I am not a huge fan of George Murphy as an actor, but this film suits him. As ex- hoodlum Joe Jonathan, he plays someone with a moral compass tempered by reform. This role fits Murphy's temperament. Joe is also an ex-hoofer, so Murphy gets to display some impressive footwork.
Joe Jonathan manages bands and dance halls. Though he once was a criminal, he is almost naïve in this belief in others. But his success is threatened by a young thug. Simultaneously, Ed Kirby (Richard Barthelmess in his last film)---his former boss---is seeking parole from his stint at Sing Sing. Joe's girlfriend and gal Friday, Jessey (Anne Shirley), is concerned about his nonchalance in the face of these threats, but Joe has his own way of handling things.
Anne Shirley is a bright spot in this film. The rest of the cast is strong. Barthelmess, who was a silent film actor, is very effective in portraying menace even without words. Joan Merrill, in one of her few films, plays a singer in Joe's organization; and she has a strong voice.
The most interesting aspect of the film is its characterization of Bits McKarg (Rex Downing), the young thug who runs a gang of juveniles. Joe takes him under his wing with a belief that he can rehab the kid with kindness. It's like a social experiment. Bits and his cohorts might have been born around the year 1925. They would have grown up during the Great Depression and witnessed the adulation given to the gangsters of their time, especially in the gangster films of the thirties, which led to a romanticizing and hero worship of gangsters similar to that given cowboys. The viewer can probably guess how the film resolves the juvenile delinquent problem, given the moral directives under which Hollywood operated. But it is interesting that the writers even included this part of the story.
The script is kind of wandering, but it manages to resolve all the stories with a neat bow of an ending.
