Le gangster de Chicago

Despite all the miscasting and other plot gaucheries complained of by everyone, and with which I agree, there remains something very quirkily unique about this movie. Certainly my wife and I couldn't take our eyes off it till it was over. Besides the wildly satirical send up of those British ceremonial upper-crust ways which so amuse us whenever the present queen and her various entourages make those occasional appearances on public television, the very undeniable miscasting of Montgomery which rubbed so many the wrong way left us with a high admiration of those acting skills of his which enabled him to portray so well a character very much against his normal type. And his last lengthy monologue from the accused's dock was positively Lear-like in its crazed insanity. Despite all its flaws the chance to see Montgomery, Arnold, and Gwenn all acting their heads off in the same movie make this a rare and worthwhile 86 minutes.

One of Robert Montgomery's most amusing films which takes a very serious turn is The Earl Of Chicago. Just imagine someone like a Lucky Luciano inheriting some title in Italy and you've got the basic idea.

For those who think Montgomery was miscast I disagree completely. He certainly had an upper class background and most of his film roles were of that kind, but he did just fine as blue collar types in Yellow Jack and Here Comes Mr. Jordan and he does equally well here.

What Robert Kilmont, Chicago gangster who hasn't let up a bit even though Prohibtion is a thing of the past, has is one great deal of hubris and he's an awful bad judge of character. He's right at the prison door to meet Edward Arnold, a lawyer he framed when he couldn't buy him. He reasons like Diogenes he's found an honest man and he wants honest men working for him. What's so ironic is that the whole audience knows from the git-go that Arnold is going to pull a double-cross even though Montgomery is oblivious to it all.

The opportunity comes sooner than he thinks when some English barrister comes across with documentation that shows this man who was raised in a Detroit orphanage is indeed the new Earl of Gorley. Montgomery is used to dealing with all kinds of situations, but this one throws him. He takes his new found friend Arnold to the United Kingdom to claim his inheritance. As for Arnold, he may be a disbarred attorney, but he knows what to do with a power of attorney which he tricks Montgomery into giving him so he can watch his business interests in Chicago from Great Britain of course.

It's a dirty double-dealing trick Arnold plays, but Montgomery was such a fathead to think this guy was going to just let bygones be bygones. That's the hubris.

Montgomery is in for quite a bit of culture shock about Great Britain and its class system and the fact as a member of the landed aristocracy he has traditions and obligations to follow and meet. The only real friends he makes among the folks there are young Ronald Sinclair who would be his successor and his butler Edmund Gwenn who tries in his usual gentle manner to smooth some of the rough edges that Chicago left on Montgomery.

In fact Gwenn's is the best performance in the film. It's certainly one my favorites from this player. I like it even better than his scientist in Them or as Kris Kringle in Miracle On 34th Street for which Gwenn won an Oscar.

Arnold's double-dealing ends badly for both him and Montgomery, but I will say in the end The Earl Of Chicago went out with the class he sought all of his life. And The Earl Of Chicago courtesy of Robert Montgomery and Edward Arnold and a number of players from the British colony in Hollywood make it a film of class.

to have Robert Montgomery's gangster character, Silky, talk like a cross between Bugs Bunny and somebody on helium? Other than that one eyebrow raising observation though, I really liked this weird little film.

Silky was a bootlegger in prohibition days, and now he uses that knowledge to legitimately manufacture and sell his own liquor. His car is waiting the day Doc Ramsey (Edward Arnold), his former attorney, gets out of prison. Ramsey was framed for the crime he served seven years for, and he presumes that framing was done by Silky, his former client. Doc wants Silky to make a statement to the D.A. admitting guilt because the statute of limitations has long run out on the crime, and by admitting what was really done, Doc will be cleared and can regain membership to the bar. Silky says he knows nothing about it in a way that says he knows everything about it but intends to do nothing. Then he asks Doc to be general manager of his liquor business - he thinks Doc is an honest man which is just about as close as an admission of guilt as you are going to get out of Silky. Doc agrees to take the job.

Now "The Godfather" always said to keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but for this to work you need to be smart enough to know the difference between the two, and Silky just does not seem that bright. Plus Silky is afraid of guns, even the sight of them. This makes you wonder why he is still alive and kicking as a gangster with his right hand man in jail all of these years.

Then something from left field appears. Silky's uncle has just died, he had no children, and Silky is the sole heir to the uncle's earldom in England. Doc sees his chance for some revenge. Silky isn't interested in this at first, but Doc tells him about all of the land and money that comes with the title, getting Silky to leave for England. Doc goes along, but gets Silky to sign power of attorney to him since Silky will be busy grabbing what he can in England. Honestly, how did Silky not win the Darwin award before the age of 12? Well the rest of the film just illustrates what we have known all along - that Silky has no redeeming qualities as a human being whatsoever. Yet as Earl he is expected to display "noblesse oblige". Edmund Gwenn is perfectly cast as Munsey, Silky's butler in England, who explains the term as "The earl's subjects never let him down, but likewise the earl is expected to never let his subjects down." It is quite a job for someone like Silky to shoehorn himself into such a role that he didn't want in the first place. Meanwhile, Doc is out using Silky's power of attorney to bankrupt Silky and his American businesses, knowing that because of taxes and the laws of the land, it would be years before Silky could get one farthing out of the estate.

It all boils down to a big showdown between Silky and Doc where Silky gets an education in business - which is where a man with money (Silky) meets a man with experience (Doc). The man with the experience gets the money, and the man with the money gets the experience. How will somebody with Silky's violent temper react when he realizes he has so stupidly misjudged somebody? Especially when he is afraid of guns? Well, let's just say that Munsey has succeeded in teaching Silky that he is more than he thinks he is and he shows this trait at two unexpected points in the film, the second point being the very end of the film.

Most people think that "Night Must Fall" was Robert Montgomery's best performance, but I have to say I think he acted exactly the way you'd think a serial killer would act straight down the line in that film. This one really shows that Montgomery can surprise you. You think he's going to react one way, because everything he's done has set you up to believe he is a certain kind of person, and then he does something that is a polar opposite of that expectation, yet it is entirely believable. Highly recommended.

I really enjoy Robert Montgomery and his suave, sophisticated onscreen persona. I've tried to watch all of his films over the years and have enjoyed most - until I saw "The Earl Of Chicago". He was miscast here as a gangster who inherits an Earldom in England. The plot line was lame and not believable, but he tried too hard to be crude and unpolished and was clearly out of his element. In his pictures he is the personification of sophistication and the reversal just doesn't work here.

Too bad, because he was surrounded by A list character actors, such as Edward Arnold, Edmund Gween, Reginald Owen and several others. It must have sounded better in the planning stage as there were some plot holes apart from the absurd plot, which does not work for Montgomery. Perhaps they needed a different actor because this was not his cup of tea. Can't recommend it.

**** 4 stars. Website no longer prints my star rating.

I've seen a lot of reviews of this film here claiming it's a gangster drama that would've worked better as a comedy. Did you miss the laughs? Some critics argue that Robert Montgomery was doing an unintentionally comedic gangster with Silky. I disagree. It's clearly satirical, with more depth added as the character becomes more exposed to another culture and from the decency shown to him by his new acquaintances. Sure, some parts could've been expanded on, and there could've been another half an hour of exposition. For me, many of the old studio pictures suffer from an assembly line mentality and are often dated or limited by today's standards. But I find satisfaction in the individual performances, scenes and the various technical and artistic contributions. Sadly, I feel there's a shortage of even those traits in today's Hollywood tripe.