Bordertown (1935)

"Bordertown" features a far more convincing performance from Paul Muni, who manages to curtail his usual theatrical approach to film acting. Bette Davis is an excellent female lead for Muni and their scenes radiate with tension. Maragret Lindsay is OK in the supporting cast but she isn't in Davis's league. Paul Muni plays a newly qualified lawyer who decides to make a career for himself near the Mexican border after some problems earlier on in the film. He is employed by a wealthy businessman (Eugene Pallete) to handle all the legal wranglings for his building firm. However, trouble soon rears its head in the form of the businessman's wife, Bette Davis. The second half of "Bordertown" was remade by "Warner Bros" for the 1940 film, "They Drive By Night." It is a coin toss as to who is more fiery and feisty out of Bette Davis and Ida Lupino in the same role. For me, it is an even draw. The plot and the narrative are both strong and with some good dialogue. This is one of the best films Paul Muni whilst at "Warner Bros."

Following in the footsteps of the legendary stage actor George Arliss, the powerful Paul Muni took over at Warner Brothers as the most distinguished male star on the lot after Arliss left in 1933. Like Arliss, Muni wasn't just a portrait of famous historical figures; he took his talents into comedy and romantic drama, always adding different dimensions to the characters he played. Back in a time before political correctness took over the ability for artists to play outside their own race, Muni took on a variety of unique parts, and in this film, he's playing a Hispanic man determined to become a successful attorney, and thanks to the male libido, almost ends up in the electric chair. The source of temptation is the alluring Bette Davis, the wife of Muni's portly boss, Eugene Palette. When Davis sees the opportunity to get rid of her husband, she takes it, nearly taking down the subject of her obsession in the meantime. Together, Muni and Davis are dynamic, with Palette giving a strong performance as the unfortunate sap. Margaret Lindsay plays the nicer lady Muni really loves. This has two major remakes, with George Raft and Gary Cooper taking on Muni's role, and Ida Lupino and Barbara Stanwyck equally exciting in the Davis role. But this being the original is the version worth seeing first, showing how standard melodrama can be made better thanks to brilliant performances.

Directed by Archie Mayo, this film was later remade, better, as They Drive By Night (1940). It's based on a Robert Lord story, and Henry O'Neill appears uncredited.Paul Muni plays Johnny, a poor Mexican working as a mechanic while he puts himself through law school. A rich socialite Dale (Margaret Lindsay) runs into his friend (Arthur Stone) Manuel's car, which becomes his first case. Johnny sues Dale in court but is ill- prepared, losing to her boyfriend Brook (Gavin Gordon). Though she offers to pay anyway, Brook stops her. So, Johnny hits him causing him to be disbarred.Johnny hits the road and finds his way to a gambling establishment run by Charlie (Eugene Palette), who hires him. As a hard worker, Johnny quickly becomes Charlie's partner, earning unwanted affections from his wife Marie (Bette Davis). Her attraction to Johnny is so great, Marie uses an automatic garage door mechanism to kill her husband with carbon monoxide one night when Charlie is drunk. She is able to convince everyone it was an accidental death. With the insurance money, Johnny builds a successful casino with silent partner Marie.But Marie isn't pleased with her and Johnny's platonic relationship, especially when Dale, with Brook in tow, shows up as a guest at their casino. When Johnny begins seeing Dale, who is merely towing with him though he fails to see it, Marie confesses the murder and its purpose. Johnny wants nothing to do with her, as he blindly pursues Dale. So, Marie tries to pin the murder of her husband on Johnny. Ms. Davis's acting ability is in full exhibition at the trial, and there is a bit of redemption concerning Lindsay's character too, as this sad parable comes to an end.

This movie has most everything bad the other reviews claim, and that's why I like it. It's almost burlesque. Yes, Muni overacts (and gets the accent wrong, which is odd, since Muni was known for his scrupulous preparation). Even as the taciturn Juarez, Muni overacts his underacting. It may be his wonderful voice, but there's something about his persona that makes the emoting appealing. That said, I think Edward G. Robinson would have been better in the part. As for Bette Davis, for the whole movie, her character seems to be on or coming down from cocaine. There's a solo scene where she looks like someone who's just done a line, and you watch as the drug begins to work on her. Mad scenes were a Davis specialty and she gives one to Muni like she did to Leslie Howard in Of Human Bondage, except here she's like someone screaming at her pusher who's cut her off. Of course, in the movie, the drug is lust.Anyway, I don't think the subject here is race so much as class. The moral of the story is the old one, that a step up is not necessarily a step for the better. Rich people can be stinkers, so why would you want to buy into them? Muni made another movie of this "city mouse, country mouse" fable, The Good Earth. Robinson made many, but unlike Robinson's characters, Muni's (except for Scarface) were able to escape in one piece.