Bordertown (1935)

Embittered when prejudice cuts short his nascent law career, once-idealistic Johnny Ramirez leaves his home in Los Angeles and ends up in Mexico. He quickly becomes the invaluable ... See full summary »

Director:

Archie Mayo (as Archie L. Mayo)

Writers:

Laird Doyle (screen play), Wallace Smith (screen play)

Stars:

Paul Muni, Bette Davis, Margaret Lindsay

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Paul Muni	...	Johnny Ramirez
Bette Davis	...	Marie Roark
Margaret Lindsay	...	Dale Elwell
Eugene Pallette	...	Charlie Roark
Robert Barrat	...	Padre
Soledad Jiménez	...	Mrs. Ramirez (as Soledad Jimenez)
Hobart Cavanaugh	...	Harry
Gavin Gordon	...	Brook Manville
William B. Davidson	...	Dr. Carter (as William Davidson)
Arthur Stone	...	Manuel Diego
Vivian Tobin	...	Mrs. Garner
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Carmen Gould

Storyline

Embittered when prejudice cuts short his nascent law career, once-idealistic Johnny Ramirez leaves his home in Los Angeles and ends up in Mexico. He quickly becomes the invaluable second-in-command to Charlie Roark, the owner of a border-town casino. But Roark's wife falls hard for Johnny and goes to great lengths to make him hers, which sets in motion more perilous events.

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Plot Keywords:

casino | police | murder | suffocation | trial | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

23 January 1935 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Barreira

Filming Locations:

La Placita Our Lady Queen of Angels - 535 North Main Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film's earliest documented telecasts took place in Cincinnati Friday 3 August 1956 on WKRC (Channel 12), in Phoenix Thursday 6 September 1956 on KVAR (Channel 12), in Wichita Saturday 22 September 1956 on KAKE (Channel 10), in Boston Wednesday 26 September 1956 on WBZ (Channel 4), in Indianapolis Saturday 6 October 1956 on WFBM (Channel 6), in San Francisco Friday 2 November 1956 on KRON (Channel 4), in Portland OR Saturday 1 December 1956 on KOIN (Channel 6), and in Bellingham WA Sunday 30 December 1956 on KVOS (Channel 12).

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Goofs

When Dale and Brook leave the Olvera Street cafe, the camera follows them down the street. Several objects and people pass between them and the camera, and the shadow of the camera falls across several of these. At one point, the shadow of a technician wearing a cap (presumably the camera operator) is plainly visible against a flat surface.

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Quotes

Marie Roark: The only fun I get is feeding the goldfish, and they only eat once a day.

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Connections

Version of They Drive by Night (1940)

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Soundtracks

Sweet Georgia Brown
(1925) (uncredited)
Music by Maceo Pinkard and Ben Bernie
Played when Roark is telling the story and as Johnny patrols the Silver Slipper

User Reviews

To Hollywood, furriners is furriners

Paul Muni was an East European Jew, so naturally he was cast as a Hispanic Californian.

Well, heck, to name just one, Leo Carrillo, a native Hispanic Californian, was cast as everything from Greek to French to Italian to Latino, and so many other "ethnic" actors played various nationalities besides their own heritages.

Muni apparently wore dark makeup for this role, but it wasn't a stereotype; it was, in fact, a very sympathetic character.

Bette Davis never looked lovelier. For years, I have tried to spread my conspiracy theory that she was not made up, but made down, that she was, in fact, a very lovely lady and the Westmore family apparently had it in for her and put the make-up on in such a way that her looks were coarsened, and she was aged long before her time.

She was such a great actress that her looks didn't matter, but she was very attractive and I find it a shame she wasn't allowed to show her natural beauty.

The female, though, who stole this movie, both in looks and in animated characterization, was Margaret Lindsay. She was absolutely fascinating in this role as spoiled rich girl, an almost good guy. In fact, she made this movie worth seeing.

The presence of a genuine Hispanic, Soledad Jiménez, gives one pause to wonder why more genuine Hispanics weren't cast in movies like this. She was just great.

The ending was rather puzzling, perhaps a sop to somebody's nativism, but the story was a good one, the acting was generally great, and all of that, with Archie Mayo's directing, make this one worthwhile.