''Born Reckless'' is a 1930 American
pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...
crime film directed by
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
and staged by
Andrew Bennison
Andrew Bennison (November 3, 1886 – January 7, 1942, in Oakland, California) was an American screenwriter and film director whose career was at its peak in the 1930s.
Bennison was nearly entirely a screenwriter between 1923 and 1942 involved ...
from a screenplay written by
Dudley Nichols
Dudley Nichols (April 6, 1895 – January 4, 1960) was an American screenwriter and film director. He was the first person to decline an Academy Award, as part of a boycott to gain recognition for the Screen Writers Guild; he would later accept ...
based on the novel ''Louis Beretti''.
The film starred
Edmund Lowe
Edmund Dantes Lowe (March 3, 1890 – April 21, 1971) was an American actor. His formative experience began in vaudeville and silent film.
Biography
Lowe was born in San Jose, California. His father was a local judge. His childhood home was a ...
,
Catherine Dale Owen
Catherine Dale Owen (July 28, 1900 September 7, 1965) was an American stage and film actress.
Early life
Catherine Dale Owen was born in Louisville, Kentucky to a prominent Kentucky family. She attended private school in Philadelphia and Bron ...
and
Marguerite Churchill
Marguerite Churchill (December 26, 1910 – January 9, 2000) was an American stage and film actress whose career lasted 30 years, from 1922 to 1952. She was John Wayne's first leading lady, in '' The Big Trail'' (1930).
Early years
She was ...
.
[
]
Plot
A gangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...
, Louis Beretti, gets caught involved in a jewelry heist and taken to see the judge. The war has begun and hoping to use the publicity to get re-elected, the judge offers Louis and his two buddies, the choice of going to jail, or signing up to fight in the war - if they prove themselves, he will throw away their arrests.
Louis makes it home from the war (one of his buddies was killed), and opens up a night club downtown that becomes very successful. His employees are former members of his gang, and he maintains contact with "Big", still a gangster.
Louis falls for the sister of his buddy who was killed in the war, but she already has plans to marry. He tells her nevertheless, that if she ever needs him, she should call and he will come. When her baby is kidnapped (her husband is away), she does call for Louis and he realizes that the kidnapping has been done by "Big" and the gang. Louis goes to save the baby and confront those of the gang who have taken part in the kidnapping. Shots are exchanged.
After he returns the baby to his mother, Louis goes back to his nightclub where "Big" is waiting. They talk of old times though they realize they will need to shoot it out, which they do...
Cast
*Edmund Lowe
Edmund Dantes Lowe (March 3, 1890 – April 21, 1971) was an American actor. His formative experience began in vaudeville and silent film.
Biography
Lowe was born in San Jose, California. His father was a local judge. His childhood home was a ...
as Louis Beretti
*Catherine Dale Owen
Catherine Dale Owen (July 28, 1900 September 7, 1965) was an American stage and film actress.
Early life
Catherine Dale Owen was born in Louisville, Kentucky to a prominent Kentucky family. She attended private school in Philadelphia and Bron ...
as Joan Sheldon
*Frank Albertson
Francis Healey Albertson (February 2, 1909 – February 29, 1964) was an American actor who had supporting roles in films such as ''It's a Wonderful Life'' (1946) and ''Psycho (1960 film), Psycho'' (1960).
Early life
Albertson was a nat ...
as Frank Sheldon
*Marguerite Churchill
Marguerite Churchill (December 26, 1910 – January 9, 2000) was an American stage and film actress whose career lasted 30 years, from 1922 to 1952. She was John Wayne's first leading lady, in '' The Big Trail'' (1930).
Early years
She was ...
as Rosa Beretti
*William Harrigan
William Harrigan (March 27, 1894 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor who performed in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s and on stage.
Early years
Harrigan was born in New York City and attended New York Military Academy. Harrigan was ...
as Good News Brophy
*Lee Tracy
William Lee Tracy (April 14, 1898 – October 18, 1968) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He is known foremost for his portrayals between the late 1920s and 1940s of fast-talking, wisecracking news reporters, press agents, lawye ...
as Bill O'Brien
*Warren Hymer
Edgar Warren Hymer (February 25, 1906 – March 25, 1948) was an American theatre and film actor.
Early life
He was born in New York City. His father, John Bard Hymer (1875/1876 – 1953) was a playwright (with nine Broadway plays to ...
as Big Shot
*Ilka Chase
Ilka Chase (April 8, 1905 – February 15, 1978) was an American actress, radio host, and novelist.
Biography
Born in New York City and educated at convent and boarding schools in the United States, England, and France, Chase was the only child ...
as High Society Customer at Beretti's
*Ferike Boros
Ferike Boros (3 August 1873 – 16 January 1951) was a Hungarian-born American stage and movie actress.
Biography
Ferike Weinstock was born in Nagyvárad, Austria-Hungary, in 1873, Boros was on stage starting in 1893. She moved to London in 19 ...
as Ma Beretti
*Paul Porcasi
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
* Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
as Pa Beretti
*Ben Bard
Ben Bard (January 26, 1893 – May 17, 1974) was an American movie actor, stage actor, and acting teacher. With comedian Jack Pearl, Bard worked in a comedy duo in vaudeville.
In 1926, Bard, Pearl, and Sascha Beaumont appeared in a short fil ...
as Joe Bergman
*Eddie Gribbon
Eddie Gribbon (January 3, 1890 – September 29, 1965) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films from the 1910s to the 1950s. Gribbon began working in Mack Sennett films in 1916 and continued through the 1920s. He usuall ...
as Bugs
*Mike Donlin
Michael Joseph Donlin (May 30, 1878 – September 24, 1933) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and actor. As a professional baseball player, his MLB career spanned from 1899 to 1914 in which he played mainly in the National L ...
as Fingy Moscovitz
* Paul Page as Ritzy Reilly
*Roy Stewart
Roy Stewart (15 May 1925 – 27 October 2008) was a Jamaican-born British actor. He began his career as a stuntman and went on to work in film and television.
In 1954 he founded Roy Stewart's Gym in Powis Square, North Kensington, and ran t ...
as District Attorney Cardigan
*Jack Pennick
Ronald Jack Pennick (December 7, 1895 – August 16, 1964) was an American film actor. After working as a gold miner as a young man, serving as a US Marine, he would go on to appear in more than 140 films between 1926 and 1962. Pennick was ...
as Sergeant
* Ward Bond as Sergeant
*Yola d'Avril
Yola d'Avril (8 April 1906 – 2 March 1984) was a French-American actress, who appeared in numerous productions between 1925 and 1953. She was also known as Yola Vermairion and Yola d'Avril Montiague.
Biography
d'Avril was born in Lille, Franc ...
as French Girl
* Randolph Scott as Dick Milburn
* John Wayne as Soldier (uncredited)
* Pat Somerset
Pat Somerset (28 February 1897 – 20 April 1974) was an English stage and film actor.
Biography
Born Patrick Holme-Sumner, after appearing in some British silent films early in his career, he moved to the United States.
In 1922 he starred on ...
as Duke
References
External links
*
*
1930 films
American black-and-white films
Films directed by John Ford
1930s crime comedy films
American crime comedy films
Films based on American novels
Films with screenplays by Dudley Nichols
Fox Film films
1930 comedy films
1930s English-language films
1930s American films
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