"Knock On Any Door"

[David]

I saw "Knock On Any Door" yesterday, the Nicholas Ray film with Bogart & John Derek. I recognized Dewey Martin right off the bat. IMDb says he isn't listed in the film's credits.

I thought the ending was ambiguous in a very strange way. Derek, as Nicky, goes to the electric chair after having confessed to the murder. But I don't think he committed the murder; I think Butch did. I say the ending's ambiguity is strange because the film seems to want to convince us of Nick's innocence & his guilt at the same time -- which is indicated by Morton's (Bogart's) final speech to the court ("Nick is guilty ... of being born in a slum, &c. &c."). There are all sorts of clues along the way -- at least I thought they were clues -- that Nick is innocent: for example, he was told to shoot the box office teller so as not to leave a witness, but he couldn't pull the trigger. Plus, all along the way, his innate compassion is there: in the reformatory, he wants to help the boy with the breathing problem; at home with his family, he tries to act tought but caves in & reassures his mother that he's not in trouble; he takes Morton's money but knows he did the wrong thing & even tells Morton that after Morton has strong-armed him & taken money back; & he is confused by his devotion to Emma & wants to keep her (& the unborn baby) out of his ugly, dangerous world.

All signs of character indicate that Nick would not have shot the policeman (whereas Butch was portrayed as a bloodthirsty sociopath).

The court scene where the prosecuting attorney drives Nick to confess is the clincher, I think: he is under extreme duress being asked about Emma -- who tried to get him to go straight -- & because he knows he failed her, he confesses to the crime. He has a flashback of Emma's death & of her being carried out of the apartment in a casket, so when he snaps back to the courtroom, he wants to die -- hence the confession.

If you've seen this movie, do you think he's innocent or guilty of killing the cop? Do you agree with me that Ray wanted the viewer to consider either possibility?