Steve Banks (Robert Armstrong) is that most realistic of characters: an alcoholic journalist. After another boozy night while he is on the trail of a big story on drug dealers he ends up separated from his wife, and fellow journalist, Margaret (Carole Lombard) and sacked by his editor (Charles Sellon).
Banks continues to pursue his story and bar owner Reno (Sam Hardy) who is involved in drugs. Reno has the editor killed while trying to find evidence that links him to narcotics. Banks gets the blame but is sure he can clear his name...
An early talkie and has some great dialogue, the banter in the newspaper office and in Reno's bar is fun. The final scenes in the newspaper office are frenetic and exciting. Overall it is a pretty decent film. The alcoholism (Banks isn't the only pissed journalist) gets a bit wearsome after awhile though.
Special Agent K-7 is Vince Landers (Walter McGrail) of the FBI who is ready to retire after a long career fighting crime (we won't make any cereal jokes). He is persuaded to investigate why the trial of a gangster has collapsed. He ends up investigating a series of murders including some of the jurors and some characters in a club.
A complication in his investigation is that one of Landers ex-s Olive (Queenie Smith) is involved in the case. Her new husband Bill (Donald Reed) ends up being one of the suspects.
The film has a decent plot and the low budget doesn't detract from it. It is a serviceable B-movie. At times a bit murky but the club setting is enjoyable. The film also has some interesting forensic science.
Police motorcyclist Sandy Malone (Charles Delaney) is killed during a chase with a gangster (Robert Ellis). Because a judge's daughter (Lila Lee) was also in the car, and due to the mob's connections in the city, the gangster gets off...
The dead policeman's partner Tom Burke (Monte Blue) quits the force in disgust and sets out to get justice.
The film has an interesting (if unoriginal) story but is unfortunately a bit slow at times though the chase scenes are reasonably well done and the cast is great. An interesting thing about the film is that Sandy's son is played by Mickey Rooney is one of his earliest roles. It's not bad at all though could have been great.
Well as you can imagine a biopic of Al Capone and the Chicago gangster scene in the 1920s is not for the faint hearted, indeed this film can best be described as violence and more violence. Capone is played by Ben Gazzara and we don't see much at all of his early life but rather how he gets involved with Johnny Torrio (Harry Guardino) then a trusted lieutenant of the Italian mafia boss in Chicago.
Capone helped Johnny take over the mob and then assists Johnny in making it big during the Prohibition years. Eventually amid open warfare with rival gangs Al Capone has Johnny (nearly) killed and takes over the mob himself. The story of the film is never trust your lieutenant as he will take over from you in the end, as happens to Capone himself when he is betrayed by Frank Nitti (Sylvester Stallone) and he ends up in Alcatraz...
Well the film is pretty low-budget and it shows at times but it is undeniably thrilling. If only we could see a bit more about Capone's early life and his motivations. That might mean cutting out some of action scenes of course. It is a biopic though not very accurate, a true depiction of Capone's life would probably require a series of films to be honest but this can give you a taste.
This is one of the transitional films from silent to talkies, and shares the flaws of many early talkies... in that there is a little too much talking. The actors still performed in the way they were used to in silent movies (i.e. a little too energetically) yet scenes are static as they had to stay close to the microphone. The dialogue is also a bit stilted and frequently awkward. Still for all that it is an interesting film even if at times it is more like a stage play.
Ann Harding plays the wife of a respected judge (Harry Bannister) who is being blackmailed by a gigolo (Lawford Davidson) who seems to have made a career out of seducing rich women and sucking them dry of cash. She accidentally kills the blackmailer when he forces himself on her...
It really isn't very good, the gigolo and his crazy friend/butler are especially strange roles ansd the story is a bit cliched. However talkies had to start somewhere. The film still has value but mostly for historical reasons.
