Corruption

Here is a typical indie city crime drama of the early 30s with an assortment of "name" players doing a paycheck job with a fairly dull script. There is a mystery killer plot tied in, with a fairly inventive gimmick to his method of killing. The print is better than many an Alpha release, although, annoyingly, someone has dubbed in extra sound effects. They occur during the two scenes in Mischa Auer's laboratory, and I assume Alpha Video is the culprit, since similar predations occur on other 30s releases by this company. Auer has test tubes bubbling, and someone has dubbed in what sounds like the largest witch's cauldron ever. The bubbling and popping is so loud as to make the dialog hard to hear in spots. The film's real claim to fame, I feel, occurs in the last 20 seconds as the corrupt Gorman stalks out of Preston Foster's office. He is flipped off by the wiseacre reporter (Charles Delaney) in a full middle-finger salute. I replayed this to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. Apparently this gesture was contemporaneous to '33 -- but perhaps its translation into words wasn't universally agreed upon. Unless I misapprehended the finger he used, this moment deserves mention in a social history of 20th Century America, or at least a history of rude gestures.

Young attorney Preston Foster has made a name for himself. Political boss H.B. Warner runs him for mayor and he wins; he's also engaged to Warner's daughter, Natalie Moorhead. However Foster is not interested in business as usual, so he is framed in a sex scandal and thrown out of office. He's also framed for the murder of party strongarm Warner Richmond. The only one who stands by him is loyal secretary Evalyn Knapp.

Miss Knapp was born in 1906. By 1929 she was appearing in short subjects, and her feature debut in SINNER'S HOLIDAY boded well for her career. By 1933, however, her career wason the downslide, with work in serials and B movies. Despite a fine screen presence and delivery, her career never recovered. By the early 1940s she was reduced to bits in major movies. She retired in 1942 to become one of Tinseltown's leading yachtswomen. She was married for more than forty years and died in 1981, less than a week shy of her 75th birthday.

Despite a strong cast and a good first half -- watch until this one provides its PreCode credentials by having a cast member give another the finger -- the second half slides into a silly B-movie conclusion. Even so, it remains watchable to the end.

As this film opens, a quotation attributed to Cicero is displayed within the very first frame: "He that violates his oath profanes the divinity of faith itself". These pungent words are actually etched in stone above an entry alcove at the Los Angeles City Hall, an edifice completed in 1928, five years before this melodrama was filmed upon a studio set in nearby Hollywood, and appears to indicate that a seriously creative effort may be in the offing. Such is not the case, however, this piece being constructed in predictable grooves while it tells its tale of a political maverick whose own party hopes to suppress his essays at reform. He is the iconoclast Tim Butler (Preston Foster), an attorney who is backed in his attempt to be elected mayor of a large city by his party's nabobs, in particular a Mr. Gorman (Tully Marshall) to whose daughter Sylvia (Natalie Moorhead) Tim has become affianced, a condition that greatly perturbs Tim's secretary Ellen (Evalyn Knapp) who, in typically reach-me-down movie fashion, dotes upon him. Soon after he is elected, Tim begins a determined undertaking to reduce the pernicious power of his city's political hacks, although he thereby intimidates his former sponsors. The actual party boss is one Regan (Warner Richmond) who is at the centre of a plot to entangle Butler in apparent immoral conduct with a prostitute, thereupon causing Tim to lose face, along with his mayoral position. Following Regan's murder, by an unknown gun-wielding killer, local newspapers develop various bogus reasons, primarily of revenge, to pin the homicide upon the ex-mayor, and following an obviously fixed trial, he is sentenced to life imprisonment, but after several other prominent corrupt officials are also gunned down, and with the same M.O. as was Regan, The Forces of Good begin working against The Forces of Evil to free the framed prisoner. This fairly early sound era film has been released upon an Alpha Entertainment DVD, and offers adequate visual and audio quality, although the original design of the piece is weakened by overzealous and poorly accomplished cutting, especially of those scenes depicting the railroading of Butler on a charge of public immorality. The script, by neophyte director Charles Roberts, is built upon a bromidic foundation and a complement of able acting talent is squandered to make a series of hackneyed episodes. Between the clichéd scenario and an extremely low budget, the largely accomplished cast, most of whom are well up to form, cannot lift the film above a state of mediocrity. Acting laurels go to Knapp, whose sprightly playing as Butler's secretary is as artless as one might desire. Strong turns are additionally contributed by Mischa Auer and Foster.

