Les hommes traqués

"Public Hero #1" is a relatively little known, continually entertaining gangster thriller that veers from prison mellerdrama to quirky romance to bullet-riddled shoot-out. Okay, so the plot has enough holes to drive a getaway car through -- like the unexpected "meet cute' encounter, during a flash flood, of a government agent disguised as a hold-up man with the sister of the crime czar he's tracking. But Chester Morris as the plucky, love-stricken fed, Jean Arthur who still loves her brother despite his homicidal tendencies, Lionel Barrymore as a boozy doctor and Joseph Calleia as the underworld kingpin who doesn't seem bright enough to rob a candy store are all fun to watch. And darn near believable. At no point, as the tale gallops through various genres, does it bog down. Wish the same could be said of quite a few more modern movies. Credit director J. Walter Ruben with doing a first-rate job on one of the final films he would helm prior to his premature death at the age of 43.

Public Hero #1 starts out as a conventional prison yarn, then switches to sophisticated screwball comedy, then back to shoot 'em up melodrama. Perhaps it is the way the cast handles the crackling dialogue by J Walter Reuben and Wells Root that makes this mixed-genre film so entertaining. It never sinks into torpidity, thanks in part to the introduction of Jean Arthur and Lionel Barrymore well into the proceedings. Until then it is up to Chester Morris to hold our interest, which he does robustly, as an undercover federal agent posing as a convict to trap bad guy Joseph Calleia and his gang. Barrymore, however, steals the show as a pickled-to-the-gills alcoholic mob doctor - the great ham at his hammiest. Calleia contributes a nicely textured portrait of a hardened but still human criminal. All in all, an energetic if contrived gangster story spiked with laughs, fun plot twists and colorful characters. The final moment is interesting. It's as if Chester Morris was itching to wrap and go home that day, didn't like the way the fade out was written, so he recklessly improvised the last line and the last blocking bit and then the director gave in and allowed it. See for yourself!

Is a fine Irish-American girl whose strangely Italian (?) brother (named Sonny "Dinkie" Black) runs Detroit's Purple Gang. At least they are both Catholic. Beginning inside a prison, the film introduces the immortal Chester Morris as an undercover FBI agent who infiltrates the gang and falls for Terry (played by Jean Arthur).

They have a slick prison break sequence and a fair amount of action, romantic comedy, and Hollywood's on-going campaign to make G-Men public heroes. John Dillinger had been killed a few months before "Public Hero #1" went into production, they change the names and the city but recreate the events of his apprehension outside a theater.

Forgotten actor Joseph Calleia plays the gang boss and brother. He has the most challenging role and does a fine job portraying a multi-dimensional character. Lionel Barrymore gets to overact nicely as a perpetually drunk mob doctor.

"Public Hero #1" is a surprisingly good film. It's mix of genres is as strange as it sounds but that works in its favor if you like to get away from standard formula stories. While it lacks overall unity, the disparate pieces are quite well done and are very entertaining inside their own little compartments.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Always enjoyed the great acting of Lionel Barrymore, (Dr. Josiah Glass) "Key Largo" along with Chester Morris,(Jeff Crane) "Ghost Ship". This film is about the gangster era in the Mid-West, namely: Chicago, Milwaukee, and Racine, Wisconsin. The boss of the mobsters is Joseph Calleia who is a brother to Jean Arthur "Peter Pan" 1950 on Broadway NYC, who has not seen her brother for many years. Jeff Crane is an FBI agent and winds up getting deeply involved with Jean Arthur who follows him every where he goes; Jeff has no idea that the gangster he is after is Jean Arthur's brother. There is a great supporting cast of Paul Kelly,(Special Agent, James Duff) who is Jeff Crane's boss and tries to caution him that getting involved with Jean Arthur is going to be big trouble. Paul Kelly in real life served a prison sentence in San Quentin, Calif., and made a big come back into the movie industry. This is truly a gem of a picture with a great look back at old automobiles, furniture and crazy looking clothes and plenty of hats on both men and women.

Public Hero #1 (1935)

*** (out of 4)

Extremely strange film from MGM starts off as a prison drama then moves to a screwball comedy and then goes back to gangster action. An undercover cop (Chester Morris) gets inside of a prison where he befriends a gangster (Joseph Calleia) and soon the two bust out but the gangster gets shot. Near death, the undercover cops goes out to find the gangster's drunken doctor (Lionel Barrymore) but due to a storm they are forced to stay at a hotel where the cop falls for a young woman (Jean Arthur) who turns out to be the gangster's sister. After hearing the news, the cop must try to find a way to bring the gangster down without hurting the sister. This film is pretty much all over the map but it's still a greatly entertaining film that works on ever level that it tries. The prison stuff early on is very entertaining as is the gangster stuff at the end. There's a big shootout at the end, which ranks among the best I've seen from any of these early gangster films. Normally screwball laughs wouldn't fit into a film like this but Barrymore does a terrific job in the comedy department as the drunken doctor. The highlight has to be the scene where he accidentally gets dressed in Arthur's robe due to how drunk he is. Barrymore's comic timing is terrific throughout the film. Arthur is also very strong in her role and delivers a very memorable character and performance. The real star is Morris who is simply wonderful all the way through. He has a lot of roles to play here from the tough guy trying to enter the gang to the cop trying to bring down the bad guy but he also does a great job in the romantic department with Arthur. Calleia, Paul Kelly, Lewis Stone and George E. Stone add nice support as well. It's also worth noting that the film seems partially influenced by the John Dillinger case who of course was murdered after watching MGM's Manhattan Melodrama the previous year and that includes the ending here, which has been slightly changed but still takes place outside a theater.