Now that prohibition is over, recently released booze baron Edward Arnold doesn't have a business to come back to, and rather than get involved in other rackets, prefers to be broke but on the straight and narrow. Along cones wastrel Phillips Holmes who in order to keep his uppity socialite mother Marjorie Gateson from marrying a no good social climbing gigolo decides to arrange his own kidnapping. Arnold's gal pal Winifred Shaw and daughter Madge Evans step in to keep other rackateer from butting in just to keep daddy safe. Simple enough plot seems to have been edited down and is missing some key information, but the script is pretty decent, the atmosphere a mixture of light and melodramatic, and a few funny character performances. Winifred Shaw gets to since a few songs, and Andy Devine gets the majority of the laughs as Arnold's chauffer who drives him around in a taxi. Based on a Damon Runyeon story, this is typical of its kind, and gives Around a boistrous and bombastic character to easily root for. Holmes never really gets to see his character fully developed, although by pairing him with Arnold's very young but sensible daughter, it makes it clear that he'll get on the right track as soon as he gets rid of his mommy issues. He's best in the opening sequence, intruding on Arnold and Devine by jumping into the cab and refusing to get out.
5 Reviews
Guys and dolls and kidnappers and gigolos, plus a little side car...
mark.waltz1 January 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Actors Against the Code
boblipton9 May 2017
Edward Arnold has just gotten out of prison, broke, to find that his daughter has come home from Europe. He's no longer interested in the rackets, but he wants to send her to safety. Meanwhile, Phillip Holmes' mother is about to marry a younger man, who only wants her for her money. Together they concoct a scheme to kidnap him and hold him for ransom; that will distract his mother! Things grow complicated...
The Code was moving into enforcement, and this movie hews to it in a strict manner, including the death of the redeemed crook, that shows a paint-by-numbers attitude towards the matter. Nonetheless, the fine cast, which includes Mary Carlisle, Wini Shaw, Andy Devine, Jane Darwell and a singing Jay C. Flippen make this a handsome little programmer.
The Code was moving into enforcement, and this movie hews to it in a strict manner, including the death of the redeemed crook, that shows a paint-by-numbers attitude towards the matter. Nonetheless, the fine cast, which includes Mary Carlisle, Wini Shaw, Andy Devine, Jane Darwell and a singing Jay C. Flippen make this a handsome little programmer.
Damon Runyon Story With An O'Henry Twist
GManfred10 August 2015
Absorbing romantic gangster drama with a good plot and an excellent cast. The plot summary for this picture is pretty skimpy, so here goes; gang boss Vince Shelton (Edward Arnold) is released from prison and announces to his gang at their night club that he wants to go straight. The gang can't believe it and is disappointed. A pesty drunk at the club (Philips Holmes) attaches himself to Shelton, discovers who he is, and hatches a plan to kidnap himself (Holmes) to keep his mother from marrying her fiancé, who he hates. The drunk, we learn, is heir to a fortune. The ransom money would be returned when paid (minus Shelton's cut), because by that time the wedding would be off and the whole scheme was a hoax anyway. But the gang hears about it and doesn't know it's a fake 'sneeze' (gangster parlance for a kidnapping).
Got it so far? Well, that's the bare bones to a better-than-average 'B' from Universal. It is by turns funny, melodramatic and tense, and with a romance interwoven into the plot, all of which makes this a very watchable movie. Old pro Arnold holds the picture together with a big boost from Holmes, who was a pretty fair actor until his untimely death during WWII. The film is only 70 minutes long and moves very quickly but you can still keep up with the twists, and there are several.
The problem is where and how to see this picture, since it's probably deep in Universal's vaults (they hardly release any films unless it's famous). Luckily, it's been restored and loaned by the Library of Congress and I caught it at Capitolfest in Rome, N.Y. just last week. There's just no telling how many unknown good movies are out there somewhere collecting dust and need to be seen. This is one.
Got it so far? Well, that's the bare bones to a better-than-average 'B' from Universal. It is by turns funny, melodramatic and tense, and with a romance interwoven into the plot, all of which makes this a very watchable movie. Old pro Arnold holds the picture together with a big boost from Holmes, who was a pretty fair actor until his untimely death during WWII. The film is only 70 minutes long and moves very quickly but you can still keep up with the twists, and there are several.
