A very aptly named film, this is a fairly entertaining, if overblown, tale. The script, written by Oliver H.P. Garrett and Joseph L. Mankiewicz based on a story by Arthur Caesar, tells the familiar story of two childhood friends, one of whom grows up to be a respectable citizen who attains high political office (two things which are often mutually exclusive in real life) and one of whom grows up to be a career criminal. Admittedly, it was far less familiar in 1934 than it is today. The film is rather well directed by W.S. Van Dyke but it's not on the same level as in the "Thin Man" films. The film earned a special place in history as, after John Dillinger attended a screening of it in Chicago on July 22, 1934, he was gunned down by the FBI.
The film stars Clark Gable and William Powell as the gangster and illegal casino owner Edward J. "Blackie" Gallagher and William Powell as the Manhattan District Attorney turned Governor of New York James W. "Jim" Wade respectively. Oddly enough, Powell was Carole Lombard's first husband while Gable later became her second. Both performances are good but neither is on the same level as their best work. Having been orphaned in the General Slocum disaster on June 15, 1904, Jim took the younger Blackie under his wing and attempted to keep him on the straight and narrow. Needless to say, his efforts did not meet with much success. In spite of the fact that he commits murder to ensure Jim's election to the governorship, Blackie is a rather likable character. His eternal loyalty to Jim is quite touching. It does not really ring true but then again I don't think that the developments in any film which actually includes the word "melodrama" in the title are intended to be realistic! A bigger problem is that said developments are not executed as entertainingly as they could have been.
Myrna Loy is strong as Eleanor Parker, who starts off as Blackie's girlfriend but later starts a relationship with Jim and eventually marries him. If I were her, I'd have probably made the same choice. At the risk of repeating myself, Loy was likewise better in other films. While she and Gable do not have much in the way of chemistry, her more light-hearted early scenes with Powell are electrifying. This was their first of 14 films together over the course of the next 13 years, most notably in the "Thin Man" film series. They worked so well together that many people though that they were married in real life. Nat Pendleton, another "Thin Man" alumnus, provides much of the comic relief as Blackie's dimwitted henchman Spud while the 14-year-old Mickey Rooney makes an early appearance as the young Blackie.
Overall, this is quite a fun film. I hope Dillinger enjoyed it, though it certainly isn't worth dying for. He probably did not have the time to appreciate the irony of the last film that he watched involving the death of a famous gangster, what with the bullets flying around him and all. It's the sort of thing that I would find far-fetched if it happened in fiction, frankly.
The film stars Clark Gable and William Powell as the gangster and illegal casino owner Edward J. "Blackie" Gallagher and William Powell as the Manhattan District Attorney turned Governor of New York James W. "Jim" Wade respectively. Oddly enough, Powell was Carole Lombard's first husband while Gable later became her second. Both performances are good but neither is on the same level as their best work. Having been orphaned in the General Slocum disaster on June 15, 1904, Jim took the younger Blackie under his wing and attempted to keep him on the straight and narrow. Needless to say, his efforts did not meet with much success. In spite of the fact that he commits murder to ensure Jim's election to the governorship, Blackie is a rather likable character. His eternal loyalty to Jim is quite touching. It does not really ring true but then again I don't think that the developments in any film which actually includes the word "melodrama" in the title are intended to be realistic! A bigger problem is that said developments are not executed as entertainingly as they could have been.
Myrna Loy is strong as Eleanor Parker, who starts off as Blackie's girlfriend but later starts a relationship with Jim and eventually marries him. If I were her, I'd have probably made the same choice. At the risk of repeating myself, Loy was likewise better in other films. While she and Gable do not have much in the way of chemistry, her more light-hearted early scenes with Powell are electrifying. This was their first of 14 films together over the course of the next 13 years, most notably in the "Thin Man" film series. They worked so well together that many people though that they were married in real life. Nat Pendleton, another "Thin Man" alumnus, provides much of the comic relief as Blackie's dimwitted henchman Spud while the 14-year-old Mickey Rooney makes an early appearance as the young Blackie.
Overall, this is quite a fun film. I hope Dillinger enjoyed it, though it certainly isn't worth dying for. He probably did not have the time to appreciate the irony of the last film that he watched involving the death of a famous gangster, what with the bullets flying around him and all. It's the sort of thing that I would find far-fetched if it happened in fiction, frankly.