"Corruption" had a noble theme and noble aims even if it fell short. I think a better movie on the topic was "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939) starring James Stewart.

"Corruption," as the title so aptly states, was about political corruption. In this case it was on a city scale and not a state or national scale. The party selected an attorney named Tim Butler (Preston Foster) as their mayoral candidate. He wasn't a party man, but they figured they could get him on board with the program once he was in office. The problem was that once he became mayor he began actually cleaning up. He was getting rid of all the "grafters" in office and public positions one-by-one.

Naturally, the party, led by Dan Gorman (Tully Marshall) and Regan (Warner Richmond), the muscle, was not too pleased with Butler's cleaning up. He was targeting shills they put in. The only thing for them to do was to get rid of Butler by hook or by crook.

"Corruption" had two elements I found disagreeable. The first was the secretary in love with her boss. The secretary was played by Evalyn Knapp and she was in love with her boss Tim Butler (Preston Foster).

The female-employee-in-love-with-her-boss was done so much I'm sure people believed it. For reference see "Baby Face" (1933), "Beauty and the Boss" (1932), "Skyscraper Souls" (1932), "The Office Wife" (1930), "Morning Glory" (1933), "Jennie Gerhardt" (1933), "Behind Office Doors" (1931), "Lawyer Man" (1933), "Good-bye Love" (1933), and "Goodbye Again" (1933). I suppose the women couldn't help themselves around such powerful men.

The second disagreeable thing was the professional yet tough good guy. I mean the kind that's so tough he doesn't even back down from a gunman. Hollywood pushed the narrative that so long as a man is right and has guts he will be imbued with the strength, agility, and ability to knock out a gunman, and if need be, shoot him with the same gun. It was such a stupid fantasy. Usually he'd then get the girl afterwards.

I think that's why I liked Philo Vance so much. He wasn't fighting anyone. His department was brains and he never stepped outside of his lane.

Also of note in this movie was Natalie Moorhead. I mention her because she never got a break. I've never seen her as a leading lady, and in every movie I've seen her in she's had character flaws. In "Corruption" she was the stuck-up daughter of Dan Gorman, the party head.

One more thing of note, because I'd never seen it in the hundreds of old movies I've watched: someone gave the finger. There was a reporter played by Charles Delaney who flipped off Gorman. He did it in a merry and sarcastically deferential way like he was curtsying, but it was unmistakably the middle finger.

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... made so by a strong cast and a good script with a most unconventional conclusion.

Tim Butler (Preston Foster) is a newly-elected mayor who annoys the influential crook who helped him get elected by being a crusader against corruption and cleaning house. He becomes involved with the crook's daughter Sylvia, played by Natalie Moorhead, who is her usual seductive but bad news persona. Of course, Butler is oblivious to the fact that his loyal secretary of five years, Ellen Manning (Evalyn Knapp), is in love with him. But Sylvia isn't oblivious to it, and the two exchange catty remarks every time they cross paths.

Tired of all of this housecleaning, local mobster Regan sets things up to look like Butler is visiting a lady of the evening, complete with photographs for the newspapers. He's tossed out of office and is back in private practice. But then Regan is killed by an unknown assassin's gun as he and Butler are arguing and the corrupt forces in the city use the opportunity to get Foster sent up for life for Regan's murder.

Complicating factors include the fact that the medical examiner can find no bullet in Regan's body and that the denouement includes a mad scientist angle. Mischa Auer is featured in a rare serious role.

In a truly precode moment, Butler's close friend and associate decides he can't give the crooked pol who first put Butler in office a hand, but can spare a single finger.

The cast in this film - Preston Foster, Evalyn Knapp, Natalie Moorehead, Tully Marshall - had seen better days, not so much because they were not good actors, but because the industry was in such flux in the early 30s. It often meant that some of the poorer studios could get good actors for their productions.