The Mouthpiece

One of the better movies of 1932, "The Mouthpiece" features a tour de force performance by Warren William as a brilliant but corrupt prosecutor with a weakness for dames, drink and dollars but who is redeemed by a stubborn moral sense that sometimes overcomes his vices. The screenplay, by the prolific but tragically short-lived Joseph Jackson (whose other work includes such gems as "Safe in Hell" and "One Way Passage"), is both hard-edged and witty, with many of the funniest wisecracks delivered memorably by the incomparable Aline MacMahon as William's loyal secretary, the type of role that might have been played by Joan Blondell or Glenda Farrell had the studio casting dice landed another way. The familiar Warners-First National stock company appears in full force including Guy Kibbee as a speakeasy bartender; Noel Francis as a golddigger; J Carrol Naish as a gangster; Walter Walker as a district attorney. The diminutive Sidney Fox persuasively plays a secretary in William's firm who helps to set him on the right path.

As a retired lawyer i would have loved to have the great art deco office in which Williams luxuriates.Also if only i could have had a secretary like Aline MacMahon!Obviously Williams doesn't realise what a gem he has in MacMahon and decides he would try the lounge lizard approach with innocent Fox.Now why she wants to marry her simpering boyfriend rather than enjoy a life of luxury with Williams is a mystery.After all going up to his flat to work in the middle of the evening seems a bit strange,and to find your boss in a smoking jacket even stranger.In my view this is a hugely entertaining film,which i had seen only once before at the NFT.I cannot understand why BBC and Channel 4 in particular are quite happy to show Randolph Scott and Audie Murphy westerns for the umpteenth time but cannot give air time to this film and other classic films of the era.

The Mouthpiece (1932)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Highly entertaining moral tale from Warner about D.A. Vincent Day (Warren William) who has a change in heart after sending an innocent man to the electric chair. He decides to switch sides and take the money in return for getting criminals off of crimes they've committed but he starts to have second thoughts after falling for a woman (Sidney Fox) who works for him. THE MOUTHPIECE is such a good film that after viewing it I was rather shocked to realize that not too many people know of it. Warner was the king at delivering these moral tales during this period so it's kind of shocking that this here has been swept under the rug and forgotten. It's certainly a prime candidate for being rediscovered because there's just so many great things going on here. We can start with the terrific cast being led by William in one of the greatest performances I've seen from him. Yes, he can play that ruthless character better than anyone else but this here shows the actor at his very best. The supporting cast is equally great with Fox really coming across good as the woman the lawyer falls for. Aline MacMahon is also very memorable as the secretary and we also get great work from John Wray, Ralph Ince, Morgan Wallace, J. Carrol Naish and J. Carrol Naish who plays one of the thugs. The film has several sequences taking place inside the courtroom and these are some of the most imaginative court scenes you're going to witness. It was wickedly fun watching William work his magic and especially during one scene involving some poison. If I had a problem with the film it was the love story aspect. I just never fully bought why this lawyer would fall so hard for this girl but this really doesn't take away much. THE MOUTHPIECE is a terrific little drama that has the studio and cast doing their best and it needs to be viewed by more people.

THE MOUTHPIECE (Warner Brothers, 1932), directed by James Flood and Elliott Nugent, does not pertain to anything regarding to the inventions of a smoking pipe, a telephone handset nor a component of a brass instrument. In fact, the term "mouthpiece" is a slang term for lawyer, a highly regarded role enacted by Warren William. Taken from the play by Frank J. Collins, the story scripted by Joe Jackson, is reportedly based on the life of William J. Fallon, a New York City attorney, but fiction or not, THE MOUTHPIECE is a perfect example of what extremes that any attorney would do to win both case and fame.

