Warner Bros. Gangsters
Collection – Volume Three (Smart Money/Picture Snatcher/The
Mayor of Hell/Lady Killer/Black Legion/Brother Orchid)
Picture: C+
Sound: C Extras: B Films: B
With the recent rollout of more Pre-Code Hollywood films
from the Warner vaults, two things are apparent. One, the films that were racy as often
shockingly so considering the censorship in all forms since and two, the ones
that used their freedom in other ways showed a Hollywood that even early in the
sound era had excellent efficiency in storytelling. The new Warner Bros. Gangsters Collection
– Volume Three DVD set bunches six more gems that hold up remarkably well
for their age.
One reason is their star power and another is a
major studio in an enviable peak position, ahead of all other studios in sound
at the beginning of the sound era.
Though this history was lost in its entirety until Warner/Turner
restored and reissued the films in every way they could, you can see the energy
in these productions are the original Warner Brothers relished their edge on
larger studios like MGM and Paramount.
The films are as follows:
Smart Money (1931) co-stars Edward G.
Robinson and James Cagney in a tale of the dark side of gambling, though Boris
Karloff (uncredited!) plays a drug dealer and nearly steals the early scene he
is in. He would find himself in Howard
Hawks’ Scarface (1932, United
Artists) a year later before hitting it big at Universal as Frankenstein, but this would be the
only time the leads would be paired. A first
class production, where has this film been?
Lady Killer (1933) was Cagney’s attempt to
play against his Public Enemy image
in one of his most interesting comic performances. The story of a smart-aleck con artist on his
way to becoming a big star mixes the behind showbiz story with thriller
elements and is a fun film. Though known
for his tough guy roles, Cagney was brilliant as a comic actor (as he would
prove later in Billy Wilder’s One-two-Three) and this is another welcome gem to DVD.
Mayor of Hell (1933) is the early version of
the tough-kids-get-help-from-tough-father-figure-in-institution story that
became a successful formula for the studio.
Cagney is the figure here, though Humphrey Bogart and Ronald Reagan would
find success in remakes of it later.
This original version directed by the underrated Archie Mayo is the
best.
Picture Snatcher (1933) has Cagney as a gangster trying
to become a photographer for entertainment publishing long before the frenzy of
current paparazzi photographers became as infamous to many as being a
gangster. Though there are some points
where this bogs down, it is so different that it is a unique entry in anyone’s career, then gets downright
bizarre when it involves an execution!
Black Legion (1937) is a still-bold tale of
anger, xenophobia, racism and its consequences with an on the rise Humphrey
Bogart as a hard working factory employee who joins a secret society when his
promotion is given to an immigrant. The
kind of socially conscious, gutsy film no one made with the kind of edge and
intelligence no other studio at the time could deliver.
Brother Orchid (1940) pairs Bogart and Robinson
in a gangster spoof that works and may have been a forerunner of Bogart’s later
comedy We’re No Angels as the two go
on a con artist kick in religious clothing.
Ann Sothern and an especially good Ralph Bellamy also star in a send-up
that holds up well.
And to think that this is a third volume! We missed the first two, but since Warner was
the king of the genre for decades to come, we expect many more volumes of
surprises and great filmmaking to be rediscovered.
The 1.33 X 1 black and white image on all six discs
looks very good (save slight softness on Legion) is a pleasant surprise,
once again benefiting from Turner’s early efforts to clean, preserve and save
the early Warner catalog. Gray scale is
impressive and Video Black fine for DVD.
Can’t wait to see the Blu-rays. The
Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono is passable, but always sound noticeably better on the
commentary tracks (which are Dolby 2.0) when the hosts don’t speak. That is a little annoying.
Extras
once again follow the Warner Night At The Movies format
the studio has been so good at implementing on their many classic DVD
releases. This includes newsreels and live
action short subjects on each, plus a Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodie short and
trailer for another Warner film. This
time, each has an exceptional feature length audio commentary track as well.
Smart Money has a trailer for Other Men's Women, cartoon: Big Man From The North and an Alain
Silver/James Ursini commentary that will have you watching the film twice. Lady
Killer has the cartoon The Shanty
Where Santy Claus Lives, trailers for Lady
Killer and Footlight Parade,
plus the excellent Dr. Drew Casper with another classic audio commentary that
makes him among the best film historians around, logging some of the best audio
tracks anywhere. Mayor of Hell has four trailers in The Kennel Murder Case, The
Mayor of Hell, Crime School
& Hell's Kitchen, cartoon The Organ Grinder and Greg Mank’s rich
audio commentary about this film and its remakes. Picture
Snatcher has a trailer for I Loved A
Woman, cartoon Wake Up The Gypsy In
Me and Jeffrey Vance/Tony Maietta audio commentary offering a good listen
for this unique film. Black Legion has a trailer for It All Came True, two Warner cartoons
in Busy Bakers and Slap Happy Pappy, plus excellent
Patricia King Hanson/Anthony Slide audio commentary for this bold film. Brother
Orchid rounds things out with a trailer for The Perfect Specimen, cartoon Porky
and Gabby and audio commentary by biographers of the co-stars. Alan L. Gansberg has a book out on Robinson,
while Eric Lax has one out on Bogart, making this commentary a real winner.
As a
matter of fact, this may be one of the best box sets of so many great ones
Warner has issued to date. And to think
there’s more where this came from.
- Nicholas
Sheffo
