Man of the People

Man of the People is an odd feature that starts out looking like it's going to be a story about a man battling against machine politics, and then turns into a picture about a crusading attorney. The always fine Joseph Calleia stars as Joe Moreno, an Italian-American lawyer struggling to get by until a local political boss (the estimable Thomas Mitchell) takes him under his wing in exchange for defending one of his corrupt cronies. After winning the case after a remarkable courtroom sequence involving gefilte fish, Moreno has had his fill of being an organization man and tenders his resignation. He then proceeds to join up with an independently minded DA (an uncredited Frank Reicher) to take on a confidence scheme involving a gold detecting machine. Though the end result is a somewhat disjointed film, it's never less than watchable, and Calleia delivers an excellent, subtle performance.

Jack Moreno (Joseph Calleia) is a lawyer in an Italian neighborhood. He is truly a man of the people and helps the little guy whenever he can. Abbey Reid (Florence Rice) comes from the rich establishment and is taken with him. To his dismay, he is commanded to work for mob boss William J. Grady (Thomas Mitchell).

This is a crime drama B-movie. There is nothing wrong with it and nothing terribly exciting about it either. Calleia could be more handsome or more charismatic. Rice is perfectly WASPy. Mitchell isn't the best mob boss. He's not scary enough. All in all, this is fine. The story is fine. The couple could be better.

But they do need someone to make sure the script works and a director who can deal with zigs. Joseph Calleia -- best known as the heavy in GILDA --gets a chance to star in this programmer as a lawyer who joins the political machine and then fights it. He is especially fine in a couple of underplayed small scenes.

He is ably abetted by fine supporting actors like Jonathan Hale, Ted Healy and the always wonderful Thomas Mitchell. But the story veers and rushes off two thirds of the way through and before you can catch your breath, it's over. Was this originally broached as a vehicle for someone like Spencer Tracy and then bounced down? Director Marin never got out of the B movies, and his inability to direct Calleia in the second half shows why. Visually the picture is fine, with the usual MGM gloss. But even the best character actor needs the occasional hint from his director, and it looks like Marin could not supply it.

For a change, Joseph Calleia is local lad made good. "Moreno" has become an attorney minded to help out his community and that means he must do deals with the devil - exemplified by Thomas Mitchell's "Grady" who insists he defend one of his henchmen and in return offers him "protection". As courtroom dramas go - this stage is quite unique as it all revolves around a fish! Anyway, thereafter his new arrangement doesn't well suit his independent spirit, and he is soon teamed up with the DA and on the trail of swindlers trying to sell a contraption that can detect gold. The story is a bit all over the place and the writing offers little of substance for the actors to play with, but the plot is solid enough and the message of truth and integrity writ large. It is long, but is essentially two stories knitted together and so just about works ok in the rather predictable end.

(There Are Spoilers) Movie about big city corruption involving an honest attorney who's forced to get in with the local political machine ,and become somewhat of a hack, in order to make a living by defending crooks swindlers and con-men associated with or members of it.

Just passing the New York State bar exam young Jack Mareno, Joseph Calleia, has high hopes for his future in the courts. Dropping over at his office Joe Dwire, Ted Healy, tells Jack to join the William J. Grady, Thomas Mitchall, club that runs everything that goes on in the neighborhood including the court system and local District Attorney.

Turning down Dwire's offer to work for the Grady Bunch all of Jack's cases end up getting lost or thrown out of court even if the person that he's defending was totally innocent. It became obvious to Jack that Grady and his boys were tampering with the court and juries making sure that he never wins a case so long he doesn't work for the Grady Mob. Depressed and hurt over what's happening Jack swallows his pride and gives into Boss Grady joining his team as a lawyer defending mostly his boys who end up on the wrong side of the law.

Going up in the world of New York City power politics Jack, who's now an assistant D.A, is promised by Grady that he's due to get nominated for NYC District Attorney in he upcoming election by his organization which would make Jack a shoo-in to win.

Jack later worrying about a friend of his back in he old neighborhood Old Man Rossetti, William Ricciardi, getting involved in this obvious scam by this smooth talking shyster Edward Spetner, Edward J. Nugent. Spetner's mining company claims that they have a gold-sniffing machine that can locate the yellow medal anywhere within 150 feet underground. This has the naive old man sink all his saving into the company's over the counter stock. Spetner also gets hundreds of other get rich quick suckers including Jack's girlfriend Abbey Raid's, Florence Rice, socialite but not too bright mother Mrs. Reid, Catherine Doucet, to do the same.

Jack going to his boss in the D.A's office Stringer, Paul Stanton, to alert him about this gold-sniffing scam is told to keep his nose out of it and keep his mouth shut. Later Grady's promise to Jack about being nominated by his organization falls through. Obviously because of Jack's opposition to this gold-locating device which Grady and his boys are involved with.

Running as an independent Jack gets his head handed to him by the Gardy Machine's use of massive voter fraud to beat him and is left a broken man with no clients to defend and no future to look forward to. As it turns out by Jack by being honest and sticking to his values and ethics gained the respect of the State Govenor who appoints him as special investigator in the very case, the gold-sniffing swindle. That ended up costing him the election as District Attorney but this time Jack wasn't going to let Grady and his band of goons beat him and scam his friends out of their life savings.

Has the same kind of story yet predates the far more famous "Mr. Smith goes to Washington" by two years. "Man of the People" is a well rounded and honest little film about political corruption and how one man can not only stand up to it but defeat it by not compromising his ideals and integrity.

Joseph Calleia gives a quite yet stalwart performance as the incorruptible neighborhood lawyer Jack Moreno a true "Man of the People" if there ever was one in the movies or in real life.