Naïve insurance agent 'Cyclone' Case falls in love with Sylvia Martine, whose father has a dispute with gangster Mike Slade. When Sylvia is kidnapped by Slade and his gang, 'Cyclone' ...
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Title: The Gang Buster (1931)
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Cast
| Cast overview: | |||
| Jack Oakie | ... | Charlie Case | |
| Jean Arthur | ... | Sylvia Martine | |
| William 'Stage' Boyd | ... | 'Sudden Mike' Slade (as William Boyd) | |
| Wynne Gibson | ... | Zella Cameron | |
| William Morris | ... | Andrew Martine | |
| Francis McDonald | ... | Pete Caltek | |
| Tom Kennedy | ... | 'Gopher' Brant | |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
Naïve insurance agent 'Cyclone' Case falls in love with Sylvia Martine, whose father has a dispute with gangster Mike Slade. When Sylvia is kidnapped by Slade and his gang, 'Cyclone' decides to save her and wanders straight into a gang war without even realizing it. Written by Anonymous
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
17 January 1931 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Lo stroncatore di gang See more »Company Credits
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IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric New Process Noiseless Recording)Color:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.20 : 1
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Did You Know?
Trivia
One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. See more »Crazy Credits
The first thing we see is a machine gun, which then fires and spells out the name of the movie in white bullet holes on a dark background. See more »Frequently Asked Questions
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When this was released, Variety said it was sure to be a big hit, unless the "peasants" in the sticks were confused by its combination of the genres of comedy and gangster melodrama. Well, even peasants today would most likely be bored by this movie's slow pace and simple-minded script (not one of Joseph Manckiewicz's best). The tale of the goofy but virtuous rube who defeats not only city slickers but killers (Jack Oakie sternly informs the gang leader that his kidnaping of Jean Arthur is illegal and could get him in trouble) has been told before, since, and better. One example was the divine Once in a Lifetime, in which an even dumber Oakie not only won the day but ended up running a movie studio. But, while that work was a creation of hilarious insanity, The Gang Buster is a far more down to earth and tepid business. Children who are not familiar with movie cliches or with Jean Arthur's wonderful record-played-at-the-wrong-speed voice, and who love seeing grown-ups act stupid should like this, but adults will probably want to leave them to it.