Noir46 and Gentry have excellent reviews
I can see why Margaret Lindsay retired from films soon after--she gets manhandled, tossed, kidnapped, jerked around and all! The second half of the film is three times the pace and action of the first, a dizzying clip with a great San Francisco car chase (the "Bullitt" of the 30's), docks and wharf action, fights, abductions, all sped with help of dissolves and fast takes. Director Dieterle having plenty of fun here. Minor distractions:…
I watched a pristine print at Internet Archive on my iPhone. I didn’t miss much. I suppose audiences then and perhaps even now found a few scenes and lines titillating and racy but the story is so incredibly lame, and the acting so puerile, that it’s all quickly to be forgotten. Ida Lupino is only 15 and looks it. As the reels progressed I felt slimier and slimier for watching it and when THE END finally came on Gleason’s backside I felt the joke were on me for wishing it had been Toby Wing.
This terrific cast could have been standing around reading from a phone book and I would have enjoyed it! "A" and "B" players hoping lightning strikes and they have their own "Thin Man" series for a decade. Wasn't to be, but it's still a fine outing, everyone acting like they're having fun. Melvyn Douglas and Claire Dodd top the list; maybe they should have been the husband-wife. And Nat Pendleton needed a heavier part. Mary Howard, Zucco's daughter, looms large…
Yes! Last week the Library of Congress chose this masterpiece as one of 25 joining the National Film Registry as culturally, historically, and aesthetically, significant. Recently, Warners produced a splendid Blu Ray version. The action and dialogue, under Michael Curtiz, are crisp and hard-hitting and the tale of crime, faith, betrayal, and redemption most certainly stands the test of time. I may have seen it dozens of times but I always find new things to savor.
