THE FINGER POINTS (First National Pictures, 1931), directed by John Francis Dillon, based on the story by John Monk Saunders and W.R. Burnett, is a fine blend of newspaper story and gangster melodrama. Starring Richard Barthelmess, a popular silent screen actor of the 1920s, notable for his early performances in both director D.W. Griffith's BROKEN BLOSSOMS (1919) and WAY DOWN EAST (1920), starring Lillian Gish, and subsequent starring roles of his own for First National Pictures, stars in one of his finer talkies of the 1930s. Though many of the sound films failed to recapture his success from the silent screen, THE FINGER POINTS is notable today more for his supporting players of Fay Wray ("KING KONG" (1933), and future top leading man of Clark Gable ("GONE WITH THE WIND" (1939), in a secondary role as a gangster.
The story begins on a train bound for New York City where Breckenridge Lee (Richard Barthelmess), a young reporter from Georgia, comes to The Press, "The World's Best Newspaper," looking for a job and better career. Presenting a letter of recommendation by Charles Davis of the Savannah Constitution to its managing editor, the impressed Mr. Wheeler (Oscar Apfel) offers Lee a job regardless of having no openings at present. Working under Frank Carter (Robert Elliott), the city editor for $35 a week, Lee soon makes the acquaintance of Marcia Collins (Fay Wray), "Queen of the Sob Sisters," and ace reporter, Charley "Breezy" Russell (Regis Toomey), both of whom would become his closest friends. With gang war on the rise, it's The Press to put a stop to it by having its reporters assigned to investigate and expose the crime wave in the city by putting them out of business. Lee's first assignment is to investigate the tip given to him on the Sphinx Club of 628 Riverside Drive. With this being the notorious Larry Hayes (Robert Gleckler) district, Lee gets to meet both Hayes and his chief informer of the mob, Louis J. Blanco (Clark Gable) with enough evidence to have this private club exposed as a gambling casino, putting it out of business with a police raid and arrests. Because of this, Lee is followed and beaten in a dark alley by a couple of hired thugs, placing him in a hospital with broken ribs. Returning to work following his release, Lee finds he's unable to pay off his hospital bills, and asks Carter for either a raise or an advance in salary, but is refused. Realizing he has to look out for himself, Lee comes to Blanco for financial support on a promise of not exposing his crime ring to the press. Marcia becomes suspicious of Lee for mysteriously coming up with large size of money he places in his savings account in the bank, while his editor becomes disappointed for he not coming up with any exclusive stories of criminal activities. Lee continues getting paid by the mob and asking for more to the Number One Crime Boss of the new gambling casino, The Waverly, but gets the pointed finger towards him if he should ever double-cross him with any newspaper exposes. Things go well for Lee until his pal, Breezy, comes up with enough expose on The Waverly to have as front page news without Lee's knowledge. Others in the cast include: Robert Perry and Lew Harvey (The Henchmen); Noel Madison and Adele Watson.
Overlooking the fact of some jump cut editing early in the story, THE FINGER POINTS at 85 minutes is fine newspaper/crime entertainment. While Barthelmess is convincing as a good-natured reporter who wises up with enough confidence to stand up to the mobsters, since they go by the motto, "they never kill reporters," it's Clark Gable, in one of his 12 movie releases of 1931, who's the center of attention. Even had Gable not become a major actor who drifted to obscurity, his performance here is good enough for anyone seeing this actor decades after its release to wonder "whatever became of him?" Fortunately his career would last thirty more years. Sporting a derby and minus his later famous mustache, Gable's forceful voice makes him both believable and likable as a tough gangster, a sort of role he commonly played during his early years in motion pictures. Though Gable never became a Warner Brothers stock player as James Cagney, for example, better roles were ahead of him at his home studio of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1931-1954). Fay Wray, assuming a role that could have gone to Mae Clarke, Marian Marsh or Joan Blondell, is quite effective as the gal reporter. The actor playing the Number One crime boss is uncertain, considering the fact that his face is never exposed, seen only from the back of his head and his pointed index finger towards the camera. That would have been an interesting cameo played by some notable actor of its day. Fine suspense conclusion with a couple of incidents reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's style of direction.
