Man of the People

B-movies are not necessarily bad movies...though many people think this is the case. The term 'B-movie' was originated to refer to the second feature at a double-feature. The A-picture was usually the more prestigious film....costing more and having bigger stars. The Bs, on the other hand, were short (about an hour) and often gave supporting actors a chance to be in the lead. In "Man of the People", Joseph Calleia got to strut his stuff as a leading man, as usually he played a heavy. Oddly, however, this B clocks in at a little over 80 minutes...very long for a B.

Calleia plays Jack Moreno, a poor guy from the poorer part of New York. Despite this, he's worked hard and when the film begins he's just obtained his law degree and passed the bar....and he's finally a lawyer. However, after taking a case with a defendant who's tied in with the mob, he has to make a choice...will he continue this sort of work or try something more honest and honorable. When he chooses to try running for District Attorney and doing the right thing, the strength of the mob machine shows itself.

Calleia was good...which isn't surprising, though seeing him in the lead and NOT playing an evil guy is a bit unusual! As far as the film goes, it's neither a great B nor a cheap and forgettable picture. Instead, it's very watchable and well made...and great for fans of Bs.

(There Are Spoilers) Movie about big city corruption involving an honest attorney who's forced to get in with the local political machine ,and become somewhat of a hack, in order to make a living by defending crooks swindlers and con-men associated with or members of it.

Just passing the New York State bar exam young Jack Mareno, Joseph Calleia, has high hopes for his future in the courts. Dropping over at his office Joe Dwire, Ted Healy, tells Jack to join the William J. Grady, Thomas Mitchall, club that runs everything that goes on in the neighborhood including the court system and local District Attorney.

Turning down Dwire's offer to work for the Grady Bunch all of Jack's cases end up getting lost or thrown out of court even if the person that he's defending was totally innocent. It became obvious to Jack that Grady and his boys were tampering with the court and juries making sure that he never wins a case so long he doesn't work for the Grady Mob. Depressed and hurt over what's happening Jack swallows his pride and gives into Boss Grady joining his team as a lawyer defending mostly his boys who end up on the wrong side of the law.

Going up in the world of New York City power politics Jack, who's now an assistant D.A, is promised by Grady that he's due to get nominated for NYC District Attorney in he upcoming election by his organization which would make Jack a shoo-in to win.

Jack later worrying about a friend of his back in he old neighborhood Old Man Rossetti, William Ricciardi, getting involved in this obvious scam by this smooth talking shyster Edward Spetner, Edward J. Nugent. Spetner's mining company claims that they have a gold-sniffing machine that can locate the yellow medal anywhere within 150 feet underground. This has the naive old man sink all his saving into the company's over the counter stock. Spetner also gets hundreds of other get rich quick suckers including Jack's girlfriend Abbey Raid's, Florence Rice, socialite but not too bright mother Mrs. Reid, Catherine Doucet, to do the same.

Jack going to his boss in the D.A's office Stringer, Paul Stanton, to alert him about this gold-sniffing scam is told to keep his nose out of it and keep his mouth shut. Later Grady's promise to Jack about being nominated by his organization falls through. Obviously because of Jack's opposition to this gold-locating device which Grady and his boys are involved with.

Running as an independent Jack gets his head handed to him by the Gardy Machine's use of massive voter fraud to beat him and is left a broken man with no clients to defend and no future to look forward to. As it turns out by Jack by being honest and sticking to his values and ethics gained the respect of the State Govenor who appoints him as special investigator in the very case, the gold-sniffing swindle. That ended up costing him the election as District Attorney but this time Jack wasn't going to let Grady and his band of goons beat him and scam his friends out of their life savings.

Has the same kind of story yet predates the far more famous "Mr. Smith goes to Washington" by two years. "Man of the People" is a well rounded and honest little film about political corruption and how one man can not only stand up to it but defeat it by not compromising his ideals and integrity.

Joseph Calleia gives a quite yet stalwart performance as the incorruptible neighborhood lawyer Jack Moreno a true "Man of the People" if there ever was one in the movies or in real life.

Even a B picture from MGM looked a whole lot like an A film from some other studios. No box office stars appear in Man Of The People, but in this case that only makes this one more real.

Fiorello LaGuardia would have identified with Joseph Calleia in this one. He's a newly minted lawyer and just about to hang out a shingle in the old neighborhood. But the local Tammany like organization comes calling and says join or you will starve. Calleia has no choice but to join and at first he's thinking he's done the right thing.

But while boss Thomas Mitchell does help constituents in certain things he also gets a cut of a lot of corruption. One egregious examle was a 'gold finding machine' in which a lot of Calleia's friends were bilked.

The political machine as in a lot of urban areas was Irish dominated as personified by Thomas Mitchell. Mitchell wants Calleia in with him to control the more recent arriving Italians. But Calleia proves not easy to handle.

Calleia's character in a lot of ways is based on Fiorello LaGuardia who spent his life fighting Tammany Hall corruption. I'm sure the then mayor of New York City must have loved this film. And as it turned out he was running for a second term as mayor in 1937 when Man Of The People came out.

One sour note in the proceedings, Ted Healy plays a typical Tammany Hall character and he was more annoying than funny. And his actions really don't ring true with the character we are first presented with.

Still Man Of The People is not a bad political movie. It would have been an A film at RKO or Republic.

But they do need someone to make sure the script works and a director who can deal with zigs. Joseph Calleia -- best known as the heavy in GILDA --gets a chance to star in this programmer as a lawyer who joins the political machine and then fights it. He is especially fine in a couple of underplayed small scenes.

He is ably abetted by fine supporting actors like Jonathan Hale, Ted Healy and the always wonderful Thomas Mitchell. But the story veers and rushes off two thirds of the way through and before you can catch your breath, it's over. Was this originally broached as a vehicle for someone like Spencer Tracy and then bounced down? Director Marin never got out of the B movies, and his inability to direct Calleia in the second half shows why. Visually the picture is fine, with the usual MGM gloss. But even the best character actor needs the occasional hint from his director, and it looks like Marin could not supply it.

Jack Moreno (Joseph Calleia) is a lawyer in an Italian neighborhood. He is truly a man of the people and helps the little guy whenever he can. Abbey Reid (Florence Rice) comes from the rich establishment and is taken with him. To his dismay, he is commanded to work for mob boss William J. Grady (Thomas Mitchell).

This is a crime drama B-movie. There is nothing wrong with it and nothing terribly exciting about it either. Calleia could be more handsome or more charismatic. Rice is perfectly WASPy. Mitchell isn't the best mob boss. He's not scary enough. All in all, this is fine. The story is fine. The couple could be better.