by Martin Ritt, and written by Robert Alan Aurthur yields a grim and unrelenting tale of friendship and racism in the big city. Cassavetes plays a disenfranchised soldier who cannot return to his family because he is blamed for the accidental death of his brother. He goes AWOL from the Army and wanders into a job at a railroad yard in New York, where he is befriended by black man Poitier. Through Poitier, Cassavetes learns to live again, but his happiness is short-lived when sadistic hiring boss Warden kills Poitier during a violent fight. When the police investigate the crime, Cassavetes follows the code of silence and keeps his mouth shut, but confronts Warden on his own. This is a good effort from all concerned.