Police Court

Henry Walthall is probably not a name you'd recognize--even though he has well over 300 credits to his IMDb filmography. In addition, he was a huge stage star back in the day--and that is the key....back in the day. During the silent era, Walthall was a big star and appeared in such films as "Birth of a Nation" and "Wings"--both mega-hit films. But, by the 1930s, Walthall's star began to fade a bit. He was no longer the handsome leading man, so he began to take on a lot of supporting character roles--roles he usually did a great job in conveying.

A few years before his death, Walthall has a starring role here in "Police Court"--one of his few starring vehicles in the 1930s. He plays Nat Barry--a once-great actor who has descended to the world of drunks. His young son (Leon Janney) is convinced that somehow his father will lick his alcoholism and will once again be a big star. However, through the course of the picture, it becomes more and more obvious that the man is simply drinking himself to death. It's a shame, as his young son actually has a chance to become an actor himself---but the boy is in need of his father's strength and guidance.

This film is a mixed bag. On one hand, the plot (though a tad old fashioned in style) is rather original and interesting. Plus, when Walthall is on the screen, he is magnetic. But, the film also has a few problems--the biggest being believability. Additionally, the black character actor Fred 'Snowflake' Toones plays a nauseating role that is intended as comic relief--the sort of racist comic relief that would shock most modern audiences. Here, he not only plays a typical stupid black man role but a sex offender--all for laughs! My, how times have changed! So is it worth seeing? Well, if you are like me and you adore old movies, sure. But for you young whippersnappers who aren't impressed with old films, you could certainly do better. At best average despite Walthall's impressive acting.

That's how the credit reads at the start of the 1951 re-issue, and an all-star cast it is indeed, as a great cast of silent stars strut their stuff under the direction of Louis King in this variation of THE CHAMP, with Henry B. Walthall as an alcoholic ex-movie star and Leon Janney as his son. This cast knows how to play melodrama, and they do so in.... perhaps a little too well as perhaps a little more comedy relief might have helped -- or perhaps might have wrecked the emotional impact.

But Walthall is almost all of the show and he has some lovely scenes, particularly in the sequence where, back on the skids, and made up as Lincoln in a side show, he resists reciting the Gettysburg Address to sell patent medicine. The scenes on the movie set are also wonderful, with former real-life director King Baggott, playing a movie director performs his role efficiently and compassionately. But, as I said earlier, everyone is good here and the movie, while no classic, is well worth your time.

Alcoholic has-been actor Henry B. Walthall (as Nathaniel "Nat" Barry) is hauled before the Hollywood "Police Court" for habitual drunkenness. Mr. Walthall is granted a reprieve, after teenage son Leon Janney (Nathaniel "Junior" Barry Jr.) pleads for mercy. Mr. Janney vows to keep Walthall off the bottle, and on screen. Janney tries to line up bit parts for his once famous father, but Walthall has trouble not only delivering lines, but also staying on the wagon.

It's great to see Walthall in a starring role, although this is a significantly more minor production than those the star appeared in during the silent era. Teen actor Janney is an unlikely, but effective co-star. The two are best in scenes on "sets", when they are actors playing actors. Henry King's lesser known brother Lewis directed "Police Court". And, King Baggot is certainly a good choice to play the movie director "Henry Field". Aileen Pringle (as Diana McCormick) and Fred Toones (as Snowflake) add femininity and racial "humor", respectively.

***** Police Court (1932) Louis King ~ Henry B. Walthall, Leon Janney, Aileen Pringle