Final Edition, The (1932)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
"B" movie is in the same mode as THE FRONT PAGE. This time out Mae Clarke plays a reporter who is fired by her editor (Pat O'Brien) after she turns down his proposal. After the police commissioner is killed by some gangster, Clarke tries to prove her worth as a reporter by going undercover and trying to bring down the killers. This thing doesn't have the greatest screenplay in the world as there are several plot holes but that doesn't take away from the entertainment value. The 66-minute fly by thanks in large part to the nice work by Clarke and O'Brien. Clarke has no troubles fitting the role of the tough woman as she has the perfect voice to come off tough and she's also sassy enough to be very charming. O'Brien talks as fast as he can get the words out and also adds plenty of charm making his character, while unoriginal, at least entertaining. The two together make for some real fireworks and one can't help but smile when they two are on screen. Morgan Wallace gets the play the tough guy with Bradley Page and Mary Doran also doing fine work as the rats. I doubt many people outside of fans of the cast are going to bother watching this film when they could always just watch THE FRONT PAGE or HIS GIRL Friday but fans of "B" movies will certainly want to check this one out. There's nothing great about it and it's certainly not a classic but it does have enough charm to make it work your hour.