John Hodiak plays a state attorney sent in to investigate corruption in a county that is dominated by a corrupt legal system at the head of which is the sheriff played by Thomas Gomez. Hodiak himself is about to resign his position with the state in order to go into private practice, but is sent to this county after a series of stories have appeared written by newspaper editor Walter Pidgeon, who was arrested in the county for a minor traffic violation and had to spend the night in the jail which houses many other prisoners who don't have enough money to pay their fines, and are used as a work detail (almost a chain gang). Hodiak's priorities are reestablished as he meets a detective on this case played by Karl Malden, who teams with Hodiak. As well he meets up with Audrey Totter, who plays a part as a pianist at a bar known as Amboys, where Gomez seems to go every day after work. With Malden on one side and Totter on the other, and a menacing Thomas Gomez (who could remind one of Orson Welles in Touch of Evil) Hodiak gets more committed to his mission to bring down Gomez and his group, which includes a judge played by Hugh Sanders, and his greasy attorney played by Everett Sloane. As a fifties crusade against organized crime film, The Sellout is not that great, but Gomez' part is right on. As well, Audrey Totter, even though many of her lines are questionable, manages to somehow overcome the script and make something good out the part.
Review of The Sellout
