"What difference does it make whether laws are made by a bunch of lawyers for other lawyers to break, or whether they're made by hoodlums for other hoodlums?"
Your enjoyment of this weaker entry in the pre-Code gangster film space may depend on whether lots of little things when taken together add up to an enjoyable experience. For me, let me be clear, the scene with George Raft in his first credited role dancing at 41:15 was well worth the price of admission, and there were enough other moments in its 72 minute runtime that I came away happy.
One of the things the film reflected, two years into the Depression, was the age's deep cynicism for American institutions, like the banking industry and justice system. Spencer Tracy plays the main gangster and is shown in a sympathetic light, voicing lines like the one I started this review with. We see the corruption in the powerful men of society, and hear a citizen express "Why last night at dinner by own daughter said to me, we have the best judges that money can buy. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the attitude of the younger generation..." There are also statements about millionaire racketeers avoiding income taxes by hiding their money, public money being wasted on putting people in jail, and a cynicism that extends even to the newsreels, with a producer in a truck remarking, "Gee Andy, the audiences certainly ought to be tickled to death they don't have to listen to all the baloney that I do," before literally giving the finger to what he hears about the completion of wealthy man's construction project.
Tracy's character shakes down a big businessman by forcing him to pay a percentage on a building project, otherwise the trucks won't run and the mayhem he's causing won't stop. It seems to me he was standing in for the little guys during the Depression, those wishing they could stick it to the businessmen who played a part in cratering the economy, and were viewed as just as corrupt as these crooks.
That aspect worked for me, but overall, Tracy's character is portrayed in too good a light. Let's just say, the "gangster with a heart of gold" should be considered as weak a trope as the one for hookers. Oh, there are scenes of his strong-arm tactics to rise in the world of organized crime, like him smashing up cars so their owners will start using the garage whose owner he's "protecting," and him blowing up a trucker who won't fall in line as he amasses a monopoly on trucking, but they're brief. Meanwhile he looks out for the kids in the neighborhood, and draws the line at keeping an incriminating letter from a judge's lover that comes his way, one he could use as blackmail. "It might get him in bad with his old lady," he says while tearing it up. What a guy, right? He's got a classy office, with modern art on the walls and a fancy phone, and despite a few tough words, generally acts the gentleman (and too much so for my taste). There was a fantastic moment when his ex-girlfriend (Sally Eilers) slapped him hard across the face, which is shown, but his reaction, which is to knock her to the floor, is not, softening the impact.
Tracy's actions are also shown as having positive benefits, e.g. Intimidating the foremen of the workers to have the steel girders in place on the building before a critical date when he says they might not make it. He's also far better than what we see out of his old buddy Nails (Warner Richmond) when the latter tries to take over the mob. He's got all the bases covered, running his various schemes, and says with a smile to a woman he's trying to woo, "Racketeering is just getting what the other guy's got, in a nice way." Gosh, perhaps Trump et al will use this line of defense.
George Raft as his right-hand man is also not menacing enough, though he has some nice moments aside from the stellar dancing bit, including the scene where he tries to pick up a secretary (Dixie Lee). "Say baby, what do you with your spare moments?" he asks. "I like to go to wrestling matches," she sarcastically replies, making 'wrestling' sound like 'wrassling.' After he commits a murder, he walks through a hotel lobby and looks like someone who's guilty but trying to be as casual as possible. You can certainly see why he got more parts, including of course Scarface the following year. It's pretty funny that the real-life gangster who may have played a role in getting Raft in this film, Owney Madden, is referenced in a horse racing tip (Owney M in the 5th race).
Despite the film being pre-Code, the moral forces of the community rise up, but this felt very much unforced, and like a natural reaction. It was refreshing that the daughter of the businessman (Marguerite Churchill) was a strong character, and stood up to the gangster, despite his overture of a $12,000 square-cut diamond ($241,000 in 2023 dollars). Still, the scenes they have together, like Tracy making a five-cushion finesse carom in billiards, or hitting a nice golf shot by pitching out of a sand trap while she looks on in her fetching golfing outfit, were enjoyable. I also loved that little folk song we get from one of Nails' gang near the end (I wish I knew who this was, or where the song came from):
"When I was a boy / I was the pride and joy / Of my folks way down in Arkansas / I left my old hometown / Bad company I found / I done some things that was against the law / There's one thing I've been taught / You're right until you're caught / As long as I'm free I'm gonna do just what I choose."
