Over the Wall (1938) User Reviews

King of the Warner B's in routine prison story...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 11 September 2006]

DICK FORAN was an amiable Warner player during the '30s and '40s who spent most of his time as a singing cowboy or playing the romantic lead in a number of trifles as the studio's dependable B-budget star.

His real life experience as a band vocalist is used to good effect as a prisoner who gains some respect with a pleasant singing voice, despite an adversarial relationship with chaplain JOHN LITEL (another stock Warner player). Foran does a nice singing and acting job in this otherwise rather ordinary story about a man who has to prove his innocence after being wrongly convicted of murder, thanks to the underhanded work of DICK PURCELL. As the love interest, JUNE TRAVIS has little to do, nor does VEDA ANN BORG as Purcell's scorned girlfriend.

It's not hard to take and moves briskly at one hour and 12 minutes.

Warner Brother Prison Movie Lite

[mbhur · 5/10 · 16 November 2020]

This is one of a small subgenre of the prison film about convicts who are redeemed by developing their singing gift while in stir. ("Weary River" is another.) What's strange about this story is that until the movie is almost half over we're given no inkling that Jerry Davis (Dick Foran) can sing. Though I guess you wouldn't be surprised if you know the actor from his singing cowboy pictures.

Though Davis is framed for a murder he didn't commit, I found myself not feeling overly sympathetic towards his plight, since we've been shown that he's a bully with a violent temper who never hesitates to throw the first punch. So even if he was framed, it's not unthinkable that his recklessness and propensity for throwing sucker punches might've gotten someone killed. It's a major flaw in this movie that being wrongly sent to prison doesn't transform Davis, as we see with Jimmy Cagney and Spencer Tracy in other prison movies. He's a jerk even before he goes to prison.

In short, you'll never mistake this for WB prison classics like Each Dawn I Die or 20,000 Years in Sing Sing, but it's an amiable way to pass some time, especially if you like B movies of the period. It features kind of an all-star B movie cast, if such a thing is possible, with Foran, Dick Purcell, and John Litell. The cast also includes the always dependable Ward Bond, and in the stock role of the loyal girlfriend, June Travis, one of a legion of blandly pretty brunette second second line actresses of the era who are now all but forgotten. (She appeared in 30 movies in just three years and retired at 24). Funny how she just happens to get a job working for the hood who framed her boyfriend. As in their few scenes together he acts like a jerk towards her, quickly ditching her to hang our with some hoods and their molls at the beach, I'm not at all sure why she's so devoted to him. Veda Ann Borg, a character actress who's often a scene stealer, is wasted here in a "blink and you'll miss it" role.

Another angel with a dirty face.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 25 March 2013]

This Warner Brothers programmer sinks to a level of silliness not usually associated with their tough guy films. Prizefighter wannabe Dick Foran goes off to prison for manslaughter. It all starts off promising until Foran suddenly breaks into song, even singing "Ave Maria" at the bequest of priest John Litel. Of course, his saintly demeanor (replacing his initially hot tempered personality) is threatened with an escape plot, but the damage to the film has already been done. The conclusion of the film (Foran's effort to prove his innocence) results in a real stinker, but sometimes odors make you laugh.

Crooning Your Way Out Of the Slam

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 11 September 2006]

Over the Wall is a great example of some of the nonsense that came from the B picture unit of some of our major studios back in the day. Funny thing is that if the part called for a dancer rather than a singer, Jack Warner probably could have gotten James Cagney for the lead as Cagney pined for opportunities to dance that rarely came his way during his entire career.

Instead Dick Foran was cast in the lead that normally would have gone to someone like John Garfield. Foran at this time was Warner Brothers singing cowboy and occasionally was given some non-westerns to do, like Black Legion. This film ain't no Black Legion.

Foran is a truckdriver who's handy with his dukes and doubles as a fighter. His manager Ward Bond gets him a fight, but doublecrosses him and Foran's opponent knocks him out in the first round using some loaded gloves.

Foran settles with Bond by coldcocking him. But gangster Dick Purcell sees an opportunity to get rid of Bond who he doesn't like and kills him and lays the blame on Foran. Of course Foran goes to prison, protesting his innocence all the way.

Just like James Cagney in Each Dawn I Die, Foran is one mean and nasty prisoner until prison chaplain John Litel, doubling for Pat O'Brien takes him in hand. Turns out Foran has a nice singing voice and he starts broadcasting from prison.

So help the Deity, this is the story so far. I think you can carry it the rest of the way if you've seen a lot of B films from the thirties and forties. The miracle is that the cast of fine Warner Brothers stock company players was able to keep a straight face through out.

I'm sure that Over the Wall would be better remembered if Dick Foran had a hit song come out of it. Sadly he didn't.

If you want to see an example of some of the unbelievable nonsense that was inflicted on the public, Over the Wall is the film to see.

The reason that stool pigeons are said to "sing" . . .

[oscaralbert · 8/10 · 3 December 2020]

. . . is that prison transforms many if not most convicts into top record label crooners, especially if they happen to be former prize fighters. First with Al Jolson in SAY IT WITH SONGS, and now with Dick Foran's warbling through OVER THE WALL, the prophetic prognosticators of the always eponymous Warner Bros. warn America's crooks NEVER to railroad a tuneful pugilist into the calaboose. In recent Real Life, who can forget what happened when the Boston Mob double-crossed and ratted out "If I Only Had A Brain" Bolger? The former Golden Glover soon commenced to tweet like a canary, and now Bean Town is widely considered to be cleaner than Vatican City. Is it any wonder, then, that the Organized Crime Syndicate currently preparing to vacate Washington is passing out blanket pardons to anyone who ever strapped on a boxing glove, including George, Michael, Rudy, Lindsay and Mitch? With OVER THE WALL, the far-sighted Warner seers remind the Game-Show-Host-in-Chief that IF you're the last one to flee a sinking ship of state, you run the danger of having a firing squad line you up AGAINST a wall!