Post by rmichaelpyle on Dec 18, 2011 16:45:57 GMT -6
I watched "The Racket" (1928) with Thomas Meighan, Louis Wolheim, Marie Prevost, 'Skeets' Gallagher, G. Pat Collins, Henry Sedley, George E. Stone, Sam de Grasse, Johnny Darrow, and others. This is a very hard-boiled gangster/bootlegger versus honest cop show, with the underlying corruption beginning in City Hall. I'm sure it represented Mayor Jimmy Walker's New York City of the same time. Really well done, it takes simple plot and keeps it simple and works on simple until solved, but with immaculate pacing, great direction, and superlative acting, all thrown together into the cocktail shaker of steady action. Even though the viewer knows what's going to happen, basically, nevertheless, the relentlessness of Thomas Meighan's good cop versus the bad guys is really fun to watch. And Louis Wolheim, as Nick Scarsi, the bootlegger and killer - is dynamite!
This film was up in the first Academy Awards for "Best Picture" Oscar. It didn't win, but it's really very good still. It plays well today - and I have to say that after the introduction of the gangster genre in pictures like "Underworld", "Little Caesar", Public Enemy", "Scarface", and so forth, this more steady, silently relentlessly paced film is fascinating to compare against them. Not as showy, it still has great presence due to direction and acting. The characters gel well. Oh, and even though Thomas Meighan came first, most who see this will keep on thinking that he reminds them of Gary Cooper. Scene after scene after scene...
Very highly recommended!
This film was up in the first Academy Awards for "Best Picture" Oscar. It didn't win, but it's really very good still. It plays well today - and I have to say that after the introduction of the gangster genre in pictures like "Underworld", "Little Caesar", Public Enemy", "Scarface", and so forth, this more steady, silently relentlessly paced film is fascinating to compare against them. Not as showy, it still has great presence due to direction and acting. The characters gel well. Oh, and even though Thomas Meighan came first, most who see this will keep on thinking that he reminds them of Gary Cooper. Scene after scene after scene...
Very highly recommended!
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