John Barrymore's character, Tom Cardigan, bounces from bad to good, bad to good throughout "State's Attorney." The RKO story is good, but the film has remnants of production qualities from the silent era. All of the cast are OK, but none much better than that. Barrymore's Cardigan mirrors his own life of heavy drinking. He had been a heavy drinker since his teen years, and by age 50 for this film, he was an alcoholic.
Still able to perform, he would go on to make many more films before dying 10 years later of cirrhosis of the liver and pneumonia. Only a few of those would be top performances.
The life of a real lawyer, William J. Fallon, may have been the inspiration for this story. Fallon was known as the "Great Mouthpice."He was a prominent criminal lawyer who defended many homicide cases that resulted in no convictions. He befriended organized crime boss Arnold Rothstein who was implicated in the Black Sox Scandal. Fallon's lifestyle involved heavy drinking. He was just 41 years old when he died – probably from alcohol and other effects.
Still able to perform, he would go on to make many more films before dying 10 years later of cirrhosis of the liver and pneumonia. Only a few of those would be top performances.
The life of a real lawyer, William J. Fallon, may have been the inspiration for this story. Fallon was known as the "Great Mouthpice."He was a prominent criminal lawyer who defended many homicide cases that resulted in no convictions. He befriended organized crime boss Arnold Rothstein who was implicated in the Black Sox Scandal. Fallon's lifestyle involved heavy drinking. He was just 41 years old when he died – probably from alcohol and other effects.