Public Hero #1 (1935)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

J. Walter Ruben

Writers:

J. Walter Ruben (story) and
Wells Root (story) ...

Release Date:

31 May 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot Keywords:

Prison Trustee | Gangster | Undercover | Convict | Alcoholic

Cast

Lionel Barrymore	...	Dr. Josiah Glass
Jean Arthur	...	Maria Theresa 'Terry' O'Reilly
Chester Morris	...	Jeff Crane
Joseph Calleia	...	Sonny 'Dinkie' Black
Paul Kelly	...	Special Agent James Duff
Lewis Stone	...	Warden Alcott
Paul Hurst	...	Rufe Parker, Sonny's Henchman
George E. Stone	...	Butch, Sonny's Henchman
Sam Baker	...	Mose Jones, Ex-Convict

Also Known As:

B.I.D.J. (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:(Banned) | USA:Approved (PCA #892)

Filming Locations:

Moralta Theater, Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Walter Brennan (Farmer), Arthur Byron, Dick Elliott (Gas Station Attendent), Sam Flint, Norman Phillips Jr. (Messenger Boy) and Monte Vandergrift are listed in studio records for this movie, but were not seen in the print.

Movie Connections:

Remade as The Get-Away (1941)

no masterpiece, but fun and surprising

Public Hero #1 starts out as a conventional prison yarn, then switches to sophisticated screwball comedy, then back to shoot 'em up melodrama. Perhaps it is the way the cast handles the crackling dialogue by J Walter Reuben and Wells Root that makes this mixed-genre film so entertaining. It never sinks into torpidity, thanks in part to the introduction of Jean Arthur and Lionel Barrymore well into the proceedings. Until then it is up to Chester Morris to hold our interest, which he does robustly, as an undercover federal agent posing as a convict to trap bad guy Joseph Calleia and his gang. Barrymore, however, steals the show as a pickled-to-the-gills alcoholic mob doctor - the great ham at his hammiest. Calleia contributes a nicely textured portrait of a hardened but still human criminal. All in all, an energetic if contrived gangster story spiked with laughs, fun plot twists and colorful characters. The final moment is interesting. It's as if Chester Morris was itching to wrap and go home that day, didn't like the way the fade out was written, so he recklessly improvised the last line and the last blocking bit and then the director gave in and allowed it. See for yourself!