Public Hero Number 1 (1935)

"Public Hero #1" is a relatively little known, continually entertaining gangster thriller that veers from prison mellerdrama to quirky romance to bullet-riddled shoot-out. Okay, so the plot has enough holes to drive a getaway car through -- like the unexpected "meet cute' encounter, during a flash flood, of a government agent disguised as a hold-up man with the sister of the crime czar he's tracking. But Chester Morris as the plucky, love-stricken fed, Jean Arthur who still loves her brother despite his homicidal tendencies, Lionel Barrymore as a boozy doctor and Joseph Calleia as the underworld kingpin who doesn't seem bright enough to rob a candy store are all fun to watch. And darn near believable. At no point, as the tale gallops through various genres, does it bog down. Wish the same could be said of quite a few more modern movies. Credit director J. Walter Ruben with doing a first-rate job on one of the final films he would helm prior to his premature death at the age of 43.

Interesting mash-up of genres from MGM: part prison/crime drama and part romantic comedy. Two convicts (Chester Morris and Joseph Calleia) escape from prison and one is wounded. The other goes for help and comes back with a drunkard doctor (Lionel Barrymore) and a girl (Jean Arthur), who turns out to be Calleia's sister! Starts out as a fairly typical but enjoyable prison flick. Then there's a twist. I admit I didn't see the twist coming but in retrospect I should have. Others might peg it right away or see it in some plot descriptions. Anyway it changes gears once Jean Arthur enters the picture and becomes a sort of romcom for a little while, before returning to being a crime picture.Terrific cast really makes it worth seeing. In addition to Morris, Arthur, Barrymore, and Calleia, there's Lewis Stone, Paul Kelly, Paul Hurst, and George E. Stone. Ladies will appreciate a shirtless Barrymore washing his moobs in a bath. Spectacularly violent shoot-out between cops and criminal gang. Calleia's fate was obviously inspired by how John Dillinger met his end. Eliminate the final scene between Morris and Arthur and I might have bumped this up to a 7. Hated that part. Remade in 1941 as The Getaway with Robert Sterling and Donna Reed.

I liked the first portion of this film--it was a bit clichéd but very entertaining. You see a very brash crook (Chester Morris) having difficulty adjusting to being locked up in prison. He can't help but be noticed by everyone, as he leads prison riots and makes a nuisance of himself. Eventually, he and his cell-mate (Joseph Calleia) manage to escape and Calleia is badly injured in the process. So, it's up to Morris to get a doctor--and unfortunately the only one who will treat him without informing the police is a drunkard (Lionel Barrymore--in a very vivid and atypical sort of role). Along the way, Morris just happens to pick up a girl (Jean Arthur) who just happens to turn out to be Calleia's sister! Little does she or Calleia know that Morris is actually a government agent--sent to infiltrate the Purple Gang (of which Calleia is the boss).Up to this point, it's a highly improbable but entertaining film. However, making Arthur and Morris fall in love just seemed a bit too much--as did making Morris throw away the MONTHS and MONTHS of undercover work for her. This tended to slow down the film but despite this, it was still fun to watch. Not great but fun--in a mindless sort of way. Also, note the theater ending--obviously an attempt to cash in on the way they caught up with John Dillinger the previous year.By the way, this is a very, very close remake of "The Getaway" (1941). If you've seen either, it probably isn't worth seeing the other. Also, it's pretty ironic that Chester Morris plays this undercover agent, as one of the gang members that he betrays (and gets killed at the end) is George E. Stone--the same guy who played Morris' best-friend and sidekick in the Boston Blackie film series!!

Public Hero #1 (1935) *** (out of 4) Extremely strange film from MGM starts off as a prison drama then moves to a screwball comedy and then goes back to gangster action. An undercover cop (Chester Morris) gets inside of a prison where he befriends a gangster (Joseph Calleia) and soon the two bust out but the gangster gets shot. Near death, the undercover cops goes out to find the gangster's drunken doctor (Lionel Barrymore) but due to a storm they are forced to stay at a hotel where the cop falls for a young woman (Jean Arthur) who turns out to be the gangster's sister. After hearing the news, the cop must try to find a way to bring the gangster down without hurting the sister. This film is pretty much all over the map but it's still a greatly entertaining film that works on ever level that it tries. The prison stuff early on is very entertaining as is the gangster stuff at the end. There's a big shootout at the end, which ranks among the best I've seen from any of these early gangster films. Normally screwball laughs wouldn't fit into a film like this but Barrymore does a terrific job in the comedy department as the drunken doctor. The highlight has to be the scene where he accidentally gets dressed in Arthur's robe due to how drunk he is. Barrymore's comic timing is terrific throughout the film. Arthur is also very strong in her role and delivers a very memorable character and performance. The real star is Morris who is simply wonderful all the way through. He has a lot of roles to play here from the tough guy trying to enter the gang to the cop trying to bring down the bad guy but he also does a great job in the romantic department with Arthur. Calleia, Paul Kelly, Lewis Stone and George E. Stone add nice support as well. It's also worth noting that the film seems partially influenced by the John Dillinger case who of course was murdered after watching MGM's Manhattan Melodrama the previous year and that includes the ending here, which has been slightly changed but still takes place outside a theater.