Racket Busters (1938)

Manhattan gangster John "Czar" Martin enters the trucking business in an effort to control the produce market. When he catches popular trucker Danny Jordan robbing the gang's office to ... See full summary »

Director:

Lloyd Bacon

Writers:

Robert Rossen (original screen play), Leonardo Bercovici (original screen play),

Stars:

Humphrey Bogart, George Brent, Gloria Dickson

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Humphrey Bogart	...	Martin
George Brent	...	Denny Jordan
Gloria Dickson	...	Nora Jordan
Allen Jenkins	...	'Skeets' Wilson
Walter Abel	...	Allison
Henry O'Neill	...	Governor
Penny Singleton	...	Gladys
Anthony Averill	...	Crane
Oscar O'Shea	...	Pop
Elliott Sullivan	...	Charlie Smith
Fay Helm	...	Mrs. Smith
Joe Downing	...	Joe
Norman Willis	...	Gus
Don Rowan	...	Kimball

Storyline

Manhattan gangster John "Czar" Martin enters the trucking business in an effort to control the produce market. When he catches popular trucker Danny Jordan robbing the gang's office to provide for his pregnant wife Nora, Martin forces Jordan to join him. As the other truckers come around Martin appears to have won.

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Plot Keywords:

gangster | con artist | murder | sabotage | courage | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 July 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ambición rota

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

71 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

John 'Czar' Martin: Holler, suckers. When I get through with you, you'll holler even louder.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits: Based upon official court records of the special rackets prosecution of the trucking racket in new york city.

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Connections

Referenced in The Bookworm (1939)

User Reviews

Standard Gangster Pic from Warner

Racket Busters (1938)

** (out of 4)

Tired crime flick from Warner has Humphrey Bogart playing a racketeer who decides to form a truckers union so that he can take over all the store, drivers and the produce. If people don't go along with this they end up beaten but one man (George Brent) decides to stand up to them. I've always been a fan of Warner's various "B" pictures but this one here left me disappointed for many reasons. For starters, the screenplay really doesn't offer up anything that original as we've seen this story countless times before. Some might say that all of these pictures had the same story and that's true to an extent but I think most took that basic structure and tried to do things their own way. That really doesn't happen here because there isn't a single second in the film where you feel anything for the stuff that's going on. Some of this problem should fall on the shoulders of Bacon who seems to be sleep walking in his director's chair. He usually manages this type of material quite well but perhaps he too found the story boring. Another problem is the D.A. who is extremely boring and his character just doesn't have enough fire behind him to make anyone interested in anything he has to say. Even the performances are rather disappointing as Bogart doesn't do too much and doesn't have half the energy he usually delivers in this type of role. It was somewhat fun seeing Brent in this type of picture but the screenplay doesn't do him any justice either. The normally reliable Allen Jenkins is here playing the comic sidekick but even he can't deliver any laughs. The movie is mildly entertaining if you're a fan of this genre but I think most people are going to sit here and just know that there are much better movies out there and this here is strictly by the numbers.