The problem is where and how to see this picture, since it's probably deep in Universal's vaults (they hardly release any films unless it's famous). Luckily, it's been restored and loaned by the Library of Congress and I caught it at Capitolfest in Rome, N.Y. just last week. There's just no telling how many unknown good movies are out there somewhere collecting dust and need to be seen. This is one.
One more totally forgotten gem
searchanddestroy-125 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Produced by Universal Studios, I did not know this film at all. Never heard of it, nor the director. I don't know where the copy I watched comes from. Not from a TCM taping off, for sure. Well the topic already told above explains the story very well. I won't say much more because I don't want to spoil the movie. Not an usual scheme, I admit, and for this reason it's worth watching. Eddy Arnold is always good, whatever movie he appears in. Many little features were interesting, in the thirties, short, under eight minutes, for most of them, and lost; or at least hard to purchase. Audiences felt a sort of freedom in the film makings. A good drama, entertaining enough to easily get through it. I will look for the director's stuff he made. I am curious to see exactly what he was involved in.
Million Dollar Problem
view_and_review14 May 2024
Warning: Spoilers
What do we know about Hollywood and love? We actually know quite a bit; like love is stronger than anything, everyone has a true love, love can occur between people when they experience trauma together, and whoever the two most attractive people are on screen--they're the ones that will fall in love.
A gangster named Vincent Shelton (Edward Arnold) was released from prison to cheers and headlines. He had to let his fellow criminals down when he told them he was going straight. It's been done before (see "Picture Snatcher" (1933) or "The Little Giant" (1933)), but it's never easy.
In a set up you could see coming a mile away, a drunk rich kid named Stanton Casserly (Phillips Holmes) followed Vincent home from a club on Vince's first night of freedom. It was so out of the ordinary that I figured that A.) Stanton wasn't drunk, he was just pretending to be to get close to Vincent or B.) the writers were stretching their limited imagination in order to make a story.
It was B.
Stanton was legitimately drunk and he bizarrely followed a stranger home and even entered his house to sleep off his inebriation. It didn't make sense and it looked contrived, hence my enjoyment of the movie from then on was compromised.
I didn't know what kind of story would become of this event, but I knew one thing: he was going to fall in love with Vincent's daughter Francesca (Mary Carlisle). Just read the points I made about Hollywood and love at the beginning. Stanton and Francesca were the two most attractive people on screen.
As for how Stanton's drunken behavior unimaginatively created drama; it began with his mother and a newspaper article.
Stanton's mother, Elita Casserly (Marjorie Gateson), was set to marry a French con man named Pascal. Stanton tried his best to talk her out of it--he even showed her a telegram stating that he was a crook--but she made up her mind to sail to France and marry Pascal anyway.
Not long after Stanton's quarrel with his mother he saw Vincent's name, photo, and criminal history in the newspaper below an unrelated headline about kidnapping. That's when he came up with the idea that he'd pay Vincent to kidnap him and hold him for ransom. His mother would never leave while her baby was kidnapped, and she would pay handsomely for his safe return.
Stanton was taken to a remote cabin to hide out until Mrs. Casserly paid the ransom. Remember how I said that Stanton and Francesca had to fall in love? Guess who happened to be staying not too far from that remote cabin. Ah, yes. Francesca. She was staying with two old folks called Ma (Jane Darwell) and Pop (Spencer Charters). She met Stanton at a stream and you can guess the rest.
Even though I knew they would fall in love, I wasn't prepared for Francesca to be so deep in love after a few days that she'd risk her own life and safety for Stanton.
When Vincent's foes found out about his kidnapping scheme, they had plans to cut in on it themselves. There was no way they could've known about the kidnapping, but with one frayed string of evidence they were able to knit a full quilt. The deduction skills of people in the 30's was uncanny. Criminals and detectives alike only needed the smallest shred of tenuous evidence to figure things out when it was needed to advance the plot. As a result, they kidnapped Stanton and Francesca with plans to get the ransom money for themselves. They didn't know who Francesca was, but they knew who Stanton was.
Vincent found out where they were being held and arranged to see the two of them. He feigned not knowing who Francesca was so that he could get her to safety, but here is where the bafflingly deep love connection came into play.
"I won't leave without him," she said defiantly. "No. I'm in love with Stan."
Ugh! Stupid young girls frustrate me.
