Tonight as I was looking through what movie I would watch next, I picked this movie. I was unfamiliar with the cast of this film, with those playing the characters, Steve Banks (played by Robert Armstrong), Steve's wife and lady reporter (played by Carole Lombard), Hansel (played by Louis Payne), O'Neill (played by Wade Boteler), Addison (played by Charles Sellon), Reno (played by Sam Hardy), Ryan (played by Tom Kennedy), District Attorney Phelps (played by Warner Richmond), the society editor named Vera (played by Helen Ainsworth), Deke (played by James Donlan), reporter Hoffman (played by George "Gabby" Hayes), another reporter (played by Vernon Steele), the coroner (played by Clarence Wilson), Birn (played by Colin Chase), and the Telegraph editor (played by Robert Dudley). This film started off a bit slow, with Steve Banks at the bottom, only protected by one of the editors, as the editor-in-chief (Addison), wanting to fire him. The gangster, Reno, wants Banks fired so he can continue the shady activities around his speakeasy. He gets his wish as he is fired for disrupting the paper's advertising revenue, with Reno as the advertiser and a gangster at the same time. Banks' wife says she will leave him, tired of his rough newspaper life which involves deep alcoholism, for justified reasons, so they are ready to divorce.
Banks and his continuously drunk reporter friend O'Neill, I believe, go to Reno's speakeasy with Banks bluffing he has a confession of crimes Reno and his ilk have engaged in, from the mouth of a woman whom has been imprisoned. This shocks Reno and he tells his henchmen to kill her, shut her up. But Banks, despite being fired, still wants to get a story. He gets the confession alright and brings it to the editor-in-chief while Reno stays in the room of another editor, saying he is discussing advertising. But this is suspicious. Soon the second and last part of the movie goes into motion.
The police and then the district attorney accuse Banks of killing the editor-in-chief, bringing together flimsy evidence, like the fact he was supposedly the last person talking to this editor, a cut natural gas line and a knife he left at the bar of Reno's speakeasy. Banks' wife, however, comes to his defense while others are skeptical but Banks convinces them that Reno actually killed the editor (who died not from asphyxiation but from a blow to the head, which disqualifies him from murder already) and destroyed the confession in order to protect his criminal activities. The film ends with Reno in handcuffs and Banks working on the paper again.
This film didn't have the social commentary which similar films, those by Frank Capra, have but it does have something going for it, the fact that it is an effective drama and comedy. The quips by characters made me laugh as many times as I would laugh for a Mel Brooks film. The occasional racist wording like "Chinaman" was off-putting and the slowness of the movie made it less enjoyable. However I would still rate this film as an 8 out of 10. With that my review of this film concludes.
Banks and his continuously drunk reporter friend O'Neill, I believe, go to Reno's speakeasy with Banks bluffing he has a confession of crimes Reno and his ilk have engaged in, from the mouth of a woman whom has been imprisoned. This shocks Reno and he tells his henchmen to kill her, shut her up. But Banks, despite being fired, still wants to get a story. He gets the confession alright and brings it to the editor-in-chief while Reno stays in the room of another editor, saying he is discussing advertising. But this is suspicious. Soon the second and last part of the movie goes into motion.
The police and then the district attorney accuse Banks of killing the editor-in-chief, bringing together flimsy evidence, like the fact he was supposedly the last person talking to this editor, a cut natural gas line and a knife he left at the bar of Reno's speakeasy. Banks' wife, however, comes to his defense while others are skeptical but Banks convinces them that Reno actually killed the editor (who died not from asphyxiation but from a blow to the head, which disqualifies him from murder already) and destroyed the confession in order to protect his criminal activities. The film ends with Reno in handcuffs and Banks working on the paper again.
This film didn't have the social commentary which similar films, those by Frank Capra, have but it does have something going for it, the fact that it is an effective drama and comedy. The quips by characters made me laugh as many times as I would laugh for a Mel Brooks film. The occasional racist wording like "Chinaman" was off-putting and the slowness of the movie made it less enjoyable. However I would still rate this film as an 8 out of 10. With that my review of this film concludes.