Bad Company (1931 film)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Bad Company'' is a 1931 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 directed and co-written by Tay Garnett with
Tom Buckingham Tom Buckingham (February 25, 1895 – September 7, 1934) was an American film director and screenwriter. He directed 48 films between 1920 and 1932. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, and died from surgical complications. His film ''Cock ...
based on Jack Lait's 1930 novel ''Put on the Spot''. It stars Helen Twelvetrees and
Ricardo Cortez Ricardo Cortez (born Jacob Kranze or Jacob Krantz; September 19, 1900 – April 28, 1977) was an American actor and film director. He was also credited as Jack Crane early in his acting career. Early years Ricardo Cortez was born Jacob K ...
. Told from the view of a woman, the
working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...
s of this film were ''The Gangster's Wife'' and ''The Mad Marriage''. Unlike many static early sound films, Garnett includes several scenes using a moving camera climaxing in a gigantic assault on an office building with both sides using
heavy machine gun A heavy machine gun (HMG) is significantly larger than light, medium or general-purpose machine guns. HMGs are typically too heavy to be man-portable (carried by one person) and require mounting onto a weapons platform to be operably stable or ...
s.


Plot

Rich and beautiful Helen King is about to marry Steve Carlyle, a wealthy young professional. Unknown to Helen and her family, Steve is a legal advisor to a
megalomania Megalomania is an obsession with power and wealth, and a passion for grand schemes. Megalomania or megalomaniac may also refer to: Psychology * Narcissistic personality disorder * Grandiose delusions * Omnipotence (psychoanalysis), a stage ...
c gangster Goldie Gorio. Steve wishes to leave the rackets but Goldie reintroduces him to his future father-in-law, a rival gangster where both parties see the marriage as a symbol of peace and an end of violence in their transactions. Steve remains with Goldie and fills in for him to a visit to a rival gangster's boat where he is ambushed and nearly killed by their machine gun. Helen vows revenge on Goldie.


Cast

* Helen Twelvetrees ... Helen King *
Ricardo Cortez Ricardo Cortez (born Jacob Kranze or Jacob Krantz; September 19, 1900 – April 28, 1977) was an American actor and film director. He was also credited as Jack Crane early in his acting career. Early years Ricardo Cortez was born Jacob K ...
... Goldie Gorio * John Garrick ... Steve Carlyle *
Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Grimsby Town. As a player, he was a defender from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, b ...
... Goldie's Butler * Frank Conroy ... Markham King * Harry Carey ... McBaine *
Frank McHugh Francis Curry McHugh (May 23, 1898 – September 11, 1981) was an American stage, radio, film and television actor. Early years Born in Homestead, Pennsylvania, of Irish descent, McHugh came from a theatrical family. His parents, Edward A ...
... Doc * Kenneth Thomson ... Barnes *
Arthur Stone The Artognou stone, sometimes erroneously referred to as the Arthur stone, is an archaeological artefact uncovered in Cornwall in the United Kingdom. It was discovered in 1998 in securely dated sixth-century contexts among the ruins at Tintage ...
... Dummy *
Emma Dunn Emma Dunn (26 February 1875 – 14 December 1966) was an English actress. After starting her acting career on stage in London, she became known for her works in numerous films and Broadway productions. Career Emma Dunn appeared onstage in ...
... Emma * William V. Mong ... Henry *
Edgar Kennedy Edgar Livingston Kennedy (April 26, 1890 – November 9, 1948) was an American comedic character actor who appeared in at least 500 films during the silent and sound eras. Professionally, he was known as "Slow Burn", owing to his ability to por ...
... Buffington (as per AFI database.)


Critical reception

In a contemporary review in
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
, critic
Mordaunt Hall Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934...if he becomes a little ludicrous in his more savage moods, splitting a man's head for suggesting that a dinner coat ordinarily has but one button, turning homicidal lunatic when a cat pushes a plaster bust of himself off the table - he is at least honestly amusing." A modern review by author and critic Danny Reid reported that the film "gives us an underworld fully realized and utterly perverse ..the violence is frankly shocking for the time, and the direction lively and playful" and "it’s the utter insanity of Cortez’s Capone-esque magnate you’ll take away with you."


See also

* List of American films of 1931 *
Harry Carey filmography This is a list of films featuring Harry Carey. 1910 * '' Bill Sharkey's Last Game'' * ''Gentleman Joe'' 1912 * ''An Unseen Enemy'' as The Thief * ''Two Daughters of Eve'' as In Audience * ''Friends'' as Bob Kyne - the Prospector * ''So Nea ...


References


External links

* 1931 films 1931 crime drama films American crime drama films 1930s English-language films Films directed by Tay Garnett RKO Pictures films Films based on American novels American black-and-white films Films about organized crime in the United States Films scored by Arthur Lange 1931 directorial debut films 1930s American films {{1930s-crime-drama-film-stub