[go: up one dir, main page]

    Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsEmmysToronto Int'l Film FestivalIMDb Stars to WatchSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

The Big Shakedown

  • 1934
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 4m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
Bette Davis, Ricardo Cortez, Charles Farrell, Glenda Farrell, and Allen Jenkins in The Big Shakedown (1934)
Official Trailer
Play trailer2:01
1 Video
16 Photos
CrimeDrama

Racketeers flood the market with counterfeit cosmetics and drugs, causing some tragedies.Racketeers flood the market with counterfeit cosmetics and drugs, causing some tragedies.Racketeers flood the market with counterfeit cosmetics and drugs, causing some tragedies.

  • Director
    • John Francis Dillon
  • Writers
    • Niven Busch
    • Rian James
    • Samuel G. Engel
  • Stars
    • Charles Farrell
    • Bette Davis
    • Ricardo Cortez
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.2/10
    1.2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • John Francis Dillon
    • Writers
      • Niven Busch
      • Rian James
      • Samuel G. Engel
    • Stars
      • Charles Farrell
      • Bette Davis
      • Ricardo Cortez
    • 23User reviews
    • 11Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    The Big Shakedown
    Trailer 2:01
    The Big Shakedown

    Photos16

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 9
    View Poster

    Top cast41

    Edit
    Charles Farrell
    Charles Farrell
    • Jimmy Morrell
    Bette Davis
    Bette Davis
    • Norma Nelson
    Ricardo Cortez
    Ricardo Cortez
    • Dutch Barnes
    Glenda Farrell
    Glenda Farrell
    • Lily 'Lil' Duran
    Allen Jenkins
    Allen Jenkins
    • Lefty
    Henry O'Neill
    Henry O'Neill
    • Mr. Sheffner
    Dewey Robinson
    Dewey Robinson
    • Slim
    John Wray
    John Wray
    • Higgins
    Philip Faversham
    Philip Faversham
    • John - New Salesman
    Robert Emmett O'Connor
    Robert Emmett O'Connor
    • Regan - Bartender
    Renee Whitney
    Renee Whitney
    • Mae LaRue
    G. Pat Collins
    G. Pat Collins
    • Gyp
    • (as George Pat Collins)
    Adrian Morris
    • Trigger
    Ben Hendricks Jr.
    • Spike
    • (as Ben Hendricks)
    George Cooper
    George Cooper
    • Shorty
    Oscar Apfel
    Oscar Apfel
    • Digitalis Doctor
    • (uncredited)
    Harry C. Bradley
    Harry C. Bradley
    • Third Drug Store Proprietor
    • (uncredited)
    Matt Briggs
    Matt Briggs
    • Robert J. Wilbur
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • John Francis Dillon
    • Writers
      • Niven Busch
      • Rian James
      • Samuel G. Engel
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews23

    6.21.1K
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    5jjnxn-1

    B-Movie 101

    B-movie without an original thought in its script. Naive protagonist used by some crooked hood. Check. Pretty ingénue who stands steadfastly by her man while hoping for domesticity. Check again. Wised up, gum chewing doll who gets double crossed, turns informant and pays a price. You bet. And on and on it goes. You can practically see the conventions of the genre click by as the picture unfolds.

    It's not that the movie isn't entertaining if you like the formula but it holds zero surprises. The actors all do their jobs professionally. Charles Farrell, one of the better looking men to ever appear on screen, is earnest and callow in the lead but not very memorable. Ricardo Cortez, Allen Jenkins and many other familiar character actors whose livelihood during these years was playing hoods fill their roles expertly but again their roles are standard stuff. Also nobody could play the flashy moll like Glenda Farrell.

    The only thing that makes this different than the hundreds of other programmers churned out by Hollywood during the thirties is the presence of a very young Bette Davis as the ingénue. She looks great in her extreme blondness and exudes her customary confidence on screen but her part is a nothing. It's no wonder she ultimately rebelled against Warners since they continued to stick her in junk like this even after she had attained star billing and an Oscar.
    6utgard14

    "My tomatoes blew up."

    Pharmacist Charles Farrell goes into business with gangster Ricardo Cortez making counterfeit toothpaste and cosmetics. Soon Cortez wants to branch out into making medication, which Farrell isn't happy about. But Farrell wants to marry fiancée Bette Davis and give her financial security. Early Bette flick before she had really developed her style. She's fine but there's not a lot for her to do through most of the picture but worry about her guy. Charles Farrell is OK. Ricardo Cortez is a great bad guy as usual. Nice supporting cast includes Glenda Farrell, Allen Jenkins, and Henry O'Neill. Fun cat fight between Glenda Farrell and Renee Whitney. Exciting climax you will not be able to predict!
    6MikeMagi

    The counterfeit game...

    Back in the days when stardom meant signing a seven-year contract, Bette Davis didn't have much choice but to play the wife of a struggling pharmacist, who gets mixed up with the mob, in this mellerdrama. Hubby Charles Farrell is conscripted by gangster Ricardo Cortez to make counterfeit products like tooth paste and face powder. But when Cortez demands cheap knock-offs of high-priced medication, lives are in danger...Bette's included. She plays the ingénue role surprisingly well without the tics and mannerisms which would mark (and sometimes mar) her later career. Tall, handsome Charles Farrell, on the other hand, couldn't act. To say that he had two expressions is putting it generously. Fortunately, Cortez as the suave hood behind the counterfeiting scheme takes up the slack and Glenda Farrell drops seductively by as a gun moll who knows too much. A pretty entertaining B movie made moreso by the youthful Bette Davis.
    6blanche-2

    early Bette in her ingénue days

    Charles Farrell, a great silent screen star, appears with Bette Davis and Ricardo Cortez in "The Big Shakedown," a 1934 film featuring Allen Jenkins and Glenda Farrell.

