The Law Got Them In! But He Got Them Out!
Director: Rowland Brown
Writer: Rowland Brown, Hal Long, Speed Kendall
Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck
The title refers to the business of affable, ambitious bail bondsman (and politically-connected grifter) Bill Bailey, who, in the course of his work, crosses paths with every kind of offender there is, from first-time defendants to career criminals.
65 min
Rating: 7/10
Released
Top Cast
George Bancroft
Bill Bailey
Judith Anderson
Ruby Darling
Frances Dee
Elaine Talbart
Chick Chandler
Drury Darling
Blossom Seeley
Singer
Etienne Girardot
Bail Bond Clerk
Movie Info
Director: Rowland Brown
Writer: Rowland Brown, Hal Long, Speed Kendall
Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck
Production Companies: 20th Century Pictures
Countries: United States of America
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What Others Said
waltzma:
This is a saucy pre-code melodrama that deserves cult status. Bail bondsman George Bancroft is known all throughout New York City and encounters people from every scrape of society in this pre-code crime drama. But he's going to need every ounce of street-smarts when he strikes up an acquaintance with kleptomaniac Frances Dee, a woman with a rather animistic sexual appetite. Judith Anderson gets to display a rare glamorous side here as the nightclub hostess obviously in love with Bancroft, with her famous mole darkened into a beauty spot. Dee gives Bancroft several looks that It's nice to see her playing a softer character.
This is a fast-moving programmer, made on a dime, but not showing it. Quick edits, snappy photography and dialog, nice musical interludes by Blossom Seeley (singing such standards as "Melancholy Baby"), and a side of seedy New York sung about in the same year's "42nd Street" diluted in most movies. There's hints about lesbianism in addition to Dee's whacked-out libido. Tons of familiar character actors pop in and out, most notably Etienne Girardot, Chick Chandler (as Anderson's gangster brother), Clarence Wilson and Edward Van Sloan. There's even a very young Lucille Ball in a quick appearance! An exciting dog racing sequence is one of the film's visual highlights, and the finale is downright suspenseful, like something Hitchcock might do.