The Devil Is Driving
Directed by Benjamin Stoloff
Written by P.J. Wolfson, Allen Rivkin, and Louis Weitzenkorn from an orginal story by Frank Mitchell Dazey
1932/US
Paramount Pictures
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel
All art is theft. — David Shields
Drama about the auto theft racket is too short to really develop characters or the story.
‘Beef’ Evans (James Gleason) is a family man who has an adorable little son. He also is the manager of a bizarre auto theft racket, in which luxury cars are stolen then given a nice new paint job on the sixth floor of an eight-story building which also contains a parking garage and a speakeasy. The nominal boss of the operation is Jenkins (Alan Dineheart) but the real brains and unquestioned leader is a very weird deaf mute.
Beef takes pity on his friend ‘Gabby’ Denton (Edmund Lowe) and gives him a job in the auto shop. He does not reveal the criminal activity of the business. Time marches on and Gabby is sweet talking Jenkins’s girlfriend ‘Silver’ (Wynne Gibson) who reciprocates. Jenkins is very jealous. Beef’s son is hit by a car but survives. Beef tries to find the culprits and is killed for it. The rest of the movie is devoted to Gabby and Silver’s search for the killer.
This is certainly not a must see and has the flaws common to movies of this length in this era. But I like Gleason and Lowe a lot and was entertained.
Tribute to character actor James Gleason
