Baby Face Morgan

When a mob boss gets knocked off, they put his son "babyface" in charge of the "protection" outfit. But the son is a store clerk, and clearly not the tough guy they thought he would be. Can they show him how to be a rough, tough guy that they need to run the show? It's a 63 minute shorty from prc.. producers releasing corp. Pretty low budget. The little side bits about the rabbits was just a waste of time. They should have spent that effort jazzing up the script. There's a pretty good framework of a mob and rackets story in here, they just needed to fix it up. And because the war had been raging, they do manage to work it into the story. The picture quality is pretty bad in some spots. I don't see a restoration coming any time soon. Directed by arthur dreifuss. I've seen two other films that he has directed, and they were about as forgettable as this one.

After "Central City" loses its mob boss to murder, partner-in-crime Robert Armstrong (as "Doc" Rogers) decides to take drastic measures To preserve criminal continuity, he recruits the dead mobster's milquetoast son, Richard Cromwell (as Edward "Baby Face" Morgan), to run the family business. The naive Mr. Cromwell is taken to the city, and installed as President of his father's "Acme Protection Agency", a front for gangsters. While Cromwell sells innocently sells insurance, his "employees" run an extortion racket. Cromwell falls for pretty client Mary Carlisle (as Virginia Clark); and, the duo find themselves in great danger… "Baby Face Morgan" catches star Cromwell and Ms. Carlisle nearing the end of their once "promising" film careers. It's a quick, light, and inoffensive little crime drama.

**** Baby Face Morgan (9/15/42) Arthur Dreifuss ~ Richard Cromwell, Mary Carlisle, Robert Armstrong

This was almost what they call a "curiosity piece," something really odd. It's part of a "Mobsters Movies" 4-movie DVD disc of short, old crime films...but it was more of a slapstick, corny comedy than a "mobster" movie, although it did involve gangsters.

Richard Cromwell plays "Baby Face," a supposedly-notorious gangster who really is a fake and doesn't know it himself until the end. He's really just a puppet figure invented by gangster Robert Armstrong who uses him as a never-seen mob boss as a scheme to skim money from the gang. Hijinks ensue late in the film when all parties discover what exactly is going on. The craziness also involves a romance between Cromwell and Mary Carlise ("Virginia"). I didn't take much time figuring a better way to explain this screwball story, and I apologize for that. Hey, the movie didn't take long, either: one hour.

It's a silly "B' film but charming with some likable leads and cornball humor. It's not boring but it's not something you'd watch over and over, either. The picture quality is not good but that's what you often get with a DVD that gives you four films for a cheap price.

If you want to make a movie like this, have the threat be real. Don't surround your patsy with a bunch of Bonzos. There is no credibility here. The plot is dull and unbelievable. The acting is even worse. I thought that I was watching Arthur Lake (Dagwood) who is one of the worst actors in history, when I saw the main character. Oh well, at some point he has to face the music and get fighting mad. I don't care. Do you? There are all these long scenes set in this austere office (the furniture made out of cardboard or masonite). People talk and smoke and don't do anything. Most of the action happens in a five minute sequence. After that, it's over. Don't bother.

My score of 7 is very good, but relative to other B-films I'd give this one a 9--it's that good despite the tiny budget. For a lesser production made by a so-called "Poverty Row" studio (PRC--one of the cheaper and crappier studios), it's amazingly good. Normally, you'd expect ordinary or lousy writing--not a clever film like this one.

The film begins with a meeting of various mobsters. Robert Armstrong (of "King Kong" fame) is leading the discussion and he's lamenting the death of their leader years before and how he wishes the mobs would all work together like the "good old days" under Morgan's leadership. Armstrong suggests that perhaps Morgan's son MIGHT be the guy to take this leadership role. The problem that the men in the meeting are not aware of is that Morgan's son (Richard Cromwell) has no idea who his father was and is a very nice and somewhat wimpy young man. However, throughout the film, there are many opportunities where various mobsters see the guy and assume he's talking about killings and extortion--when the guy is really talking about mundane things that aren't the least bit violent. What makes it even funnier is that after he's brought to the big city to run the mob, he thinks this is a legitmiate insurance company--and he begins selling policies right and left. He's so successful, though, not because of his salesmanship but because everyone else thinks he's selling "protection". Eventually, however, "Baby Face" learns the truth--and how can he possibly extricate himself from this terrible situation?! This film made me laugh many times. The acting, writing and entire production are very crisp and clever--making it a hidden gem that is a standout among the Bs.