State's Attorney

Barrymore is an attorney with little fixed principles except a taste for women and booze. One night, he defends a prostitute at night court. She comes home with him, and the two live together openly. After becoming a D.A.t hough he leaves her until he suffers a crisis of conscience that comes about in an unusual way, but his resolution is more unusual still.

This is a classic Pre Code drama. The openness and acceptance of an alternative (at that time) lifestyle, and moral ambiguity mark this as a film coming from when America was going through one of its roughest times--the Great Depression--and didn't know how things will work out.

Barrymore's acting is wonderful, and this is one of his best pieces of work in the talkies. This and its unusual theme mark this as an interesting piece for the early film fan.

... from RKO and director George Archainbaud in which John Barrymore stars as high-powered attorney Tom Cardigan. When he grows weary of defending hoods like his chief client Valentine Powers (William "Stage" Boyd), he accepts an offer to become a state prosecutor.

Barrymore's drinking problems off-screen seem to be bleeding on-screen, as his character spends at least half the film somewhat soused. He's still very good, though, and very sharp in the climactic courtroom scenes. Jill Esmond, best known today for being Laurence Olivier's first wife, doesn't impress much as a flighty lover. Helen Twelvetrees comes across much better as a former streetwalker getting her life straight thanks to Barrymore. I'm not usually too fond of Boyd, but he's better here, or at least his inherent unlikeability comes in handy playing a heel.

John Barrymore's character, Tom Cardigan, bounces from bad to good, bad to good throughout "State's Attorney." The RKO story is good, but the film has remnants of production qualities from the silent era. All of the cast are OK, but none much better than that. Barrymore's Cardigan mirrors his own life of heavy drinking. He had been a heavy drinker since his teen years, and by age 50 for this film, he was an alcoholic.

Still able to perform, he would go on to make many more films before dying 10 years later of cirrhosis of the liver and pneumonia. Only a few of those would be top performances.

The life of a real lawyer, William J. Fallon, may have been the inspiration for this story. Fallon was known as the "Great Mouthpice."He was a prominent criminal lawyer who defended many homicide cases that resulted in no convictions. He befriended organized crime boss Arnold Rothstein who was implicated in the Black Sox Scandal. Fallon's lifestyle involved heavy drinking. He was just 41 years old when he died – probably from alcohol and other effects.

Whiskey-soaked criminal defense lawyer John Barrymore (as Tom Cardigan) goes to night court and defends beautiful blonde streetwalker Helen Twelvetrees (as June Perry) as a favor to his racketeering pal William Boyd (as Valentine 'Vanny' Powers). Although he appears to still be a little tipsy, Mr. Barrymore is a smooth operator in the courtroom. He gets Ms. Twelvetrees off and she moves in as, we presume, Barrymore's monogamous mistress. Twelvetrees encourages Barrymore to stop drinking and concentrate on his career. That advice works on different levels. Barrymore decides to go legit and becomes a successful district attorney with an eye on the governor's chair...

This is a witty courtroom drama with Barrymore in fine form. The legendary actor's fondness for alcohol neatly weaves into the story. Barrymore was still able to perform while drinking, although the deterioration would soon become apparent. Rowland Brown and Gene Fowler enliven the script with great lines and moral dilemmas. The characters "Tom" and "June" are allowed an option to live "in sin" because it works for them. Leggy murder suspect Mary Duncan (Nora Dean) overplays feverishly, but she's a lot of fun. Jill Esmond (aka Mrs. Laurence Olivier) is oddly giddy over Barrymore and a younger tenor. Director George Archainbaud flatters his cast and keeps it moving.

****** State's Attorney (5/5/32) George Archainbaud ~ John Barrymore, Helen Twelvetrees, William 'Stage' Boyd, Jill Esmond

Although there was nothing explicitly sexual in the dialog of State'a Attorney this film definitely belongs in the 'Before the Code' category of films. It was only in post World War II America that you could have a hero with all the frailties of John Barrymore and I'm not talking about Barrymore's drinking.

Helen Twelvetrees plays the usual wronged innocent who comes to top flight criminal attorney Barrymore when he's slumming in night court. He takes her case and then takes up with her and she convinces him to go over to the other side and start prosecuting the people he previously defended like top mobster William Boyd. He and Boyd have considerable history going back to when they were kids.

The Code would end heroes like John Barrymore's character. In his quest for power and respectability he dumps Twelvetrees with whom he was living without benefit of clergy and takes up with quirky Jill Esmond who is rich and her old man Oscar Apfel is powerful. The union does not last long, but no movie hero once the Code was in place would either live with a woman without being married to her or dump said woman strictly for his own ambitions.

Early sound Barrymore and he had not given in to dissipation as he would in his last years. It's an old fashioned acting style but still worthy of giving a look to and enjoying. It was a follow up for Jack possibly in response to brother Lionel playing a lawyer and winning an Oscar for a dramatic courtroom climax in A Free Soul. He also has a climatic courtroom scene, and while not as dramatic it was affective indeed for the junior Barrymore brother.