The Gang Buster

When this was released, Variety said it was sure to be a big hit, unless the "peasants" in the sticks were confused by its combination of the genres of comedy and gangster melodrama. Well, even peasants today would most likely be bored by this movie's slow pace and simple-minded script (not one of Joseph Manckiewicz's best). The tale of the goofy but virtuous rube who defeats not only city slickers but killers (Jack Oakie sternly informs the gang leader that his kidnaping of Jean Arthur is illegal and could get him in trouble) has been told before, since, and better. One example was the divine Once in a Lifetime, in which an even dumber Oakie not only won the day but ended up running a movie studio. But, while that work was a creation of hilarious insanity, The Gang Buster is a far more down to earth and tepid business. Children who are not familiar with movie cliches or with Jean Arthur's wonderful record-played-at-the-wrong-speed voice, and who love seeing grown-ups act stupid should like this, but adults will probably want to leave them to it.

Naive, superstitious insurance salesman Jack Oakie saves William Morris from being run over. In gratitude, Morris buys a policy, but Oakie's firm turns it down; Morris is the lawyer of gangster William 'Stage' Boyd, wants out, and tells Boyd that if anything happens to him, information will go to the police. But Morris's daughter, Jean Arthur, is in a budding romance with Oakie; when Boyd has her kidnapped, Oakie wanders over to tell him he can't do that.

It's as dumb a situation as it sounds, and that's the way that Oakie plays it: utterly and obnoxiously clueless. The performers give their roles and lines -- it's an early dialogue credit for Joseph Mankiewicz -- good readings, but the impossibly moronic way that Oakie's part is written destroys this movie for me.

With Wynne Gibson, Tom Kennedy, and director Eddie Sutherland in a bit part.

One would think "The Gang Buster" is one of the earlier gangster pix to openly consider itself a comedy, being it was released in January, 1931 (same month as WB's "Little Caesar"). It is a gentle comedy most of the time, although a bit effectively silly now and then. I found Jack Oakie's portrayal of a naive and gentle soul to be engaging for the most part... less abrasive and obnoxious than he probably would have played it three years later.

Yes, the film is a bit creaky at times, but I enjoyed it quite well. Jean Arthur is pretty much just along as a place-holder in this one, and Wynne Gibson surprisingly makes an uncharacteristically minor impression, too. However, as one more curious example of early "talkies" finding their way into standard production in 1930, "The Gang Buster" is pleasant, unsophisticated, harmless, more shallow than deep, and yet fairly fascinating.