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IMDbPro

The Beast of the City

  • 19321932
  • PassedPassed
  • 1h 26m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
1.4K
YOUR RATING
Jean Harlow and Wallace Ford in The Beast of the City (1932)
CrimeDramaFilm-Noir
Police Chief Jim Fitzpatrick ruthlessly goes after organized crime and is prepared to use brutal and violent methods to fight it.Police Chief Jim Fitzpatrick ruthlessly goes after organized crime and is prepared to use brutal and violent methods to fight it.Police Chief Jim Fitzpatrick ruthlessly goes after organized crime and is prepared to use brutal and violent methods to fight it.
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
1.4K
YOUR RATING
    • Charles Brabin
    • W.R. Burnett(story)
    • Ben Hecht(uncredited)
    • John Lee Mahin(screenwriter)
  • Stars
    • Walter Huston
    • Jean Harlow
    • Wallace Ford
    • Charles Brabin
    • W.R. Burnett(story)
    • Ben Hecht(uncredited)
    • John Lee Mahin(screenwriter)
  • Stars
    • Walter Huston
    • Jean Harlow
    • Wallace Ford
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 35User reviews
    • 14Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos48

    Jean Harlow, Jean Hersholt, Walter Huston, and J. Carrol Naish in The Beast of the City (1932)
    Jean Harlow and Walter Huston in The Beast of the City (1932)
    Jean Harlow and Jean Hersholt in The Beast of the City (1932)
    Jack Pennick in The Beast of the City (1932)
    Edward Brophy in The Beast of the City (1932)
    Edgar Dearing and Robert Homans in The Beast of the City (1932)
    Allan Cavan and Eddy Chandler in The Beast of the City (1932)
    Hector V. Sarno in The Beast of the City (1932)
    Jean Hersholt in The Beast of the City (1932)
    Elmer Ballard and Emmett Corrigan in The Beast of the City (1932)
    Tully Marshall in The Beast of the City (1932)
    Murray Kinnell in The Beast of the City (1932)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Walter Huston
    Walter Huston
    • Jim Fitzpatrick
    Jean Harlow
    Jean Harlow
    • Daisy Stevens
    Wallace Ford
    Wallace Ford
    • Ed Fitzpatrick
    Jean Hersholt
    Jean Hersholt
    • Sam Belmonte
    Dorothy Peterson
    Dorothy Peterson
    • Mary Fitzpatrick
    Tully Marshall
    Tully Marshall
    • Michaels
    John Miljan
    John Miljan
    • District Attorney
    Emmett Corrigan
    Emmett Corrigan
    • Chief of Police Burton
    Warner Richmond
    Warner Richmond
    • Tom
    Sandy Roth
    • Mac
    J. Carrol Naish
    J. Carrol Naish
    • Pietro Cholo
    Eddie Baker
    Eddie Baker
    • Detective
    • (uncredited)
    Elmer Ballard
    • Mayor
    • (uncredited)
    Sammy Blum
    Sammy Blum
    • Turnkey
    • (uncredited)
    Edward Brophy
    Edward Brophy
    • Police Dispatcher
    • (uncredited)
    Ed Cassidy
    Ed Cassidy
    • Policeman #5 on Telephone
    • (uncredited)
    Allan Cavan
    Allan Cavan
    • Pat - Car 47 Driver
    • (uncredited)
    Eddy Chandler
    Eddy Chandler
    • Joel - Policeman Outside Car 47
    • (uncredited)
      • Charles Brabin
      • W.R. Burnett(story)
      • Ben Hecht(uncredited)
      • John Lee Mahin(screenwriter)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Mickey Rooney had just turned 11 years old when he played Walter Huston's young son in his first full-length sound feature film. His character's name is also "Mickey," and his first line is, "Say, those don't look like pancakes!"
    • Goofs
      When Ed and Daisy first kiss, in a medium shot, he's holding her head in the crook of his left arm, and her right had is on his side. In the next closer shot, his arm is down and her right hand is up on his lapel.
    • Quotes

      Daisy Stevens, aka Mildred Beaumont: [Ed grabs her arm tightly] Say! That hurts a little bit.

      Det. Ed Fitzpatrick: And you don't like to be hurt, do you?

      Daisy Stevens, aka Mildred Beaumont: Oh, I don't know.

      [Suggestively]

      Daisy Stevens, aka Mildred Beaumont: Kinda fun sometimes if it's done in the right spirit.

      Det. Ed Fitzpatrick: [Pushes her away] Get the beer!

    • Crazy credits
      Opening card: Instead of the glorification of cowardly gangsters, we need the glorification of policemen who do their duty and give their lives in public protection. If the police had the vigilant universal backing of the public opinion in their communities, if they had the implacable support of the prosecuting authorities and the courts, I am convinced that our police would stamp out the excessive crime, which had disgraced some of our great cities. ---- President Herbert Hoover
    • Connections
      Featured in Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell (1993)
    • Soundtracks
      Chopsticks
      (1877) (uncredited)

      Traditional piano tune

      Music by Euphemia Allen

      Played on piano by Betty Mae Crane and Beverly Crane

    User reviews35

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    The Skirt That Did Them In
    The Beast Of The City finds Walter Huston cast as a crusading and honest cop, possibly too rigidly honest. His character is a whole lot like Kirk Douglas's detective in Detective Story that would come out a generation later.

    The film also borrows a lot from westerns at the time. Huston's unknown western city is ruled by gangster Jean Hersholt who is apparently untouchable as far as the law is concerned. A whole lot like real life gangsters Al Capone and Lucky Luciano who were coming into prominence.

    Huston's family life is secure enough, wife Dorothy Peterson, a few kids among them a young Mickey Rooney. He also has his younger and weaker brother Wallace Ford living with them. Ford's got a real good deal, no rent and he apparently chases a lot of skirts. That proves to be his downfall and eventually Huston's.

    The skirt that did them in belonged to Jean Harlow. Jean was never a better mantrap in her career than she is The Beast Of The City. Wallace Ford turns out to be putty in her hands.

    Also note another good performance in The Beast Of The City is that of Tully Marshall who plays Hersholt's lawyer. The word shyster was invented for lawyers like Marshall, but he's good to have on your side especially if you're guilty as sin.

    The climax is an unforgettable one and one more typical to a western than a modern drama. It's what makes The Beast Of The City a classic that is too rarely seen today.
    helpful•24
    1
    • bkoganbing
    • Apr 6, 2010

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 13, 1932 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
      • Cosmopolitan Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 26 minutes
      • Black and White

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