Never distributed to home video but on DVD, THE FINGER POINTS began to surface regularly in the late 1980s on public television before shown regularly on cable TV from Turner Network Television (TNT) in 1988-89 to Turner Classic Movies since 1994. That's the power of the press. (**1/2)
The story begins on a train bound for New York City where Breckenridge Lee (Richard Barthelmess), a young reporter from Georgia, comes to The Press, "The World's Best Newspaper," looking for a job and better career. Presenting a letter of recommendation by Charles Davis of the Savannah Constitution to its managing editor, the impressed Mr. Wheeler (Oscar Apfel) offers Lee a job regardless of having no openings at present. Working under Frank Carter (Robert Elliott), the city editor for $35 a week, Lee soon makes the acquaintance of Marcia Collins (Fay Wray), "Queen of the Sob Sisters," and ace reporter, Charley "Breezy" Russell (Regis Toomey), both of whom would become his closest friends. With gang war on the rise, it's The Press to put a stop to it by having its reporters assigned to investigate and expose the crime wave in the city by putting them out of business. Lee's first assignment is to investigate the tip given to him on the Sphinx Club of 628 Riverside Drive. With this being the notorious Larry Hayes (Robert Gleckler) district, Lee gets to meet both Hayes and his chief informer of the mob, Louis J. Blanco (Clark Gable) with enough evidence to have this private club exposed as a gambling casino, putting it out of business with a police raid and arrests. Because of this, Lee is followed and beaten in a dark alley by a couple of hired thugs, placing him in a hospital with broken ribs. Returning to work following his release, Lee finds he's unable to pay off his hospital bills, and asks Carter for either a raise or an advance in salary, but is refused. Realizing he has to look out for himself, Lee comes to Blanco for financial support on a promise of not exposing his crime ring to the press. Marcia becomes suspicious of Lee for mysteriously coming up with large size of money he places in his savings account in the bank, while his editor becomes disappointed for he not coming up with any exclusive stories of criminal activities. Lee continues getting paid by the mob and asking for more to the Number One Crime Boss of the new gambling casino, The Waverly, but gets the pointed finger towards him if he should ever double-cross him with any newspaper exposes. Things go well for Lee until his pal, Breezy, comes up with enough expose on The Waverly to have as front page news without Lee's knowledge. Others in the cast include: Robert Perry and Lew Harvey (The Henchmen); Noel Madison and Adele Watson.
Overlooking the fact of some jump cut editing early in the story, THE FINGER POINTS at 85 minutes is fine newspaper/crime entertainment. While Barthelmess is convincing as a good-natured reporter who wises up with enough confidence to stand up to the mobsters, since they go by the motto, "they never kill reporters," it's Clark Gable, in one of his 12 movie releases of 1931, who's the center of attention. Even had Gable not become a major actor who drifted to obscurity, his performance here is good enough for anyone seeing this actor decades after its release to wonder "whatever became of him?" Fortunately his career would last thirty more years. Sporting a derby and minus his later famous mustache, Gable's forceful voice makes him both believable and likable as a tough gangster, a sort of role he commonly played during his early years in motion pictures. Though Gable never became a Warner Brothers stock player as James Cagney, for example, better roles were ahead of him at his home studio of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1931-1954). Fay Wray, assuming a role that could have gone to Mae Clarke, Marian Marsh or Joan Blondell, is quite effective as the gal reporter. The actor playing the Number One crime boss is uncertain, considering the fact that his face is never exposed, seen only from the back of his head and his pointed index finger towards the camera. That would have been an interesting cameo played by some notable actor of its day. Fine suspense conclusion with a couple of incidents reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's style of direction.
Never distributed to home video but on DVD, THE FINGER POINTS began to surface regularly in the late 1980s on public television before shown regularly on cable TV from Turner Network Television (TNT) in 1988-89 to Turner Classic Movies since 1994. That's the power of the press. (**1/2)