Members of a family witness two murders, but the gang uses threats, violence and kidnapping to try to keep the members from testifying.Members of a family witness two murders, but the gang uses threats, violence and kidnapping to try to keep the members from testifying.Members of a family witness two murders, but the gang uses threats, violence and kidnapping to try to keep the members from testifying.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 nomination total
Guy D'Ennery
- Jack Short - Henchman
- (uncredited)
Edgar Dearing
- Jim Sockett - Policeman
- (uncredited)
Mike Donlin
- Mickey - Henchman
- (uncredited)
Tom Dugan
- Deputy Brown
- (uncredited)
Robert Elliott
- Deputy Williams
- (uncredited)
Ben Hall
- Orville - Timekeeper at W.P. Randolph
- (uncredited)
George Irving
- Judge
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- Trivia"Variety" reported that the film was rushed into release because of a gang shooting in Harlem in which several children were shot and the police could not get witnesses to talk. The Motion Picture Herald also reported that Warner Bros. gave the proceeds of the first two performances at The Winter Garden to the families of the children who were shot during gang warfare in Little Italy.
- GoofsTwo men are shot in the back while running away, but they clutch their chests as they fall down.
- Crazy creditsIntro: "A neighborhood of plain people - - in an American city of today."
- ConnectionsVersion of The Man Who Dared (1939)
- SoundtracksYankee Doodle
(ca. 1755) (uncredited)
Traditional music of English origin
Played often on a fife by Charles 'Chic' Sale
Featured review
The Birth of a Cliché
If you love seeing Walter Huston being the epitome of integrity, the most upright and honest American of all time, the defender of civilisation delivering passionate moralising monologues about doing the right thing, this is your movie!
Along with James Cagney and Joan Blondell, nobody else epitomises the feel of the early thirties better than Walter Huston. Although in this he's almost a caricature of himself (how can anyone be this sincere!) he is still undoubtedly Mr Thirties so if you love films from this time, you've got to love him in this. This picture was actually Oscar nominated for best original story - watching this today laden with every single movie cliché ever conceived you'll wonder if they were having a laugh but clichés had to originate somewhere - in 1931 this was new, fresh and original.
Director William Wellman who also made his classics: THE PUBLIC ENEMY and NIGHT NURSE this same year displays the same imagination and flair to make this engaging and thoroughly enjoyable. As you'd expect, it's interestingly filmed and being made at Warner Brothers where they couldn't afford to waste a single inch of film on anything that wasn't telling the story, it bombs along like a rocket. You couldn't find a better example of something which can effortlessly whisk you off to 1931, it gives what seems like a genuine authentic feel of 1931 or at least how people in 1931 thought of themselves. Unlike most of Wellman's films from the early thirties, this one feels the creakiest and that's probably because it focuses not on a couple of lead characters but on a whole family. A running time of just over an hour isn't long enough to get to know everyone......and furthermore, you probably wouldn't want to get to know them anyway.
The Leeds family, who are the unfortunate folk who become the star witnesses, represent a typical urban American family. They were clearly authentic otherwise audiences back then would not have accepted this as a film about 'people like us' however they are just horrible! Grant Mitchell (not the one from EastEnders) is his usual supercilious, unpleasant self. Whoever plays "Ma" is just so limp and simpering that you're secretly wishing James Cagney would appear and sock her in the mouth (she's the drudging housewife stereotype who removes her husband's shoes when he comes home from work and then puts slippers on his feet - a tradition in want of reviving.) There's also a grown up layabout son who's also a really, really terrible actor. There's two very young boys (the irritatingly cute one and the mischievous tyke we're apparently supposed to find amusing). There's also a grown up daughter who's Loretta Young's sister and there's Grandpa. Grandpa is played by a 1920 Vaudeville comic called Chic Sale....... some reviewers suggest he's the worst thing about this film but I actually quite liked him. For 1931, it's quite a dark film and without disrupting the narrative, his cartoon-like character adds a bit of colour and fun. The problem with this film is this family - you can't warm to them so despite of the attention to detail, the action and the tension Mr Wellman imbues, you don't care about them.
In summary, you couldn't care less whether the whole lot of them (apart from Sally Blane of course) become part of the foundations to the new Empire State building but conversely you've got a well made and interesting picture (extremely well made for 1931) with Walter Huston being more Walter Huston than you can imagine. So on balance does this make for a good film? Sadly not quite - without empathy for the characters it fails but it's still worth watching.
Along with James Cagney and Joan Blondell, nobody else epitomises the feel of the early thirties better than Walter Huston. Although in this he's almost a caricature of himself (how can anyone be this sincere!) he is still undoubtedly Mr Thirties so if you love films from this time, you've got to love him in this. This picture was actually Oscar nominated for best original story - watching this today laden with every single movie cliché ever conceived you'll wonder if they were having a laugh but clichés had to originate somewhere - in 1931 this was new, fresh and original.
Director William Wellman who also made his classics: THE PUBLIC ENEMY and NIGHT NURSE this same year displays the same imagination and flair to make this engaging and thoroughly enjoyable. As you'd expect, it's interestingly filmed and being made at Warner Brothers where they couldn't afford to waste a single inch of film on anything that wasn't telling the story, it bombs along like a rocket. You couldn't find a better example of something which can effortlessly whisk you off to 1931, it gives what seems like a genuine authentic feel of 1931 or at least how people in 1931 thought of themselves. Unlike most of Wellman's films from the early thirties, this one feels the creakiest and that's probably because it focuses not on a couple of lead characters but on a whole family. A running time of just over an hour isn't long enough to get to know everyone......and furthermore, you probably wouldn't want to get to know them anyway.
The Leeds family, who are the unfortunate folk who become the star witnesses, represent a typical urban American family. They were clearly authentic otherwise audiences back then would not have accepted this as a film about 'people like us' however they are just horrible! Grant Mitchell (not the one from EastEnders) is his usual supercilious, unpleasant self. Whoever plays "Ma" is just so limp and simpering that you're secretly wishing James Cagney would appear and sock her in the mouth (she's the drudging housewife stereotype who removes her husband's shoes when he comes home from work and then puts slippers on his feet - a tradition in want of reviving.) There's also a grown up layabout son who's also a really, really terrible actor. There's two very young boys (the irritatingly cute one and the mischievous tyke we're apparently supposed to find amusing). There's also a grown up daughter who's Loretta Young's sister and there's Grandpa. Grandpa is played by a 1920 Vaudeville comic called Chic Sale....... some reviewers suggest he's the worst thing about this film but I actually quite liked him. For 1931, it's quite a dark film and without disrupting the narrative, his cartoon-like character adds a bit of colour and fun. The problem with this film is this family - you can't warm to them so despite of the attention to detail, the action and the tension Mr Wellman imbues, you don't care about them.
In summary, you couldn't care less whether the whole lot of them (apart from Sally Blane of course) become part of the foundations to the new Empire State building but conversely you've got a well made and interesting picture (extremely well made for 1931) with Walter Huston being more Walter Huston than you can imagine. So on balance does this make for a good film? Sadly not quite - without empathy for the characters it fails but it's still worth watching.
- 1930s_Time_Machine
- Aug 31, 2023
- Permalink
Details
- Runtime1 hour 8 minutes
- Color
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