The Devil's Party (1938)

The he-man woman haters club are invaded by the most unwanted of pests: an intrusive little girl who won't take no for an answer. She is the smart one, it turns out, advising them not to do something that goes all wrong. One is caught and pleads guilty without incriminating his pals, and then poof. Time goes by and that loyal little thug is the king of the old neighborhood known as Hell's kitchen, aka the title, the devil's playground.This is moderately enjoyable yet more of the same, Dead End on the Hudson as opposed to the East River, and it's the same story of young boys choosing different paths as the big boss us taken down. Victor McLaglen takes on the lead role, holding good natured reunions every year which includes the now older pesky girl (Beverly Roberts) who sings in a night club. Rival gangs cut in, resulting in murder, and from there, it's only a matter of time for violence to erupt and innocent parties to be caught in the middle. Like "Angels With Dirty Faces", one of the old gang (Paul Kelly) becomes a priest, with the other (William Gargan) remaining with McLaglen. The script is filled to the brim with clichés, and in spite of a fast pace, it often becomes convoluted. Pretty much the same film as "Angels With Dirty Faces" which had the benefit of good acting and a good script. This just ends up with the former.

Elements of Manhattan Melodrama and Angels With Dirty Faces are to be found in The Devil's Party. Though the two cited are better films The Devil's Party can certainly hold its own.Back in the day four boys and the tomboy girl that tagged along with them who grew up to be Victor McLaglen, Paul Kelly, John Gallaudet, William Gargan and Beatrice Roberts commit a robbery in which a fire is started. The boy grows up to be McLaglen takes the rap for the rest and goes to reform school.Fast forward several years and the grownups are now the owner of a swank gambling club and the girl singer attraction in same which would be McLaglen and Roberts. Paul Kelly has become a priest who runs a settlement house and Gargan and Gallaudet who are brothers are cops with ambitions to become detectives.It's that ambition and the fact that McLaglen sends a pair of enforcers played by Joe Downing and Frank Jenks to collect a gambling debt and they kill the debtor sets in motion a whole string of events that pits the former pals from Hell's Kitchen against each other and it results in tragedy.Some nice performances all around by the principal players make this B programmer from Universal something special. The Devil's Party is a real cinema diamond in the rough waiting to be discovered.

Devil's Party, The (1938) ** (out of 4) Okay, the story here is pretty confusing but I'll try to explain it. Four kids, growing up in Hell's Kitchen, have their lives changed when the oldest pulls a prank, which sets a warehouse on fire. He's sent to reform school but twenty years later he's out on the streets as a gambler/night club owner. Two of the other friends are cops and another is a priest. The gambler sends a couple men to rough a guy up but they eventually kill him and the two cops are put on the case. This film only runs 61-minutes but it seems the screenplay was missing around twenty minutes worth of additional footage that might have tied up various plot holes. With that said, I found myself somewhat entertained but there's really nothing going on in the film. I've heard this was an influence on Leone's Once Upon a Time in America but that connection would be very loose. Victor McLaglen stars.

A good story idea and a good performance by Victor McLaglen make this crime feature work well, despite some weaknesses in other areas. The premise is a good one that holds many possibilities, and in general the story makes solid use of them. The production has a low-budget look to it, but most of the time this doesn't get in the way. The rest of the cast never comes up to McLaglen's level, and this is probably the main thing that keeps it from being better. It's still pretty good.The setup has McLaglen's character Marty, as a boy, as part of a five-member gang (which includes one girl) in Hell's Kitchen. Caught in the act of one of their crimes, Marty is the only one caught and sent to the reformatory. Then the main story starts, with the five of them now adults, and holding a reunion. As the only former convict, Marty owns a night club and gambling house, while the others include a singer, a priest, and two police officers.The story that follows tests the relationships among all of the old friends, and sometimes pits their new relationships against the old ones. As a result, there are some good moments of drama and suspense. McLaglen fleshes out Marty quite well, bringing out his character and the way that it has been shaped by events. If the other characters had approached his in depth, it could have been quite compelling.The rest of the cast is adequate, and the pacing also keeps things moving, but the one-dimensional nature of the other characters often keeps it from grabbing you as much as it could have. It's still well above average for its time and genre.