Public Hero Number 1

Interesting mash-up of genres from MGM: part prison/crime drama and part romantic comedy. Two convicts (Chester Morris and Joseph Calleia) escape from prison and one is wounded. The other goes for help and comes back with a drunkard doctor (Lionel Barrymore) and a girl (Jean Arthur), who turns out to be Calleia's sister! Starts out as a fairly typical but enjoyable prison flick. Then there's a twist. I admit I didn't see the twist coming but in retrospect I should have. Others might peg it right away or see it in some plot descriptions. Anyway it changes gears once Jean Arthur enters the picture and becomes a sort of romcom for a little while, before returning to being a crime picture.

Terrific cast really makes it worth seeing. In addition to Morris, Arthur, Barrymore, and Calleia, there's Lewis Stone, Paul Kelly, Paul Hurst, and George E. Stone. Ladies will appreciate a shirtless Barrymore washing his moobs in a bath. Spectacularly violent shoot-out between cops and criminal gang. Calleia's fate was obviously inspired by how John Dillinger met his end. Eliminate the final scene between Morris and Arthur and I might have bumped this up to a 7. Hated that part. Remade in 1941 as The Getaway with Robert Sterling and Donna Reed.