    Farrell and Davis are Jimmy and Norma, a boyfriend-girlfriend who marry later in the film. They run a corner drugstore. Cortez is a post- Prohibition gangster, Dutch Baines, looking for a new racket. Patronizing the store one day, he realizes that Jimmy can make his own products, which are identical to ones on the market. However, he isn't selling them claiming that they are the commercial brands; he makes them so he can sell a house brand for less.

    Of course, Dutch sees that if these products are sold under the commercial names, he can use their publicity and brand reputation to make a fortune. He talks Jimmy into making toothpaste and beauty products because Jimmy needs money. He's reluctant to do it and planning to quit when Dutch decides to go into medicine and have Jimmy make drugs. Jimmy flatly refuses; Dutch makes noise about Norma's safety, and Jimmy caves.

    This is a typical crime film interesting because of the cast. Davis' role is an ordinary ingénue one that could have been played by anyone. She was still getting a build-up and hadn't yet become a star with a special image. She's blond and pretty. Glenda Farrell has the role of Dutch's girlfriend, whom he throws over. Farrell, with her distinctive speaking voice and likable personality always stands out. Cortez does well playing the tough, uncompromising Baines.

    Charles Farrell, whom I used to see as an elderly man (your fifties were considered like the seventies back then) when My Little Margie was in syndication, was good-looking and popular in his day. He had a gentleness about him and also an earnestness which he displays here. He retired in 1941 to become a land developer, but returned for Margie, which was followed by his own show. Then he retired again.

    Cortez's career as a leading man was just about over. Though he continued working until he retired, he also became a successful broker on Wall Street.

    Of interest, the actor who played the young Jewish boy who buys ice cream (a cone was six cents), Sidney Miller, went on to become a director and composer, and actually revamped the Mickey Mouse Club for Walt Disney beginning in its second season.

    Amazing that Bette Davis was the only one to stay full-time in acting.
    6boblipton

    Crime May Pay, But It May Get You Thrown Into A Vat Of Acid

    Pharmacist Charles Farrell and fiancee Bette Davis run a marginal neighborhood drug store. Everyone buys on credit, and a national discount chain is moving in. Meanwhile, Prohibition-era beer baron Ricardo Cortez finds that no one wants his bad beer, despite his strong-arm boys. He gets the idea of counterfeiting toothpaste and such goods, and Farrell is just the by who can make them for him. But Cortez is looking for new markets, and when he has Farrell synthesize a popular antiseptic without the necessary ingredients, matters become more desperate.

    John Francis Dillon's last movie as director -- he died three months after this was released -- is a well played cautionary tale, but it seems odd for a Warner Brothers movie. It seems more contemplative than the usual Warners fare, and the print that plays on Turner Classic Movies is darker than most; this highlights Sidney Hickox' glittering images of a shabby drugstore in a manner I haven't noticed before. Cortez is excellent, and Henry O'Neill has a nice role as the chemist who originated the antiseptic. The usual stock of Warner Brothers player show up, including Glenda Farrell, Allen Jenkins, Dewey Robinson, John Wray, and Robert Emmett O'Connor.

    More like this

    Fog Over Frisco
    6.5
    Fog Over Frisco
    Agent spécial
    6.4
    Agent spécial
    L'Intruse
    6.8
    L'Intruse
    Bureau of Missing Persons
    6.5
    Bureau of Missing Persons
    Waterloo Bridge
    7.4
    Waterloo Bridge
    Une certaine femme
    6.4
    Une certaine femme
    Fashions of 1934
    6.6
    Fashions of 1934
    Prisons d'enfants
    5.8
    Prisons d'enfants
    Housewife
    6.1
    Housewife
    Le dernier combat
    7.2
    Le dernier combat
    Satan Met a Lady
    5.8
    Satan Met a Lady
    Même les assassins tremblent
    6.8
    Même les assassins tremblent

    Related interests

    James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Sharon Angela, Max Casella, Dan Grimaldi, Joe Perrino, Donna Pescow, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Tony Sirico, and Michael Drayer in Les Soprano (1999)
    Crime
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Final film of director John Francis Dillon.
    • Goofs
      When Jimmy and Higgins are fighting in the car, Higgins' position starts off behind the driver and ends up behind the passenger seat. However in the next cut when the fighting is shown through the car mirror, Wiggins's position is the opposite of how it should appear in the mirror.
    • Quotes

      Dutch Barnes: Don't you chumps know when you're licked?

    • Crazy credits
      Opening credits are shown over a background of coins and bills. Then the lead actors are shown above their written names.
    • Connections
      Referenced in This Is Your Life: Bette Davis (1971)
    • Soundtracks
      Free
      (uncredited)

      Lyrics by Edward Heyman

      Music by Dana Suesse

      Played during the opening photo credits and often in the score

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 6, 1934 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Shakedown
    • Filming locations
      • Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA
    • Production company
      • First National Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 4m(64 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb App
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.