Simply Perfect

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Who could establish if Armstrong's Mahlon K. is a good role? The actor looks so much his role, and so well, it's puzzling. Dependable supporting cast: Kit Guard and Al Hill; as often with the Pre-Code movies, the script is fundamentally right, whether it's masterful and crafty, or not, but the main thrust exists, and the scenes are leisured, unhurried, as the nice one with Al Hill being menaced, threatened by Paul Hurst. Because the players are unaccustomed with the new asset (i.e., the sound), the movie gains an uncanny dignity; you can feel at once the inexperience and the eagerness. I enjoyed the scene with the orchid. The movie is about the gangsters and about the glamorous world, but more about the gangsters, and we come to know him better than his girlfriend. The romance is one side of Mahlon's existence, as is his presence at the charity, etc.. So, the movie's title gives the right idea about its content. The characters' psyches aren't very profoundly probed, nor is the story echoing meaningful, but it's a way they play the gangsters, as when Squid denies, in front of the racketeer, having witnessed Gus' move, a gnarled style that has been neglected or abandoned later, a powerhouse and streetwise vehement style, sometimes coarse or pompous (the initial scenes with Mahlon), a bombastic roughness of the guttersnipes; the characters' names are nicely chosen: Mahlon, Rhoda, Mehaffy, Squid ….The cast is better than the script; I liked the writing of the scenes, yet the plot is somewhat generic, and the romance could of been deepened more thoroughly (a divorcée rebel girl is ready to marry a racketeer when her passion, a drunkard musician, seems to wish to leave her).Hedda Hopper does her role of cheeky casualness, a nonchalant, worldly and domineering lady, a situation when someone's delusions of appeal serve the role.Kit Guard plays the henchman, Gus.

A weak story and poor early sound make this tale of a racketeer infiltrating himself into the lives of a drunken musician and his lady love less memorable than it could have been. Robert Armstrong, the man who later claimed "Tis' beauty who killed the beast!", is the charismatic mobster who comes across violinist Roland Drew practically passed out on the street, saving him from the police and getting him into the car of the pretty Carole Lombard (billed without the "e" at the end of her first name). Later, Lombard cheats a group of card players (including Armstrong), giving him an edge to get power over her. In the meantime, Armstrong's ruthless business tactics make him many enemies, while Lombard fights to make the right decision over which man she'll choose.There's a lot of potential here, and most of the acting is pretty good considering the antique camera equipment which statically remains in one spot. Armstrong is an engaging anti-hero, while Lombard shows early potential in a way which makes it obvious that one day she'll be a great star. Roland Drew is a convincing alcoholic, with future gossip columnist Hedda Hopper in her usual role of society matron. There is a definite curiosity factor here, but the plot seems a bit underdeveloped to totally work beyond being a mediocre programmer.

A beautiful, down and out former social débutante named Rhoda Philbrooke (Carol Lombard), who fell out of favor when she left her wealthy husband for a musician, is helped by a racketeer/mob boss named Mahlon Keane (Robert Armstrong), a man who seems to find his only real happiness in helping others with his ill gotten gain. Rhoda needs help to cure her musician Tony Vaughan (Roland Drew)'s alcohol addiction.Not surprisingly the story soon turns into something of a romantic triangle cliché as Keane falls in love with Rhoda too. As early talkies go, this movie is better done than most. It moves pretty briskly and is an interesting curio in that it shows so much sympathy to the plight of a divorced débutante and an unhappy, unsatisfied gangster boss. Overall though, it's never credible enough to be fully satisfying but still its story makes for some good melodrama.

While watching the movie, it struck me that this might be the closest I've seen to a silent film actually put to dialog, the execution of which seems like actors from a high school play who simply studied their lines and recited them from memory. We know that the principal players were much better than that from their later work, so take it as part of the learning curve in going from silents to talkies. Add to that a bit of overacting, a prime example being the conversation between Mal (Robert Armstrong), Gus (Kit Guard) and Squid (Al Hill) when discussing Weber's murder. Armstrong does such a quick double take that it's comical, I caught myself in a knee jerk reaction laughing over the way the trio handled that scene.The story itself takes a while to unfold, and you don't get a sense of where things are going until well into the picture. Once you get there though, it turns out to be a fairly interesting ride, as Rhoda Philbrooke (Carol Lombard) finds her affections torn between gangster Mahlon Keane (Armstrong) and alcoholic musician Tony Vaughan (Roland Drew). I thought the poker scene in which Mal covers for Rhoda's dishonesty was cleverly done, initiating the relationship between the two.So let's see, a cab ride in New York City in 1929 for sixty five cents - not a bad bargain. Combine that with a letter that could be simply addressed using a person's name and the town in which he lives (Mahlon Keane, Roslyn, Long Island), and I find myself longing for those good old days. Rhoda's fox fur was a bit much though, don't you think? All in all, not a bad little entry on the sixteen disc "Mobsters" DVD set from Platinum Disc, this being one of the earliest of the films chronologically. Perhaps better viewed as a curiosity piece than for it's story, it's a fine example of an early talkie that gives one a good idea how the transition from silents was accomplished.