The Ticket of Leave Man

"A criminal mastermind known as 'The Tiger' has set his sights upon the beautiful fiancée of a bank teller. Hoping to eliminate his rival, the criminal plots to frame the young man for passing counterfeit money, thus have him sent to prison and freeing him to pursue the girl. After the man serves his time for the crime he didn't commit, he returns home to win his love over and stop 'The Tiger'," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

Barnstorming Tod Slaughter (as James "The Tiger" Dalton) breathes some life into this old English chestnut. Earnest John Warwick and soprano Marjorie Taylor are the pretty fiancée and bank teller. The men wear phony sideburns. Mr. Slaughter kissing the fainted body of Ms. Taylor is a memorable moment. And, both "The Tiger" and hawk-nosed "moneylender" Frank Cochran (as Melter Moss) are more properly disposed of than in the original play.

***** The Ticket of Leave Man (10/37) George King ~ Tod Slaughter, John Warwick, Marjorie Taylor

On the positive aspect of the film, there is a villain who thinks on his feet in addition to planning his way to the financial top. There's something to be said about society's notion of 'good character' and credit as well as a quickly wrapped up moral at the end.

Dialogue was laborious both in detail and cliché. Motivations and execution are certainly questionable. Maybe some of this style of theatre got lost in translation from stage to film. All characters were pretty much static and stereotypical. I'm not sure who the target audience for the film would be. Maybe a young couple afraid of the rich and/or powerful?

I have never heard of the phrase 'Ticket of Leave', but I can safely assume from watching the story that it is referring to a person who is paroled out of prison.

The basic idea behind "The Ticket of Leave Man" is decent and the story should have been a lot better. After all, it does involve an evil criminal who not only steals but garrotes his victims! And, the guy later frames an innocent man only because he hopes to one day use him in his gang--but first he needs to break the man! However, the story itself is quite poor--mostly because of some horrible over-acting by Tod Slaughter who plays the evil killer. Subtle his performance isn't--and he even snickers a bit like Snidely Whiplash! Additionally, a few of the other performances are less than stellar. Because of the high cheese factor, it's really hard to recommend the film--unless you are making up a list of movies that SHOULD have been better or ones that featured very hammy performances.

Ticket of Leave Man, The (1937)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A serial killer known as The Tiger (Tod Slaughter) falls for a beautiful blonde so he frames her boyfriend sending him to prison in hopes that he'll get the girl. When the boyfriends gets out of prison The Tiger must try a new method to get the girl. I believe this is the sixth or seventh Slaughter film I've seen and they all feature the same plot of him trying to win a girl by framing their boyfriends. Slaughter has become a cult item the past several years and if you can tolerate him he's not too bad but non-fans will probably scratch their eyes out. He's as over the top as ever here but this nuttiness keeps the film moving. The supporting cast members are all dry and dull as is the creaky direction. The ending is downright stupid but it fits in with the campy nature.

Pudgy screen presence Tod Slaughter deliciously plays a killer named the Tiger, famed for his thieving, murder, and anonimity. Slaughter, as with all his films it seems, sets his sights on the fiancée of a young bank clerk. Tod practically drools as he leers at the young lady and then sets up a plan with a dishonest moneylender to set the boyfriend up with some counterfeit bank notes. The plan works and the young man serves his term in prison. He gets out early and finds that no one will give a second chance to a Ticket of Leave man, that is a man who has been released from prison. Slaughter, still with designs on the pretty young lady, must find new ways now to deal with the man she still loves. Maybe if the young man becomes too desperate he will go to a life of crime. Slaughter is wonderful in this film. When we first see him, he is wearing a striped outfit with a bowler hat that makes him look truly ridiculous. Even when he disguises himself as an older man trying to help ticket of leave men(this is done to impress the young lady), Slaughter still forces the young lady to kiss him for his favors. His screen time is a joy to behold. He leers better than any other actor ever has on the screen. If you doubt it...watch his films. Slaughter makes leering an art form. This is a nicely directed film and lots of fun. Director George King does a serviceable job with an above-average cast, but make no mistake...this is Tod's film all the way!