Directed by Rowland Brown
Written by Rowland Brown
1931/US
Fox Film Corporation
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel
Daniel J. ‘Bugs’ Raymond: I’ll bet we’ll be the best-dressed people there. That’s all anybody goes to the opera for.
Jimmy Kirk: I thought they only went to hear the music.
Daniel J. ‘Bugs’ Raymond: Sure, but those people sit up in the balcony.
Criterion Channel has a small collection of pre-Code Rowland Brown gangster films so I decided to indulge.
Spencer Tracy plays Daniel J. ‘Bugs’ Raymond, the boss of a protection racket. His downfall comes as the result of his infatuation with a millionaire’s daughter (Marguerite Churchill). Sally Eilers plays his jealous mistress and George Raft is his duplicitous second in command.
The plot is pretty routine but it is another reminder of what a great actor Tracy was. It is interesting just to watch him listening to the other actors. He is so natural.
A RETURN… (please allow for inflation) and definitely no-code
LOL. I had forgotten all about Alice Cooper! Maybe, judging from the clip, that is not a bad thing!