Baby Face Morgan

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

Baby Face Morgan is one frustrating film. Producers Releasing Corporation a true poverty row outfit assembled a good cast of players and had a really original idea for a story. If this had been done by a major studio with a top director this could have been one of the great comedy gems of the era.

Richard Cromwell is in the title role and he plays a hayseed young man who happens to be the son of a notorious gangster. Dad split from Mom and Cromwell never had any contact with him.

Cromwell has a Mr. Deeds like quality to him as Robert Armstrong plucks him from obscurity to use him as a front man for their protection racket. Things go well for Armstrong until Cromwell falls for Mary Carlisle who heads a trucking company that was a victim of the protection racket. It all unravels for Armstrong after that.

Any film with such colorful movie faces like Warren Hymer, Chick Chandler, Charles Judel and Ralf Harolde is going to be enjoyable on some level. But there was real potential here that was sadly wasted.

What Preston Sturges could have done with Baby Face Morgan.

Flaky PRC production. Looks like the producers were aiming for a gangster comedy, with veteran goof-balls like Hymer and Barnett, along with serious types like Armstrong and Harolde, plus a gamely compliant Cromwell. What they get instead is a silly concoction, despite a cast that tries hard. Sweet-natured innocent (Cromwell) is set up by conniving gangster (Armstrong) as fall-guy for his insurance scheme. Trouble is the kid has no business sense and undercuts the scheme with wasteful spending. Meanwhile Armstrong has to contend with rival toughie Harolde who doesn't trust him. So there's trouble all around. Too bad the script is so clumsy (many gaps), along with slack direction from pedestrian director Dreifuss (check his credits). The result is 60-minutes of awkward entertainment, best left to aficionados of the 1940's.

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.

This was the next to last film of cute Mary Carlisle. She was disappointed that she was never able to break out of the "cute" mould and show what she could do as an actress.

Edward Morgan (Richard Cromwell) works in a drug store. His father, who he never knew, was a crime boss but headed an insurance company as a front for his shady dealings. Two henchmen call on Edward, to tell him of his father's death and to see if he wants to take over the "business". When a phone conversation is misinterpreted (in gangland talk - pineapples mean bombs not fruit!!!) Edward is given the nickname "Baby Face". "Doc" Morgan (Robert Armstrong) the real brains behind the group, instantly realises that Edward is just a country bumpkin but uses the nickname to instill fear into the frightened people that have to pay for protection.

All except Virginia (Mary Carlisle, looking like a very young Lana Turner) - she declares war on the protection gangsters. Morgan, who doesn't know he is the notorious "Baby Face" begins selling insurance for real and when trucks and shops are blown up pays the proprietors for real. Suddenly "Baby Face" isn't so frightening anymore!!!

I found it pretty funny, especially as Edward didn't realise that "Baby Face" was himself. Richard Cromwell looked such an innocent, you could really believe his disbelief!!!!!

The film was a who's who of former stars. Aside from Mary Carlisle, who was Bing Crosby's leading lady in a few of his early films, there was Robert Armstrong, who had starred in "King Kong" and "Son of Kong". Ralf Harolde, who played a variety of interesting parts in some early 30s films, including "Night Nurse" (1931) with Barbara Stanwyck, plays the disgruntled Joe Torelli. Warren Hymer spent the 30s playing dumb, comic gangsters and this film was no exception - he played Wise Willie. Chick Chandler, who introduced "How Do I Know it's Sunday" in "Harold Teen" (1934) played Edward's cousin Ollie.

I can recommend this film.