Film

Underworld U.S.A.

Name: Underworld U.S.A.
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Released: 1961
Cast: Cliff Robertson, Dolores Dorn, Beatrice Kay, Richard Rust, Paul Dubov

Crime

Samuel Fuller's 1961 noir follows a man who embeds himself in organized crime to avenge his father's murder. It's visceral and morally murky—less interested in heroes than in how revenge corrodes the avenger. Shot in stark black-and-white, it's a crime picture that trusts you to sit with moral ambiguity.

TMDb rating

3.6

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like crime movies that are lean, hard-edged and unsentimental, where a single obsessive grudge drives everything and the world feels cold and transactional.

Skip it if the grim, unrelenting mood and a protagonist who offers little warmth may wear thin if you want characters to soften.

What it asks of you: Ninety-nine minutes of cold, steady pressure with little relief, so it wants your patience for its grimness rather than quick pleasures.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

In a Lonely Place1950

Humphrey Bogart as a volatile screenwriter suspected of murder. Like Underworld U.S.A., it's a portrait of a man whose nature and circumstances spiral into darkness, told with genuine psychological insight.

But The pacing is deliberate, and Bogart's character becomes increasingly difficult to root for—which is the point, but not everyone wants that from their noir.

Kiss of Death1947

Richard Widmark's psychotic informant steals this film about an ex-con trying to go straight. Raw, unflinching, and structurally similar: a man caught between two worlds, neither offering redemption.

But It's dated in some of its attitudes, and the plot occasionally requires characters to behave in ways that strain credibility for the sake of the story.

The Grifters1990

Con artists and their crimes told with style and moral rot. It shares Underworld U.S.A.'s interest in people who've chosen the wrong path and can't find their way back, even when they see the cliff edge.

But Cynical to the bone—there's no warmth here, and the ending offers no comfort or clarity. Some find it exhausting rather than thrilling.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Underworld U.S.A.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Pickup on South Street1953

Fuller's direct predecessor in exploring how criminals and outcasts become entangled with larger systems of power and corruption.

Also by Fuller, also a masterpiece—but it's the film that shows what Fuller was building toward. A pickpocket stumbles into Cold War espionage. It has Underworld U.S.A.'s moral ambiguity and visual force, but the protagonist isn't chasing revenge; he's chasing survival. Fuller at peak invention.

But It's dense and sometimes cryptic; Fuller doesn't explain himself, and the 1950s attitudes to women and communism will bristle some viewers. Also, very brutal.

The Killers1946

Burt Lancaster's boxer is undone by his own passivity and attraction to danger. Siodmak directs with the same stark visual power Fuller brings to his revenge narrative—shadow and consequence in every frame.

But The fractured narrative structure—jumping back and forth in time—can feel confusing on first viewing, and the pacing occasionally grinds.

Gun Crazy1950

A couple on the run, their relationship forged in violence and lust. It has the same pulp energy as Fuller's film, plus an early influence on Bonnie and Clyde. Genuinely sexy and dangerous.

But The print quality can be poor depending on the version, and the second half relies more on action than character, which some will find a letdown.

The Asphalt Jungle1950

Huston's heist masterpiece—the template for crime ensemble pictures. It shares Fuller's refusal to sentimentalize criminals; these are working men with routines, and the system grinds them down anyway.

But It's a procedural first and foremost. If you're looking for emotional depth or grand themes, you won't find much—it's almost journalistic in its approach.

The Big Combo1955

A cop obsessed with taking down a crime boss. Visually stunning—the noir cinematography is almost hallucinogenic. It understands obsession the way Fuller does: as a corrosive, all-consuming force.

But The dialogue is overwrought, and the love story subplot feels like it belongs in a different, sillier movie. The tonal shifts can be jarring.

The Killing1956

Kubrick's first masterpiece: a racetrack heist told non-linearly with a doomed inevitability. Like Fuller's work, it's interested in how criminal enterprise dehumanizes everyone involved.

But The non-linear structure demands attention, and the budget limitations show in some scenes. A few plot points feel contrived to service the narrative gimmick.

Tokyo Drifter1966

Both films use the revenge/crime structure as a skeleton for something more abstract: an inquiry into masculinity, style, and the inescapability of your own nature.

Seijun Suzuki's yakuza film is a visual explosion—color, geometry, style weaponized against narrative sense. On the surface it's a gangster picture about a man trying to go straight; underneath, it's about the impossibility of escape and the aesthetics of violence.

But The plot is deliberately fragmented and abstract. If you need narrative clarity and emotional stakes spelled out, this will frustrate you intensely.

A Prophet2009

A spiritual successor to Underworld U.S.A.'s project: showing how a man constructs power and identity within criminal systems, and what that construction costs him.

Jacques Audiard's prison epic follows a young man who rises through the underworld by cunning and cruelty. It has Fuller's unflinching eye for how systems corrupt, plus the psychological depth of modern cinema. Utterly gripping for two and a half hours.

But It's in French with subtitles, and it's long and sometimes slow. The violence is graphic and the world depicted is relentlessly grim with no relief or levity.