The Racket
Directed by Lewis Milestone
Written by Del Andrews from a play by Bartlett Cormack
1928/US
The Caddo Company (Howard Hughes)
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube (free)
Nick Scarsi: Take a tip, Mac… change your racket.
Police Captain James McQuigg: I like my racket….
This was the last silent movie nominated for a Best Picture Oscar (until, arguably, The Artist (2011). It’s an action-packed prohibition-age gangster flick.
Police Captain McQuigg (Thomas Meighan) is an honest cop in a cesspool of city corruption. The city is divided into the territories of rival bootleggers Nick Scarsi (Louis Wolheim) and Spike. Scarsi is ready to make a move on his rival and tries, successfully, to get McQuigg transferred to get his worst foe out of the way. In the meantime, saloon singer Helen Hayes (Marie Prevost) makes a move on Joe, Scarsi’s beloved kid brother, out of spite.
The transfer does not deter McQuigg and he gets a lucky break when Joe is picked up for a hit and run accident. After this, McQuigg brings Scarsi to his knees with the assistance of some reporters and Helen. I blinked and missed Walter Brennan’s appearance as an extra.
This is an entertaining movie with plenty of gunfights and some good acting. I admire Louis Wolheims ability to be amusing and scary in turn in his part. He had a promising career ahead of him as a character actor that was sadly cut short by his death from cancer in 1931.
