Man of the People

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.

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.

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.

Man of the People is an odd feature that starts out looking like it's going to be a story about a man battling against machine politics, and then turns into a picture about a crusading attorney. The always fine Joseph Calleia stars as Joe Moreno, an Italian-American lawyer struggling to get by until a local political boss (the estimable Thomas Mitchell) takes him under his wing in exchange for defending one of his corrupt cronies. After winning the case after a remarkable courtroom sequence involving gefilte fish, Moreno has had his fill of being an organization man and tenders his resignation. He then proceeds to join up with an independently minded DA (an uncredited Frank Reicher) to take on a confidence scheme involving a gold detecting machine. Though the end result is a somewhat disjointed film, it's never less than watchable, and Calleia delivers an excellent, subtle performance.

For a change, Joseph Calleia is local lad made good. "Moreno" has become an attorney minded to help out his community and that means he must do deals with the devil - exemplified by Thomas Mitchell's "Grady" who insists he defend one of his henchmen and in return offers him "protection". As courtroom dramas go - this stage is quite unique as it all revolves around a fish! Anyway, thereafter his new arrangement doesn't well suit his independent spirit, and he is soon teamed up with the DA and on the trail of swindlers trying to sell a contraption that can detect gold. The story is a bit all over the place and the writing offers little of substance for the actors to play with, but the plot is solid enough and the message of truth and integrity writ large. It is long, but is essentially two stories knitted together and so just about works ok in the rather predictable end.