Watch The Racketeer For Free

Too much of everything

People are voting emotionally.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Mahlon Keane, the racketeer of the title, is in control of New York; if a serious crime takes place he knows about it; whether it is a bank robbery or the theft of the police commissioner's car. He enjoys winding up the police; in the opening scene we see him give a drunken violinist fifty dollars and put him in a cab so a cop can't arrest him for vagrancy. The violinist is a friend of attractive divorcée Rhoda Philbrooke; she is determined to get him off the booze and back on the stage but lacks the money she needs. She takes the fifty bucks to a charity evening and proceeds to a poker table where Keane is acting as dealer. Things start well but then it looks like she is going to lose; until she is able to switch a card while the other players are distracted. Keane sees her cheat but covers for her. Later he visits her and helps with her friend. As time passes they grow closer but Keane's business could ruin their relationship.Being over eighty years old it isn't surprising that the film looks dated… literally. No doubt it was nice and crisp when first shown but by the time it was put on DVD the print was inevitably rather scratched and otherwise degraded. At sixty six minutes it is fairly short but it doesn't feel too rushed. Robert Armstrong does a good job as Keane; a believable villain who can be threatening one minute and charming the next. Carole Lombard is equally good as Rhoda; attractive and likable but also a flawed character. The ending won't come as much of a surprise as no criminal could be seen to get a happy ending in those days. The action seems very tame by today's standards and some of the talking seems a little stagey; still I found this an enjoyable way to pass an hour.

1929 was a big year for Carole Lombard. Amid heavy accents and stars with poor diction her breezy, lilting voice made her a natural for talkies and this movie really showed up her naturalistic style. Unfortunately Pathe was too involved with the careers of Ann Harding and Constance Bennett to care about her future. It is quite surprising as her notices for "The Racketeer" were very positive.The ever reliable Robert Armstrong is Mahlon Keane, the racketeer, whose life becomes entwined with Tony (Roland Drew), a drunken violinist who collapses in front of him in the street and also Rhoda Philbrooke (Carol Lombard), a beautiful girl who is now a social outcast because of her commitment to Tony. She and Mal meet at a charity benefit when he recognises the $50 bill she uses for a poker game as the one he put in the violinist's coat. Mal catches Rhoda cheating but backs her up. "Just because I cheated, I suppose I've put myself in the bargain basement" - I know it's a creaky, early talkie but I can't help thinking Carole would have shrieked with laughter at the ripe dialogue she had to utter. "Don't ever ask a woman why she wants to cry" - is another example, all said with appropriate melodramatic inflection!!Mal, in his love for Rhoda, gets Tony off the booze and organises a violin recital for him. Tony is grateful (sort of) - actually he is a whiney complainer and why Rhoda wants to stand by him instead of the more manly Mal (I have a soft spot for Robert Armstrong) is completely amazing. The title was obviously designed to appeal to people who had thrilled to "Underworld" and "The Racket" but this movie was very low on thrills.Jeanette Loff had a small part as Millie Chapman. She was know for her beautiful long blonde hair and at this point big things were expected of her. She had a big role in "King of Jazz" where she sang "It Happened in Monterey", "Bridal Veil", and "A Bench in the Park" but after a lead role in the exploitation movie "Party Girl" (1930) she just faded away.

This is one of those early talkies, so the filmmakers had not yet learned that a good film is in delivery of lines, motivation, and screenplay, not just the fact that the characters talk. I'm sure someday people will look at today's CGI movies and make equivalent criticisms. Robert Armstrong plays "the racketeer" here, but he is a kinder gentler gangster. At the beginning of the film he doesn't even "rub out" a member of his gang that has jumped bail on him - he just hands him over to the police so he can get his money back. James Cagney's Tom Powers would have never handled it this way.This sets up the story so that the racketeer seems quite human and likable. At a charity Monte Carlo night he catches a fallen woman Rhoda Philbrooke (Carole Lombard) cheating at cards and helps her cover up her crime. It turns out Rhoda is broke and really needs the money since she has left her husband and taken up with drunken musician Tony Vaughan (Roland Drew). Racketeer Mahlon Keane then goes to Rhoda's apartment and offers to help her. Mainly, he helps her "dry out" her drunken boyfriend and get him back on his feet. He even arranges for Tony to perform at a big concert. He also asks Rhoda to marry him. He doesn't do this as a condition of his good works, but Rhoda accepts his proposal because she feels beholden to him and she does genuinely like him. In the end, Rhoda realizes that she still really loves Tony but doesn't want to hurt racketeer Keane.The one thing that is never sufficiently conveyed to the viewer is why Rhoda loves Tony. He comes across as a drunken weakling that quite frankly seems very indifferent to Rhoda until the end of the film and doesn't seem to mind the fact that he is being helped by someone who is courting her. Probably the worst thing about this film is the unrestored condition it is in. I've seen prints from several companies and they are all in pretty bad shape. The audio is surprisingly good for an early talkie, but the video has lots of scratches in it and is somewhat washed out. The most interesting thing about this film is that it is one of Carole Lombard's very earliest film performances.

Well mounted, interesting story about suave racketeer Armstrong falling for impoverished deb Lombard, hampered a bit by the declamatory style of speaking any speech longer than three words and apparent immobility of microphones.