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Don't Believe the Hype

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Early WB "Pulled from the Headlines" Story that in this Case the "Headlines" were Literally the Gist of the Movie. This is One of those Newspaper Exposes Popular in the Early Thirties when "Print" was The Thing. Gangsters could be Exposed and Brought Down by "The Press" that could Alert Authorities and Stir Public Outrage. "Crusaders" was a Term Often Used to Describe those Pushing to Remove Vice and Murder from the Streets.In this One, Silent Star Richard Bartholomew, Regis Toomey, and Fay Wray are the Headliners with Clark Gable (in his fourth film) Supporting. The Film has its Moments of Intrigue Concerning Payoffs and Gangs, Crime Reporters and Ethics. There is Quite a Contrast here from the Spit-Fire Dialogs that were a Trademark of the Genre and Bartholomew's Slow Delivery and Stiff Performance may put Some to Sleep. But it is a Relief from the Usual Machine Gun Spouting that was Routine at the Time.Regis Toomey is, well, Breezy as Breezy the Third Wheel in this Triangle and Fay Wray has that Pleasant Voice and Delivery and is Filmed Quite Cute. Clark Gable, some say, Steals the Show but His Character here doesn't do much Except Maybe in a Scene or Two, and is OK but Surely Nothing Special.There are some Pre-Code Interest like an Unrepentant Protagonist and Pre-Marital Overnighting, but Not Much Else. Overall, Based on a True Story and with Enough Interest to Recommend, this One is Not a Must See but is Worth a Watch.

This is perhaps the creakiest of all crime or journalism films, a yawner that was passed by the snail one way and a turtle the other way. It isn't the year it was made, simply the slow-moving recitation of the dialog (except by some newcomer named Clark Gable) with deadly pauses. This is a situation where the plot is actually quite interesting but the majority of the acting deadly dull.It is the story of a novice reporter who slowly moves up the ranks at his New York newspaper reporting on corruption in the city and eventually the mouthpiece for a racketeer whom he betrays to his own detriment. Richard Barthelmess, still utilizing a silent movie acting style, is terribly unconvincing, and Fay Wray is nothing more than eye candy for the camera. Regis Toomey tries to add on some humor (including a cute toy duck) but even his jokes are delivered as if the soundtrack was deliberately slowed down. This is surprising coming from Warner Brothers in the same year of "Little Caesar", "The Public Enemy" and "Five Star Final" which took similar themes and moved them along with wild fire.What is refreshing here is the performance of Clark Gable as the racketeer who gives Barthelmess all sorts of scoops in exchange for protection from the press. His character may be amoral, but his performance is dynamic. If you must suffer through this for almost 90 minutes, be aware that the last few minutes of the film take the film up a few notches with its sudden verve, but the egg has already been laid.

This is another film I had to see in my unhealthy quest to see all of the available Fay Wray films out there. However, this film surprised me, as it was a pretty good story. It also has a young Clark Gable as a gangster in a scene stealing role that demonstrates his star power very early in his career. The plot has been covered in other reviews, so I'll keep my review short.The pluses: Fay looks great, Clark Gable is good, and the story is solid and interesting.The minuses: Richard Barthelmess is fine, but being from the south, he shouldn't have even tried the accent.Overall a fine film and definitely worth a viewing.

I looked at this movie mainly because of the leading man. I never saw him in a talkie before. He was no worse then most silent actors who came into talkies. He plays a new reporter from the south working at a big city paper. I must tell you I was not prepared for what was to come. And I am not going to spoil it. But he was such a fresh nice face that I actually thought in the end we would find out he was working undercover for the cops. But no he is mad because the newspaper would not give him a raise or advance his salary because he had gotten shot doing a story for them and he feels they should help with the Medical bills. So he becomes a reporter for the syndicate. He gets paid well for not writing stories. The problem is that his girlfriend, who also is working at the paper as a Ann Landers type columnist wants nothing to do with what he has become. I am not going to tell the ending. But I was surprised. Afterwards I found out this was based on a true story. The supporting cast was very good. I never realized how pretty Fay Wray was. She is striking. She always had a pretty face to me, but she is gorgeous. She is the girlfriend. She has a nice role. You can tell this was pre code because she had a good job and she was fairly aggressive about her feelings toward him. Regis Toomey was very good as a fellow reporter and best friend who also likes the Fay Wray character. But he a very nice guy and we do not get the usual rivalry that turns nasty. Which is good. Clark Gable was at the point of of his career when he played bad guys. Like in Night Nurse where he was smacking around old ladies and his girlfriend and trying to poison her children. He is not any nicer here. I actually like Gable in these roles. I would recommend this movies because it goes in a different direction that I thought and it was very nice seeing actors in the crossroads of their careers.