This is the first film adaptation of the famous Hecht-MacArthur play about Chicago newspapermen in the late 1920s.
A death-row inmate, thought to be insane, is, through inept policing and quack doctoring able to escape.
The character of "Professor Max J. Engelhoffer" is a funny parody of Dr. Freud and others like him. The fact that he wants to reenact the crime with an actual, loaded pistol is hilarious, even more hilarious is his surprise at being shot. Gustav von Seyffertitz went un-credited in his role but he is one of the more memorable performers in this farce.
And Adolphe Menjou as the newspaper company owner is terrific. His relationship with Pat O'Brien is not simply an angry boss bullying his reporter; these men are friends and have been through a lot. This is reflected in their performances, especially in Menjou's.
The only DVD of this movie is from Madacy Entertainment's "Hollywood Classics Collection". This film transfer is horrible and has no more quality than a poor videotape. The picture is bad, but the sound is really a problem. Hearing what a character says is crucial in the understanding of any movie. This could have easily been cleaned up, like so many other movies of the 1930s and earlier are when they are put on DVD.
Madacy's DVD does have a few interesting extras, such as some newsreels (not from the 1930s, however) from Pathe News, Inc.
I call for a new DVD of this great classic with a pristine transfer of both picture and sound. More people would watch this movie and enjoy this movie if they could hear what the actor's are saying.
In any event, I really did like this film a lot. Please see it.
A death-row inmate, thought to be insane, is, through inept policing and quack doctoring able to escape.
The character of "Professor Max J. Engelhoffer" is a funny parody of Dr. Freud and others like him. The fact that he wants to reenact the crime with an actual, loaded pistol is hilarious, even more hilarious is his surprise at being shot. Gustav von Seyffertitz went un-credited in his role but he is one of the more memorable performers in this farce.
And Adolphe Menjou as the newspaper company owner is terrific. His relationship with Pat O'Brien is not simply an angry boss bullying his reporter; these men are friends and have been through a lot. This is reflected in their performances, especially in Menjou's.
The only DVD of this movie is from Madacy Entertainment's "Hollywood Classics Collection". This film transfer is horrible and has no more quality than a poor videotape. The picture is bad, but the sound is really a problem. Hearing what a character says is crucial in the understanding of any movie. This could have easily been cleaned up, like so many other movies of the 1930s and earlier are when they are put on DVD.
Madacy's DVD does have a few interesting extras, such as some newsreels (not from the 1930s, however) from Pathe News, Inc.
I call for a new DVD of this great classic with a pristine transfer of both picture and sound. More people would watch this movie and enjoy this movie if they could hear what the actor's are saying.
In any event, I really did like this film a lot. Please see it.