It's not like she's known this guy for years, or even months, and she knew nothing about him! She just found out that he roped her dad into a fake kidnapping plot and somehow that wasn't a red flag. Furthermore, it wasn't like she could do anything to help him. All she could do was die by his side, or be a hindrance because he'd have her to worry about.
Fran stayed in the cellar with Stan while her father cooked up a scheme that involved their kidnappers taking them to be married--and that's what they did.
Who writes this nonsense?
The movie ended with Stan and Fran happily married, Stan's mother sans Pascal, and Vince taking down his rivals even though it cost him his own life. If the story had been better written the ending would've been more appreciated. It wasn't and it wasn't.
Free on Odnoklassniki.
A gangster named Vincent Shelton (Edward Arnold) was released from prison to cheers and headlines. He had to let his fellow criminals down when he told them he was going straight. It's been done before (see "Picture Snatcher" (1933) or "The Little Giant" (1933)), but it's never easy.
In a set up you could see coming a mile away, a drunk rich kid named Stanton Casserly (Phillips Holmes) followed Vincent home from a club on Vince's first night of freedom. It was so out of the ordinary that I figured that A.) Stanton wasn't drunk, he was just pretending to be to get close to Vincent or B.) the writers were stretching their limited imagination in order to make a story.
It was B.
Stanton was legitimately drunk and he bizarrely followed a stranger home and even entered his house to sleep off his inebriation. It didn't make sense and it looked contrived, hence my enjoyment of the movie from then on was compromised.
I didn't know what kind of story would become of this event, but I knew one thing: he was going to fall in love with Vincent's daughter Francesca (Mary Carlisle). Just read the points I made about Hollywood and love at the beginning. Stanton and Francesca were the two most attractive people on screen.
As for how Stanton's drunken behavior unimaginatively created drama; it began with his mother and a newspaper article.
Stanton's mother, Elita Casserly (Marjorie Gateson), was set to marry a French con man named Pascal. Stanton tried his best to talk her out of it--he even showed her a telegram stating that he was a crook--but she made up her mind to sail to France and marry Pascal anyway.
Not long after Stanton's quarrel with his mother he saw Vincent's name, photo, and criminal history in the newspaper below an unrelated headline about kidnapping. That's when he came up with the idea that he'd pay Vincent to kidnap him and hold him for ransom. His mother would never leave while her baby was kidnapped, and she would pay handsomely for his safe return.
Stanton was taken to a remote cabin to hide out until Mrs. Casserly paid the ransom. Remember how I said that Stanton and Francesca had to fall in love? Guess who happened to be staying not too far from that remote cabin. Ah, yes. Francesca. She was staying with two old folks called Ma (Jane Darwell) and Pop (Spencer Charters). She met Stanton at a stream and you can guess the rest.
Even though I knew they would fall in love, I wasn't prepared for Francesca to be so deep in love after a few days that she'd risk her own life and safety for Stanton.
When Vincent's foes found out about his kidnapping scheme, they had plans to cut in on it themselves. There was no way they could've known about the kidnapping, but with one frayed string of evidence they were able to knit a full quilt. The deduction skills of people in the 30's was uncanny. Criminals and detectives alike only needed the smallest shred of tenuous evidence to figure things out when it was needed to advance the plot. As a result, they kidnapped Stanton and Francesca with plans to get the ransom money for themselves. They didn't know who Francesca was, but they knew who Stanton was.
Vincent found out where they were being held and arranged to see the two of them. He feigned not knowing who Francesca was so that he could get her to safety, but here is where the bafflingly deep love connection came into play.
"I won't leave without him," she said defiantly. "No. I'm in love with Stan."
Ugh! Stupid young girls frustrate me.
It's not like she's known this guy for years, or even months, and she knew nothing about him! She just found out that he roped her dad into a fake kidnapping plot and somehow that wasn't a red flag. Furthermore, it wasn't like she could do anything to help him. All she could do was die by his side, or be a hindrance because he'd have her to worry about.
Fran stayed in the cellar with Stan while her father cooked up a scheme that involved their kidnappers taking them to be married--and that's what they did.
Who writes this nonsense?
The movie ended with Stan and Fran happily married, Stan's mother sans Pascal, and Vince taking down his rivals even though it cost him his own life. If the story had been better written the ending would've been more appreciated. It wasn't and it wasn't.
Free on Odnoklassniki.
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