Sworn Enemy

A young man; Hank Sherman (Robert Young) is determined to avenge the murder of his influential benefactor by crime syndicate boss Joe Emerald (Joseph Calleia). With fine acting by Young, Louis Stone, Samuel Hinds and Joseph Calleia; along with the feminine charms or Florence Rice all add greatly to this films enjoyment. Although the movie is pretty much into the 1930's MGM type of formalistic film making, i.e. overcoming huge odds to catch the bad guys: it's filled with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. We are told early in the film who the villain is: the object is to find out where he (Emerald ) is hiding his cash and records, in order prosecute him for income tax evasion. MGM's production here was slick and filled with quality actors. I would rate the film's entertainment value as high.

It starts out with Robert Young looking for a job and becoming chauffeur to Samuel S. Hinds. But crippled crime boss Joseph Calleia finds Hinds in his way, and Hinds winds up dead. This leads to a long, rambling plot involving Young going undercover for the District Attorney to take down Calleia by managing boxer Nat Pendleton for Calleia, a rained-out match, and a steam room with badly arranged controls.

And yet everyone plays their parts with a will; the peculiar veerings of the plot keep the audience guessing; Pendleton gets gets a speech that is touching; and Calleia, who only shows up after three quarters of an hour, is absolutely dominating. This with a cast that includes Florence Rice, Lewis Stone, John Wray, and Cy Kendall. Keep an eye out and you can see Dennis O'Keefe, still uncredited but instantly recognizable.

Calleia was a fine singer on Broadway, but only rarely sang in the movies. He was too busy playing bad guys and compelling oddities, like his turn as an ambiguous cop in GILDA. He retired to his native Malta in 1963 due to ill health; Coppola wanted him for Don Corleone in THE GODFATHER, but Calleia turned him down. He died in 1975 at the age of 78.

Hank Sherman (Young) is out of work until he lands a job with Eli Decker's (Hinds) firm as a warehouse worker. Soon after he's hired, thugs approach him and tell him that he has to pay them a weekly amount for "protection." When he refuses, the thugs beat him up, an event that Decker sees and tries to break up. Decker hires Sherman as his chauffeur and soon Decker's secretary Peg Gattle (Rice) and Sherman become close. Decker is determined to clear out the protection racket headed by Joe Emerald (Calleia). At this time, Peg Gattle's father, "Doc" Gattle (Stone) is released from prison where he spent 12 years after being framed by Emerald. "Doc" provides information about Emerald that he gleaned while in prison to the District Attorney. Both Sherman and Peg Gattle become agents for the District Attorney and Sherman also becomes the manager of boxer "Steamer" Krupp (Pendleton). Pendleton plays his usual likable doofus – but hey – he does it so well that it's fun to watch. The rest of the movie is about the effort to find Emerald's hidden stash of incriminating documents and cash. Other reviewers have rightly commented on the strange steam room scene with its frieze of nude Greek athletes. That this is indicative of gay undertones may or may not be so but the scene in context makes little sense. I find it unlikely that a big time racketeer would find it necessary to explain to a small time boxing manager (as he thought Sherman was) why he wanted to have a fighter under contract. And while the ending is exciting, Peg Gattle's transformation into a gun moll type is hard to swallow. That said, all of the actors are so good that this movie is highly entertaining. It was also nice seeing Leslie Fenton in a role where he wasn't a slime ball (although no one could play that type better than he).

A dark movie that, had it been made a few years later, would have been a film noir. It begins with Robert Young's looking for a job. He can't get one because gangsters insist that he pay protection money that exceeds his potential salary.

He hooks up with the appealing Florence Rice and her boss, who runs the company where he'd been looking for a job. Her father is released from prison and all become involved in a crime-busting plan.

Nat Pendleton as a loyal boxer is at his very best here. He is portrayed as likable, strong, and attractive. The goofiness he was asked to assume in almost every other movie I've seen him in is absent here.

There is a gay undertone to the story as it involves the crime boss. He is a disabled man with an obsession for fighters. We see a frieze of Greco-Roman athletes in his apartment. And when Rice tries to turn his head a little, he tells her sourly that he has no real interest in legs. Maybe this is because of his own disability. Maybe it means women's legs.

The movie packs a wallop and is undeservedly obscure.

So last night I grabbed this one out of my stash of TCM recordings to relax to before going to sleep. It looked like it would be a solid but perhaps predictable B crime drama of revenge just based on its title.

And then I look at that cast. Robert Young, early in his career, first billed to 4th billed MGM stalwart Lewis Stone? This got me interested and kept me that way. This was one of the positives of the old studio system. The studios could build up a cast of players known for inhabiting a certain type of role and almost any writer and director could get the audience to "get" that character without too much sweat.

Robert Young plays broke law student Hank Sherman who gets a job loading produce. Unfortunately, he almost immediately runs afoul of the "Produce Delivery Protective Association" when he refuses to give them a percentage of his pay and they begin beating him. Along comes Eli Decker, owner of all of the warehouses on five blocks, in his limousine when he sees the sight. He gives chase to the gangsters with his cane and asks Hank if he would like a job as his chauffeur. Decker's driver ran away when he was asked to help stop the gangsters. I wonder how far he got in that neighborhood at night on foot in a chauffeur's outfit? At any rate I thought I could see where this film was going completely. I was wrong. Wealthy Eli Decker is on a crusade against the very profitable rackets, and he has the ear of all the right people. Florence Rice plays Peg Gattle, Decker's beautiful young employee that Hank has instant eyes for. Lewis Stone plays Dr. Gattle -as in M.D. - who spends twelve years wrongfully imprisoned thanks to the head of the rackets, until Decker gets him out. He's also Peg's dad. In prison Dr. Gattle has figured out who the head of the rackets is and is helping the D.A. and Decker. Meanwhile Hank's brother is training a new fighter played by Nat Pendleton who plays his usual thick headed muscle bound and completely likable good natured character.

So who is the sworn enemy of the title? I won't tell you, but I will tell you that the head of the rackets and all of the men living off of them are not going down without a fight even if it means murder. Also, the original plan that the D.A. has for bringing down the rackets has to be changed mid-film- actually a couple of times. There is a robbery gone wrong, Joseph Calleia as the crippled head gangster whose penthouse has a swell view of dancing girls using their legs like he never could who you could ALMOST feel sorry for if he wasn't such a cold blooded killer, John Wray as the head man's number two guy who seems to delight in violence, a hidden vault full of racketeer money that must be found, and finally, maybe Nat Pendleton's fighter isn't that thick after all.

A rousing good crime film with lots of tension, melodrama, and even some comedy, and a great early role for Robert Young, who, when he isn't chasing the girl with what seem like tired pick-up lines is very good here.