The Finger Points

Most of the lines delivered in this film convey no emotional content. As a result, the entire film has little impact.

The story is not believable, mostly due to the performance of Richard Barthlemess, who plays the main character, Breckinridge Lee. Lee is a small-town reporter who moves to the big city and becomes a crime reporter. The love interest is played by Fay Wray, who has her moments. But only Clark Gable really shines through the dullness of this production.

It's a shame, really, because the storyline has real potential. If only it had been fleshed out and given to an actor who could portray the important emotions: the uncertainty of the fish-out-of-water, the man in love with the woman, the fear of the reporter involved in something dangerous, the distress of a man torn between love and shame.

I love movies which give you a sense of what it was like to be living & working in the time. (It's the sociologist in me. ) This movie is one of these. The plot is very interesting and the acting is first rate all round. Fay Wray is very good, but Richard Barthelmess steals the show and not just in the "silent" parts. Never seen him better.

After talkies came in, Warner Brothers didn't really seem to know what to do with Richard Barthelmess, but he hung around in starring roles quite a bit longer than most of his silent counterparts - from 1929 to 1934.

Normally Barthelmess played thoughtful guys put into tight circumstances, and this was probably supposed to be one of those roles, but it doesn't' quite come across right. Breckenridge Lee (Richard Barthelmess) starts out as a totally green and conscientious reporter up from a Savannah paper into a press room of the big city. When the editor announces a campaign against the mob, Lee is the only reporter that takes his assignment seriously. He even walks right up to a speakeasy and asks probing questions to the mobster in charge. Unable to be bribed he writes an expose on the place and it is thus raided by the police. The mob then beats him up one night in retaliation, badly enough that he needs hospitalization and his medical bills pile up. He is surprised when the city editor balks at helping him financially, as he denies that Lee's beating had anything to do with the paper at all and hints that Lee's injuries probably had something to do with him drinking and hanging around unsavory people after work.

Now this is where things get a bit unrealistic. Lee instantly turns from green honest reporter to money hungry and corrupt. He figures if you can't beat them, join them. He takes money from the mob and in return agrees to keep the paper and thus the cops off of their backs. He justifies this by saying that the only way that the mob will ever pay is with money to him - but he's not exactly giving the loot away to charity.

Fay Wray plays Lee's love interest as fellow reporter Marcia who at first suspects then knows the truth and loves him just the same. Regis Toomey plays a supporting role as someone who would like to win Marcia's heart but knows when he's beat. Robert Elliot is the gruff tough city editor who often played a cop in the early talkies. Of course, most notable here is Clark Gable, sitting in the palm of Jack Warner's hand, and not being recognized by him as a star in the making. Gable is impressive here as a spats-wearing charming sinner, the gangster who sees Lee as a useful idiot - for awhile anyways.

This is another film I had to see in my unhealthy quest to see all of the available Fay Wray films out there. However, this film surprised me, as it was a pretty good story. It also has a young Clark Gable as a gangster in a scene stealing role that demonstrates his star power very early in his career.

The plot has been covered in other reviews, so I'll keep my review short.

The pluses: Fay looks great, Clark Gable is good, and the story is solid and interesting.

The minuses: Richard Barthelmess is fine, but being from the south, he shouldn't have even tried the accent.

Overall a fine film and definitely worth a viewing.

I looked at this movie mainly because of the leading man. I never saw him in a talkie before. He was no worse then most silent actors who came into talkies. He plays a new reporter from the south working at a big city paper.

I must tell you I was not prepared for what was to come. And I am not going to spoil it. But he was such a fresh nice face that I actually thought in the end we would find out he was working undercover for the cops. But no he is mad because the newspaper would not give him a raise or advance his salary because he had gotten shot doing a story for them and he feels they should help with the Medical bills. So he becomes a reporter for the syndicate. He gets paid well for not writing stories. The problem is that his girlfriend, who also is working at the paper as a Ann Landers type columnist wants nothing to do with what he has become. I am not going to tell the ending. But I was surprised.

Afterwards I found out this was based on a true story. The supporting cast was very good. I never realized how pretty Fay Wray was. She is striking. She always had a pretty face to me, but she is gorgeous. She is the girlfriend. She has a nice role. You can tell this was pre code because she had a good job and she was fairly aggressive about her feelings toward him.

Regis Toomey was very good as a fellow reporter and best friend who also likes the Fay Wray character. But he a very nice guy and we do not get the usual rivalry that turns nasty. Which is good.

Clark Gable was at the point of of his career when he played bad guys. Like in Night Nurse where he was smacking around old ladies and his girlfriend and trying to poison her children. He is not any nicer here. I actually like Gable in these roles. I would recommend this movies because it goes in a different direction that I thought and it was very nice seeing actors in the crossroads of their careers.