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"Bordertown" features a far more convincing performance from Paul Muni, who manages to curtail his usual theatrical approach to film acting. Bette Davis is an excellent female lead for Muni and their scenes radiate with tension. Maragret Lindsay is OK in the supporting cast but she isn't in Davis's league. Paul Muni plays a newly qualified lawyer who decides to make a career for himself near the Mexican border after some problems earlier on in the film. He is employed by a wealthy businessman (Eugene Pallete) to handle all the legal wranglings for his building firm. However, trouble soon rears its head in the form of the businessman's wife, Bette Davis. The second half of "Bordertown" was remade by "Warner Bros" for the 1940 film, "They Drive By Night." It is a coin toss as to who is more fiery and feisty out of Bette Davis and Ida Lupino in the same role. For me, it is an even draw. The plot and the narrative are both strong and with some good dialogue. This is one of the best films Paul Muni whilst at "Warner Bros."

Paul Muni was an East European Jew, so naturally he was cast as a Hispanic Californian.

Well, heck, to name just one, Leo Carrillo, a native Hispanic Californian, was cast as everything from Greek to French to Italian to Latino, and so many other "ethnic" actors played various nationalities besides their own heritages.

Muni apparently wore dark makeup for this role, but it wasn't a stereotype; it was, in fact, a very sympathetic character.

Bette Davis never looked lovelier. For years, I have tried to spread my conspiracy theory that she was not made up, but made down, that she was, in fact, a very lovely lady and the Westmore family apparently had it in for her and put the make-up on in such a way that her looks were coarsened, and she was aged long before her time.

She was such a great actress that her looks didn't matter, but she was very attractive and I find it a shame she wasn't allowed to show her natural beauty.

The female, though, who stole this movie, both in looks and in animated characterization, was Margaret Lindsay. She was absolutely fascinating in this role as spoiled rich girl, an almost good guy. In fact, she made this movie worth seeing.

The presence of a genuine Hispanic, Soledad Jiménez, gives one pause to wonder why more genuine Hispanics weren't cast in movies like this. She was just great.

The ending was rather puzzling, perhaps a sop to somebody's nativism, but the story was a good one, the acting was generally great, and all of that, with Archie Mayo's directing, make this one worthwhile.

Although Paul Muni does go over the top a bit in Bordertown, the film remains a savage indictment of racism, concentrating as it does on the struggles of one man in a racial/ethnic minority to find a place in this society.

In a biography of Paul Muni I read that he deliberately hired a Mexican driver who stayed with him for several weeks so he could copy his mannerisms and get down the proper speech pattern. He didn't do half bad as Johnny Ramirez, the disbarred attorney who turns to the dark side.

The story has Muni bright and eager to start making a living as a lawyer and please his mom Soledad Jimenez who sacrificed a lot so her kid could study law. But in his first appearance in court he loses his temper and manages to get himself disbarred.

Had this been a white attorney, I assure you he might have gotten a slap on the wrist and a censure, but not a disbarment. Broken in spirit, Muni ends up working for Eugene Palette at a road house as a bouncer.

He also catches the eye of Palette's wife played by Bette Davis. But Muni has eyes for Margaret Lindsay, a society girl who likes to go slumming. In the end both women disillusion and betray him.

Bordertown is one of the darkest films of the Thirties, the future is by no means clear for Muni. Though he does overact a bit, you will not forget the smoldering anger that he brings to the part of Johnny Ramirez. This was the second of two films in which Paul Muni played a person of Mexican background. The other was Juarez and there is 180 degree difference between the angry Ramirez and the stoic Juarez. You can hardly believe it's the same actor, but Muni had one incredible range as a player.

This is a film that could probably stand a remake. I could see someone like Benjamin Bratt or Lou Diamond Phillips in an updated version as Johnny Ramirez, possibly Edward James Olmos. It was in fact made over in part by Warner Brothers in They Drive By Night. But the Mexican heritage and a great deal more was not included in that film.

Until then I recommend Bordertown highly

A film where everyone gets whats coming to them, and true to the 1930's formula, in melodramatic fashion. Featuring the now forgotten Paul Muni (was he really a superstar back then?) as a Hispanic lawyer who learns a hard lesson about the facts of life. Muni, as usual plays it weird; before and after Bordertown, he is a pretty normal guy but while he is in Bordertown he becomes a Hispanic parody. But nevermind that, this film has Bette Davis playing yet another scheming psychopath as only she can. Like the several other Davis movies that she had a minor role in ("Fog over Frisco" and "In This Our Life", to name two), her twisted character stays with you long after she is gone. Plus, she's a blonde! Yowza!

"Bordertown" is the story of a Mexican attorney, Johnny Ramirez, and his fight to make something of himself and realize the American dream. Who better to portray him than the Jewish Paul Muni.

After physically attacking another attorney during a disastrous court appearance, Johnny becomes a bouncer in a nightclub. However, his brains, ability, and negotiation expertise come to the attention of his boss, Roark (Eugene Palette), who agrees to bring him in as a partner.

Johnny has also come to the attention of Marie Roark (Bette Davis), the restless wife of the boss, and she throws herself at him. Johnny, however, has fallen for Dale (Margaret Lindsay), a socialite. Marie kills her husband, and when he rejects her again, she tells the police that Johnny killed Roark.

Paul Muni was an excellent actor whose style of acting is perhaps dated by today's standards. He could disappear into his roles, often to great effect, but unfortunately, he doesn't disappear enough into Johnny Ramirez. His portrayal is over the top and his accent is bad.

The standout is Bette Davis, young and pretty, as the unstable wife. Just off her great success in "Of Human Bondage," which was a loanout by Warners, she demonstrates here how well she takes charge of the screen.

Most of the characters are pretty stereotypical. "Bordertown" is badly dated but worth seeing for its early Bette Davis performance.