The Beast of the City 1932

     Police Chief Jim Fitzpatrick is fighting gangster Sam Belmonte.  His department runs in the thugs that work for Belmonte but they get bailed out right away.  Fittz’s thinks his dishonest brother Ed is involved with Belmonte.  Fitz asks Ed to keep an eye on Daisy Stevens.  She’s Belmonte’s moll.  Instead Ed becomes involved with Daisy and he forgets about his surveillance job!!

     It’s interesting to see life from this time period!!  This is also in black and white.  According to the film, there were a lot of bleached blondes and they used peroxide to become blonde.  There is a trial and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the defense attorney lead the witness and jury with such abandon.  The judge is disgusted by the verdict!!  Later there is a shoot out between the gang and the police.  It’s more like a shootout in a western movie?  3 ½* (I liked this movie) 

86 min, Crime directed by Charles Brabin with Walter Huston Jean Harlow, Wallace Ford, Jean Hersholt, Dorothy Peterson, Tully Marshall, John Miljan, Emmett Corigan, Warner Richmond, Sandy Roth, J. Carrol Naish.

Note:  Imdb 6.9 out of 10, TCM Leonard Maltin 3* out of 4* average user rating 4* out of 5*, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 11 reviews, Three Movie Buffs 3* out of 4*.

Special Note:  Filmed at MGM Studios, Culver City, California.  The working title was City Sentinels.  Mickey Rooney is 11 years old and he plays Fitz’s youngest son.  This is Rooney’s first full-length sound feature film.  His only line is, “Say, those don’t look like pancakes!”  His twin sisters in the film have made pancakes by themselves for the family breakfast.  This film originated from a conversation between President Herbert Hoover and MGM head Louis B. Mayer.  Hoover thought the public needed to have greater respect for the police and law enforcement.  There were many gangster pictures coming out at this time and they glorified the gangsters.  There is a prologue by Hoover on the opening screen.  Later this information was edited out and it disappeared?

Pre-Code:  This film is pre-code and you can tell because there is a police call for a nude woman running around.  Someone has the nickname of ‘Easy Stevens.’  In the dialogue is ‘Hey you son of a ….!’  Criminals murder a child and are acquitted at trial.  Jean Harlow has a risqué dance scene and she says she doesn’t mind ‘the rough stuff.’   It wasn’t shown in New York City because Pre-Code films were not shown.