Review of The Ruling Voice

Wow, did this movie start with a bang! There is a "businessmen's association" that offers protection for its members. This is actually a very thinly veiled cover for the mob. A business man is told he CAN'T do business with someone outside the organization. When he does, the consequences actually shocked me--the mob REAAALLY meant what they said! The head of this group of crooks is the well-dressed and well-mannered Walter Huston and when he's behind closed doors with his thugs, he instantly loses his sweet veneer. But to everyone outside this group, he's a respectable and well off gentleman. Even his well-bred daughter (Loretta Young) doesn't know--and it was easier to hide it from her as he had her educated in Europe. But, when he makes the mistake and tells her about his real business, she wants nothing to do with him and leaves to start a life on her own. She even goes so far as tell her fiancé, Dick Cheney (yes, that really is the character's name) that she cannot marry him--though I have no idea why she goes this far. Naturally, Dick won't hear of this and pursues her ardently.

There's a lot more to the story than this, but sadly it never really amounted to very much. Huston got sick of the business and wanted to get out, but oddly, there was very little suspense or action--despite the action early in the film. And, oddly, Huston and Young reunited awfully easily. There WAS a shooting that occurred a bit later--but that occurred off-camera and the entire affair was amazingly muted and dull despite such a promising start. Overall, it turned out to be an amazingly tame dud.