Is My Face Red?

I like Ricardo Cortez--he tried on a number of identities in a long career, from Latin lover (he was actually Jake Krantz from the Lower East Side) to cocky leading man to dignified elder-statesman character actor, and succeeded at most of them. He was handsome--in some shots, he looks alarmingly like Gene Kelly--and he even did a bit of directing. In this quick RKO programmer, a mild spoof of the Walter Winchell sort of gossip columnist popular at the time (Winchell gets a mention, and so does Ed Sullivan), he's lively and busy, but somewhat overselling the charm. He's also playing a rotter, and unable to charm his way out of that. While devoted to girlfriend Helen Twelvetrees, top-billed but without a lot to do, he's also carrying on with socialite Jill Esmond, cheating fellow reporter Robert Armstrong out of scoops, and laughing over the witnessing of a murder, by Italian (!) mafioso Sidney Toler. Some nice moments with harried switchboard operator ZaSu Pitts and bootlegger Clarence Muse, and Esmond and Twelvetrees were always worth watching, even stuck in uninteresting parts as they are here. But the tone is off--is it a comedy? An expose? A satire?--and, much as I generally like Cortez, this role's a much more natural fit for a Lee Tracy.

Not-so-interesting account of a gossip columnist who is more or less a rat - which probably explains why Ricardo Cortez was cast in the part. Cortez is surrounded by his girlfriend (Helen Twelvetrees), a rich society dame he is after (Jill Esmond), his secretary (Arline Judge), and phone operator (Zasu Pitts). Robert Armstrong plays a rival reporter.

There is some snappy dialogue. Cortez gets to slap a chorus girl on her posterior, which quickly disqualifies him from becoming President.

The story picks up a bit when Cortez witnesses Sidney Toler (playing a character named Tony Mugatti) stick a shiv in a mug. Don't bother calling the police, Ricardo. Let's see if we can get a column out of this. Cortez faces some trials and tribulations the rest of the way, and even takes a shot to the tabloids. The ending is phony.

Toler's attempt at an Italian accent immediately made me sympathetic to the Asians who didn't like him playing Charlie Chan. But hey, at least they didn't call this thing "Is My Face Yellow?"

We all know someone a bit like Ricardo Cortez's smart-alec, big-headed, fast talking reporter who can answer any question with a glib witty response. Whilst we love these people we're secretly glad when they get their comeuppance.

If anyone these days is unsure of whom Ricardo Cortez was, they just need to watch this. It's not his best film but this is the role he was born for. He's New York's top muck-raking low-life journalist. He has no consideration for the harm his gossip mongering does as long as he gets a story. He thinks he's invincible, untouchable and immortal. He's self-centred, arrogant and uncaring... but what Mr Cortez does with this character is makes him the most likeable man in the world!

As I've said, he's done better work but he's so much fun in this that you can't help but enjoying it even though it's hardly a great movie. A year earlier we had Warner's hard hitting FIVE STAR FINAL. That earlier film showed in a slightly melodramatic way, the horrific consequences of gutter journalism. This however dispenses with any of the distasteful results of the job and simply focuses on the fun, devil-may-care Cortez character. It's still got a degree of tension but it's quite light-hearted - even down to his name: Bill Poster as in the old joke: 'Bill posters will be prosecuted'. Of course such an amoral lifestyle will eventually come unstuck.... or will it?

Sweet, lovely girl-next-door type, Helen Twelvetrees gets star billing but her character is completely overshadowed by Ricardo Cortez who virtually jumps in front of her every time the camera rolls. Her role is simply there to support her man but even so, she does it well. When given a more in depth role such as in HER MAN, she was an excellent actress but in this she simply does what she needs to do.

Ultimately this is great fun to watch and works perfectly as a fun, fast-paced lightweight drama. That might be all you want but it is quite shallow and doesn't get under your skin as much as it would have were it made at Warners.

William Poster (Ricardo Cortez) is a tabloid news reporter. He's willing to go to practically any length to dig up the dirt on people and that would include dressing up in costumes or using his girlfriend, Peggy (Helen Twelvetrees). She's a chorus dancer and hears a lot of gossip on her job...and he uses this to help make a name for himself. While he's a real egotistical cad, just how much of one is evident when he meets a rich heiress, Mildred (Jill Esmond). He impulsively gives her the ring he intended to give Peggy and when both find out about this, he's sure in trouble with them. And what about the ring...was he seriously thinking of marrying Mildred or was this just a ruse in order to get her to open up and talk about her society friends...something Poster takes full advantage when he hears about them.

While treating these two women like dirt is reprehensible, Poster also is an idiot. When he witnesses the evil bootlegger, Tony (Sidney Toler), murder someone he decides to publish this story AND take no apparent precautions to protect himself. So, by the end of the film, practically EVERYONE wants to see the guy dead!!

The main problem with this film is that they took the unlikability of the main character too far. He's such an egotistical jerk that you want him to get killed...and that greatly harms the picture. Watchable but not much more.

What happened in around 1930 or '31 that had Hollywood studios clambering to pillory newspapers and reporters? There was "Scandal Sheet" (1931), "Five Star Final" (1931), "The Famous Ferguson Case" (1932), and "Is My Face Red?," all about unscrupulous journalists or newspapers.

"Is My Face Red?" is about William Poster (Ricardo Cortez), a gossip columnist for the New York Globe. He doesn't care how he gets his gossip nor does he care who the gossip is about; he's going to print it. One of his main sources is his girlfriend Peggy Bannon (Helen Twelvetrees). She's a dancing girl and always has her ears to the streets. She puts in a call to her beau whenever there's something that can be counted as news.

William goes out over his skis when he reports about a murder he witnessed. He further shot himself in the foot when he started two-timing on Peggy with a society woman named Mildred Huntington (Jill Esmond). William was a hot conceited mess.

So, that brings me back to my original question: what happened in the early '30's to spark the production of these movies? It was as if society at that time had an unflattering opinion of news media altogether so Hollywood put it on celluloid. Some things never change.