They All Come Out - The fact that this was supposedly Jacques Tourneur's American directorial debut was good enough for me. But it turned out to have a very documentary type of vibe. At the time Tourneur was working at MGM cranking out shorts and documentaries when studio head Louis B. Mayer took a liking to his project on prison reform and asked Tourneur to expand it to a feature length film using as much of the existing footage as he could.
This stars Rita Johnson as Kitty Carson, a member of Reno Madigan's (Bernard Nedell) hold up gang. She makes the acquaintance of Joe Cameron (Tom Neal), an unemployed mechanic, and eventually recruits him into the gang. During their first bank robbery together Kitty is shot and wounded and Joe risks his life to go back for her. After leaving her to get treated the rest of the gang is eventually hunted down, as is Kitty. That's when the story takes kind of an odd turn. The focus turns to the prison reform system and the authorities are somewhat improbably shown to be an altruistic and saintly bunch. I don't know if this is actually how things operated back then but it goes against every hard boiled crime drama I've seen from that era. The difference between this movie and something like
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is like night and day. Anyway, the rest of the members of Reno's gang take full advantage of the rehabilatative process and everything seems to work out well for them.
Even though this is basically a propagandist love letter to the federal prison system Tourneur still shows flashes of brilliance and keeps things moving at an efficient clip. Watch it for the sheer novelty of witnessing a future heavyweight's nascent beginnings.
A Slight Case of Murder - I thought I was familiar with Edward G. Robinson's lighter hearted efforts and I thought they began and ended with
Larceny, Inc. (with maybe
Brother Orchid thrown in as well). But then along comes this hilarious offering from 1938, directed by Lloyd Bacon and adapted from his play to the screen by Damon Runyon.
Robinson plays Remy Marco, a former successful bootlegger who made his illicit fortune selling beer during prohibition. Once the Volstead Act is repealed Marco is determined to go legit and keep his brewery open. After a few months his busines is in serious trouble when no one will buy his product. As it turns out Remy's beer is terrible and since he himself has never tasted it and none of his crew will tell him the truth, he's in danger of losing everything when the bank threatens to finally call in his note to the tune of 462,000 dollars.
One crazy weekend at his summer home in Saratoga Springs will see everything come to a head. It involves Marco, his wife Nora (Ruth Donnelly) and Mike, Lefty and Gip, his loyal crew of colorful hoods played by comedic veterans Allen Jenkins, Edward Brophy and Harold Huber. There's also his daughter Mary (Jane Bryan) recently returned from Europe with her new fiancee Dick Whitewood (Willard Parker) who just happens to be a State Trooper recruit. Also in the mix is a larcenous orphan, Douglas Fairbanks Rosenbloom (played by Bobby Jordan, one of the Dead End Kids) and a rival gang who have some unfinished business with Remy. Add Dick's wealthy, disapproving father Mr. Whitewood (Paul Harvey) to the mix and toss in a large gathering of the Marco's sketchy and inebriated friends and you end up with a pleasant surprise of a screwball comedy. Highly recommended.