Below the Deadline

1929
57m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Frank Leigh and Barbara Worth in Below the Deadline (1929)

Beau Nash is a "gentleman crook" who headquarters his gang of jewel thieves in a run-down boardinghouse. When one of his gang, Mike, gets arrested, his sister Claire--aka "Lady Byron"--swear... Read allBeau Nash is a "gentleman crook" who headquarters his gang of jewel thieves in a run-down boardinghouse. When one of his gang, Mike, gets arrested, his sister Claire--aka "Lady Byron"--swears to get revenge. The gang frames Donald, the best friend of the detective who arrested Mi... Read allBeau Nash is a "gentleman crook" who headquarters his gang of jewel thieves in a run-down boardinghouse. When one of his gang, Mike, gets arrested, his sister Claire--aka "Lady Byron"--swears to get revenge. The gang frames Donald, the best friend of the detective who arrested Mike, for a jewelry store robbery. The detective gives Donald--and his new love, Claire--a s... Read all

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IMDb RATING

5.3/10

YOUR RATING

2User reviews

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Featured review

4/10

Below Par

This is a long, static mess of a crime drama. Although the cinematographer obviously worked hard to make this visually interesting we can judge it against contemporary crime dramas such as Von Sternberg's stylish UNDERWORLD, Browning's brooding WHITE TIGER and Badger's funny PATHS TO PARADISE. This was at the height of Hollywood's final burst of cinematographic innovation before sound films put it in a straitjacket for ten years.

Ignoring the flair of others, director and star McGowan managed to turn out a movie that is stagy, dull and depressingly obvious. Far too much of the story is told with title cards and the characters' motivations are strained to the limit to justify their actions. Avoid this one.