The plot opens in a New York City courtroom where Vincent Day (Warren William), an assistant district attorney, through his testimony, convinces the jury to convict Robert Wilson (Emerson Treacy) for "taking the life of an innocent girl." On the very night of Wilson's execution in the electric chair, Day is notified by District Attorney Forbes (Walter Walker) that Wilson innocent with the real culprit caught and arrested. Because he sent an innocent man to his death, Day drowns his sorrows drinking heavily in a bar where he's served by Paddy, an Irish bartender (Guy Kibbee) who convinces him to put his legalistic knowledge to work, and making more money in the process, by becoming a defense lawyer. Day soon accepts his new challenge working as a "mouthpiece" for mobsters. His first case finds him proving Pondapolis (Stanley Fields), a boxer, guilty by catching him off guard with one punch. He later rises to fame after getting Tony Rollo (J. Carroll Naish), an Italian mobster, off for poisoning an administrator. Having opened his own law office, Day acquires a personal secretary in Miss Hickey (Aline MacMahon), and Celia Farraday (Sidney Fox), recently from Riverport, Kentucky, as his stenographer. While Hickey is secretly in love with Day, his sole interest is on Celia. Unlike the other women from his illicit past, Day comes to realize Celia's loyalty to Johnny Morris (William Janney), the boy she intends to marry. Learning how her salary has come from Day's "blood money," Celia quits her job, agreeing to resume her position (at no salary) until Day is able to obtain another secretary to replace her. Some time later, Johnny, working as a bank messenger, is arrested on the charge of a $2,000 bond theft. Believing him innocent, Celia comes to Day for help, even at the possible risk of he endangering himself for going against his gangster friends.

THE MOUTHPIECE is Warren William's showcase from start to finish. A dress rehearsal for his latter attorney role in the short-lived "Perry Mason" film series (1934-36), many rightfully label his role of Vincent Day to be one of William's top screen performances, and naturally so. Aside from his astounding courtroom cases, it's hard to forget his underhanded method by getting Barton (John Wray), a bank cashier, off for embezzling $90,00 from his employer, Mr. Smith (Morgan Wallace) of E.A. Smith & Associates, then "earning" the remaining $10,000 of the bank's own money for himself; and swallowing an entire bottle of poison to prove his case in the courtroom to give the jury a reasonable doubt his client is innocent.

Supported by a capable cast of Warners stock players, including Berton Churchill (The Judge); Murray Kinnel (Thompson, Day's Butler); Mae Madison (Elaine); Ralph Ince (J.B); the mean-looking Jack LaRue (Joe Garland) and Charles Lane (Hotel Desk Clerk), only the pert and dark-haired Sidney Fox makes her loan-out assignment to Warners from her home-base studio of Universal. Fox, an interesting screen personality with a brief movie career (1931-34), is quite believable as the honest but naive Celia Farraday, down to her Southern accent. Also giving a commendable performance is Aline MacMahon playing another loyal secretary no different from her debut screen performance in FIVE STAR FINAL (1931) opposite Edward G. Robinson. Her sincere performance is the sort of role that remains in memory long after the film is over.

Remade twice by Warners, first as THE MAN WHO TALKED TOO MUCH (1940) with George Brent and Virginia Bruce; and as ILLEGAL (1955) with Edward G. Robinson and Nina Foch, the 1932 original, though virtually forgotten until resurrected during the early years of Turner Network Television (1988) followed by occasional broadcasts on Turner Classic Movie, has never been surpassed. In the Hollywood sense, pace is fast, story contrived but interesting, and conclusion quite suspenseful.(***)

There may not be a lot of depth in this movie, but it's completely enjoyable, for all the reasons other commentators here have listed - the dialogue and several of the main actors. To that list I'd add the pleasure of seeing life in the 1930s, the cars, the clothing, the buildings, the room decor, all stylish and of the period. I especially got a kick out of the scene near the end where a car revs its engines to make it backfire, the driver moving a tiny lever in the centre of the steering wheel. The elevator, the marble staircase - lots to keep you interested apart from the plot.

Warren William is centre stage throughout and is excellent, tough, smart, sophisticated and slimy. In the scenes in which he crowds the innocent young thing, stooping over her like a vulture, his evil intentions are brilliantly clear in his body language; he looks like a vulture, like Count Dracula.

"...why she wants to marry her simpering boyfriend rather than enjoy a life of luxury with Williams is a mystery." Well, maybe a mystery to some people, but most of us realize that women are not generally tramps willing to trade their affections for luxuries.