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IMDb > The Widow from Chicago (1930)

The Widow from Chicago (1930) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
6.7/10   70 votes
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Up 4% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writer:
Earl Baldwin (dialogue and screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Widow from Chicago on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
23 November 1930 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
WIDOW STEALS GANGSTERS LOVE (original print ad - call caps - ad shows woman reading newspaper headline)
Plot:
Vice lord Dominic has brought Swifty Dorgan east to do a job for him. When Swifty appears to have died falling from a train... more | add synopsis
User Reviews:
Alice White and Edward G. Robinson more (4 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Alice White ... Polly Henderson, aka Polly Dorgan

Edward G. Robinson ... Dominic
Neil Hamilton ... Georgie 'Swifty' Dorgan
Frank McHugh ... Slug O'Donnell
Lee Shumway ... Johnston (Credits) / Chris Johnson
Brooks Benedict ... Mr, Mullins, Floor Manager
E.H. Calvert ... Police Captain R.L. Davis
Betty Francisco ... Helen
Harold Goodwin ... James 'Jimmy' Henderson
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Additional Details

Runtime:
64 min | USA:62 min (Turner library print)
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Vitaphone (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Vitaphone production reels #4419-4425 and #4418 (trailer) more
Soundtrack:
Sweet Georgia Brown more

FAQ

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3 out of 4 people found the following review useful.
Alice White and Edward G. Robinson, 5 July 2008
9/10
Author: drednm

Alice White stars in this 1930 crime drama that also boasts an early starring role for Edward G. Robinson. He plays a nightclub owner and bootlegger; she plays the widow. She shows up in his club looking for work and claiming to be the widow of a gangster (Neil Hamilton) who was killed when he jumped off a train in an attempt to escape the cops. In reality she's the sister of the cop who was tracking Hamilton. Now she's out to track down her brother's killer.

Smart dialog and solid story here with White in a slightly different role. Although she masquerades as a floozie she's really a pretty smart cookie as she leads to police to her brother's killer. Although the setting is a nightclub, White does not do a musical number (perhaps cut from the final print?) as she usually does in her talkies.

Although White was not an actress in the way Bette Davis or Joan Crawford were, she's got a great screen presence and holds her own here in scenes with the great Robinson. Hamilton is also solid as the undead gangster who returns to cause problems for White.

Co-stars include Frank McHugh, Harold Goodwin (as the brother), Betty Francisco, Brooks Benedict, and Anne Cornwall and Dorothy Mathews as the dance hall babes.

Worth a look.

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Full cast and crew Company credits IMDb Crime section
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