''The Beast of the City'' is a 1932 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 ...

gangster film featuring cops as vigilantes and known for its singularly vicious ending. Written by

W.R. Burnett William Riley Burnett (November 25, 1899 April 25, 1982) was an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for the crime novel ''Little Caesar'', the film adaptation of which is considered the first of the classic American gangster m ...

Ben Hecht Ben Hecht (; February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist. A successful journalist in his youth, he went on to write 35 books and some of the most enjoyed screenplay ...

(uncredited), and

John Lee Mahin John Lee Mahin (August 23, 1902, Evanston, Illinois – April 18, 1984, Los Angeles) was an American screenwriter and producer of films who was active in Hollywood from the 1930s to the 1960s. He was known as the favorite writer of Clark Gable an ...

, and directed by

Charles Brabin Charles Brabin (April 17, 1882 – November 3, 1957) was a British-American film director. Biography Born in Liverpool, England, he was educated at St. Francis Xavier College. Brabin sailed to New York City in the early 1900s and, while hold ...

, the film stars

Walter Huston Walter Thomas Huston ( ;According to the Province of Ontario. ''Ontario, C ...

Jean Harlow Jean Harlow (born Harlean Harlow Carpenter; March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937) was an American actress. Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930s and one of the defining figures of the ...

Wallace Ford Wallace Ford (born Samuel Grundy Jones; 12 February 1898 – 11 June 1966) was an English-born naturalized American vaudevillian, stage performer and screen actor. Usually playing wise-cracking characters, he combined a tough but friendly-fac ...

Jean Hersholt Jean Pierre Carl Buron (12 July 1886 – 2 June 1956), known professionally as Jean Hersholt, was a Danish-American actor. He is best known for starring on the radio series '' Dr. Christian'' (1937–1954) and in the film '' Heidi'' (1937).Obitu ...

, and

Tully Marshall Tully Marshall (born William Phillips; April 10, 1864 – March 10, 1943) was an American character actor. He had nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience before his debut film appearance in 1914 which led to a film career spanning alm ...

Plot

Police Captain Jim Fitzpatrick (

Walter Huston Walter Thomas Huston ( ;According to the Province of Ontario. ''Ontario, C ...

) is a dedicated family man and crime fighter not averse to using violence to fight violence. Although he's been demoted for political reasons, public outcry forces the mayor to take more aggressive action against sleazy gang boss Sam Belmonte (

), and Fitzpatrick is promoted to police chief. His younger brother, Police Detective Ed Fitzpatrick (

), allows himself to be seduced by a languorously sexy Belmonte gang moll (

) and needs money to continue the relationship. Frustrated when his principled brother will not promote him, he betrays Jim's trust by conspiring with Belmonte's henchmen in a truck hijacking that results in the deaths of a child and another police officer. After a crooked lawyer is able to get those guilty off on all charges, the relentlessly determined Chief turns to vigilantism to rid the city of its "Beasts."

Cast

Mickey Rooney, in an uncredited appearance, played the son of Captain Jim Fitzpatrick (played by Walter Huston) in his first MGM feature.Miller, Frank
''The Beast of the City''
TCM.com; accessed July 24, 2015.

Production

''The Beast of the City'' originated in consultations between MGM head of production

Louis B. Mayer Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1882 or 1884 or 1885 – October 29, 1957) was a Canadian-American film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM) in 1924. Under Mayer's management, MGM became the film industr ...

and President

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

, who was concerned that the public needed to have greater respect for police officers and other law-enforcement officials. The film opens with this text: "Instead of the glorification of cowardly gangsters, we need the glorification of policemen who do their duty and give their lives in public protection. If the police had the vigilant, universal backing of public opinion in their communities, if they had the implacable support of the prosecuting authorities and the courts—I am convinced that our police would stamp out the excessive crime—which has disgraced some of our great cities”— President Herbert Hoover.” The film was produced under the working title "City Sentinels";"Notes"
on

TCM.com Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atl ...

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

took place from November 4 to December 1931 at MGM's studios in Culver City."Filming locations"
on

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

After the film was completed, Mayer decided that it was not quite right for MGM's image as the home of family entertainment, because it was too violent, despite its focus on law-and-order. Mayer ordered that it be exhibited as the bottom feature on double bills. The film was Jean Harlow's opportunity to show MGM that she would cooperate with the studio, and she was rewarded with better roles which would shortly lead to stardom.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beast of the City, The 1932 films 1932 crime films American police detective films Films directed by Charles Brabin American gangster films American vigilante films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links