Corsair (1931)

Director:

Roland West

Writer:

Walton Green (novel)

Release Date:

28 November 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure

Plot:

A stock market broker plans to liven up his boring life by taking up piracy on the high seas. |

Plot Keywords:

Piracy | Corruption | Beautiful Woman | Bootlegger | Based On Novel

Cast

Chester Morris	...	John Hawks
Thelma Todd	...	Alison Corning (as Alison Loyd)
Fred Kohler	...	Big John
Ned Sparks	...	Slim
Emmett Corrigan	...	Stephen Corning
William Austin	...	Richard Bentinck
Frank McHugh	...	'Chub' Hopping
Frank Rice	...	Fish Face
Mayo Methot	...	Sophie
Gay Seabrook	...	Susie Grenoble
Addie McPhail	...	Jean Phillips
Al Hill
Pat Hartigan		(as Patrick Hartigan)
Sidney D'Albrook

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Art Cinema Corporation

Trivia:

Roland West's last film. He took a few years off from the industry and planned to return in the late 1930s, but in 1935 his girlfriend, actress Thelma Todd, was murdered in a restaurant that she and West ran in Santa Monica. He vowed never to return to Hollywood and for the remainder of his life (he died in 1952), he never did.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Agatha Christie: Poirot: The King of Clubs (#1.9)" (1989)

Decent

Corsair (1931)

** (out of 4)

This is a rather interesting movie as it would turn out to be the final film for director West. The director would take time off after this film to do other business but of course this would end in scandal as his girlfriend, Thelma Todd, would be murdered and a lot of fingers pointed at West. Todd also appears in this film under the fake name of Alison Loyd. A former football star (Chester Morris) can't cut it on Wall Street and after being fired he swears to make money no matter what it takes. He decides to become a pirate and hijack boats carrying alcohol so that he can re-sell it on the streets. When the film finally ended after 74-minutes I was asking myself if that was it because there's really not too much going on. The film has a low budget, which keeps it from being more epic like I'm sure the director and stars wanted but West's direction keeps things floating throughout. The screenplay is pretty standard without many twists or turns in terms of the story. Being from the pre-code era and considering how much trouble West and Morris got into with Alibi I was expecting more in terms of grittiness but that's not here. The entire film plays pretty safe with the exception of one death scene on a hijacked boat but everything is pretty much lost with the really bad ending. I was also rather disappointed with the performance as Morris who has become one of my favorites. He really seems to sleepwalk through the role and doesn't have any of his normal charm. Todd, I'm guessing, tried a dramatic turn here, which might explain the name change but she doesn't come off any better. She certainly isn't bad in the film but she can't fill that Jean Harlow type role too well. Cagney's buddy Frank McHugh steals the film playing a drunk. Fans of the director might want to check this out since it turned out to be his last movie but I doubt too many find it that entertaining.