The Best Man Wins

When the film begins, there is an accident and Nick (Jack Holt) is nearly killed while diving to unsnare the ship's anchor. In the process of saving him, fellow diver Toby (Edmund Lowe) ends up losing his arm! After this, Toby finds he's unable to find work and is flat broke and hungry. Then he learns of some crooks who will hire him for some very lucrative dives...no questions asked. Now, however, this puts him on a collision course with Nick, as Nick now works for the harbor police.

When you watch this film, it is incredible to see that back in the 1930s, if you got maimed on the job there wasn't a lot of recourse other than to starve. Given this, it's easy to see why Toby gave in for the easy money. Overall, a decent film and a chance to see Bela Lugosi play a real mean character! Nothing brilliant here...just brisk entertainment.

By my title I'm not saying that the best outcome would have been for Toby Warren (Edmund Lowe) to let his best friend Nick Roberts (Jack Holt) die at the bottom of the sea, but his heroic deed was definitely the catalyst for his downhill slide. This film could be considered just another Columbia B, or perhaps it is more... Maybe an antiwar film of sorts paralleling how the "forgotten men" - veterans and often heroes of WWI - were treated and shuffled off to bread lines, or perhaps it's a commentary on how, once you stop contributing to the GDP of the nation, you are an outcast, one of the invisible ones. But I digress.

Toby and Nick are the best of friends and divers on a salvage ship. Nick is the guest of honor at a goodbye dinner, as he is quitting the salvage ship to join the police force as a diver. On his last night of work, Nick is caught in some debris and knocked unconscious. Toby quickly dons a diving suit and frees and rescues his friend, but he injures his left arm so badly it must be amputated.

At first he is hailed in the newspaper, as headlines over the next three months are shown discussing his actions, his recovery, and a 500 dollar check awarded him for his bravery as he exits the hospital full of hope for the future but minus an arm. Just because everyone thinks Toby is a hero doesn't mean they are ready to hire him as a diver, though. First his old employer turns him down, then ship after ship. Toby is rooming with Nick, who hasn't forgotten his debt, and says Toby has room and board with him forever as far as he is concerned. But Toby doesn't want charity, he wants a job. When his fiancée pretty much says that he is all washed up and sounds more like she is sticking to him out of duty rather than love, Toby disappears and hits the skids.

The only job he can get as a diver is on a ship involved in a complex smuggling scheme - jewels are smuggled out of Europe, dropped overboard off the coast, and then retrieved by a salvage ship. Toby only takes the job when he sees he has a chance to get his girl back, but doesn't want to be a charity case husband living on his wife's salary.

I'll let you watch and see how this plays out, but there are a couple of twists you may not be expecting, and the story really is quite poignant. It's the tale not of a guy gone bad so much as one backed into a corner, and of a friend (Nick) who is caught between duty to the police force and the debt of owing his life to a buddy who has taken a wrong turn. Edmund Lowe often played obnoxious overbearing characters, but here he is pitch perfect as a guy overcome by events and forgotten by society. Jack Holt, the square-jawed protagonist of Columbia B's in the 30's, conveys his inner turmoil without many words. One of the humorous points of the film - Bela Lugosi as Dr. Bohm, head of the smuggling operation, with a penchant for reading horoscopes as well as thievery. Florence Rice plays Nick's fiancée whose seemingly well meaning but mixed signals to Toby throughout the film might cause anyone to drink heavily. Recommended for fans of 30's films that could tell a tale well in less than 80 minutes.

1935's "The Best Man Wins" is an excellent example of a streamlined Columbia 'B' that transcends its origins, providing unsuspecting audiences with a real gem. Edmund Lowe as Toby and Jack Holt as Nick are a team of diving buddies who split up when Nick becomes a rookie cop working on the waterfront. Nick's last dive finds him caught beneath the waves, Toby going down to free him, losing his left arm in the process. Afterwards, with a fiancée to support and unable to find work as a diver, Toby winds up working for the shady Doc Boehm (Bela Lugosi), whose smuggling work has gone undetected because he disguises the pearls as fish food. Edmund Lowe enjoys one of his finest roles, while stolid yet likable Jack Holt is his usual self (he'd already worked with Boris Karloff in 1932's "Behind the Mask"). As the girl in between, Cleveland's Florence Rice (daughter of sportscaster Grantland Rice) was making just her second film, retiring by 1943. A rare non horror role for Bela Lugosi, a studious, mild-mannered villain in beard and moustache, immaculately dressed and constantly smoking a pipe. His interest in fish, being a fellow Pisces and big believer in astrology, easily convinces Toby to join him as a silent partner in crime (Toby refers to them both as "two sons of fishes!"). Interestingly, Bela uses the expression "ya" in place of yes, to explain his slightly different accent here; otherwise, it's a part that hardly taxes his abilities. This was his fourth and last film opposite Lowe, following 1931's "Women of All Nations," 1932's "Chandu the Magician," and 1934's "Gift of Gab."

This is really a routine, typical 30s melodrama with then-popular leading men Edmund Lowe and Jack Holt being good buddies and Lowe saves Holt and loses his arm in the process. After being unable to find diving work anywhere he then takes a job for Bela Lugosi who is a criminal searching for lost treasures in the sea. Holt becomes a cop and then must go against his buddy. Those looking for Lugosi will be very disappointed. He has about 5-10 minutes of screen time and really no time to develop his character. He still does his best in being the bad guy for those few minutes. The best thing about the movie is good underwater footage. This is the type of movie Leslie Halliwell, in his old annual guide, would call "Adequate programmer" and offer no other information. In one word, "mediocre".

The Best Man Wins is one of those films you've never heard of but after you've seen it you are oh so glad you did. The best way to approach films like this is to put yourself in a 1930's mind set. These films are what they are. They are not major productions. They were not intended to be thought of as major productions. They are a group of hard working people doing the best they can with what they have. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but when it does, you have a little gem like The Best Man Wins.These people of the "B" movies are truly the unsung heroes of the film industry. Its time they be recognized for their talent and hard work. Florence Rice shines as the long suffering Ann, torn between two men who really love her. There are many wonderful camera angles on Florence which really bring out her loyalty and vulnerability, not to mention her exquisite beauty. Edmund Lowe as Toby gives a performance that recalls Bogie. The hero who saves his friend but loses his arm in the bargain and becomes ruthless and rather bitter, except when it comes to Ann. Jack Holt, the stalwart recipient of Toby's heroics who remains true to his friend even to the point of giving up Ann and covering for Toby. Bela Lugosi, in little more than a cameo, nonetheless makes his sinister presence felt. A really good plot line that has you really pulling for a happy outcome. If you can see this movie, on TV or VHS or DVD, grab it, its one of the best of this type of film you'll ever see.