PUBLIC HERO #1

 

PUBLIC HERO #1 is a 1935 MGM gangster story with some comedic elements. Much of the film is inspired by the criminal life of John Dillinger. 

The movie begins with Jeff Crane (Chester Morris) being incarcerated in a large prison. Once inside, Crane goes out of his way to cause as much trouble as possible--so much so, you just know there's a reason for it. Sure enough, Crane is an undercover Federal agent, and he's trying to earn the trust of his cellmate, Sonny Black (Joseph Calleia). Sonny is the leader of the notorious Purple Gang, but he's in jail on a lesser charge, and the Feds are hoping to use him to track down the rest of the gang. Jeff and Sonny escape, but the latter is wounded while fleeing the law. While the two men hide out, Jeff is sent out to find the drunken doctor (Lionel Barrymore) who provides medical services for the Purple Gang. While finding the doc Jeff encounters a pretty young woman named Terry (Jean Arthur). She is trying to find her brother, who she hasn't seen in years--and Jeff learns that her sibling is none other than Sonny. Jeff is determined to bring Sonny and the Purple Gang to justice, but he also doesn't want to hurt Terry, since the two have fallen for one another. 

PUBLIC HERO #1 starts out as a hard-boiled prison drama, and it immediately reminds one of THE BIG HOUSE, a famous tale about convicts that was also made at MGM and starred Chester Morris. Once Jeff goes off on a stormy night to find the tipsy doctor, the movie almost becomes a screwball comedy, as Lionel Barrymore's wildly hammy antics and Jeff and Terry's back-and-forth patter take center stage. The climax goes back to crime thriller mode, as the downfall of Sonny and his gang parallel major events in John Dillinger's life. The gang has a hideout in Wisconsin called "Little Paree" (Dillinger and several other gunmen hid out in Little Bohemia, Wisconsin), and a major gun battle takes place there, much like the one that actually did happen in Little Bohemia. After getting away in the chaos of the gunfight, Sonny attempts to change his appearance through plastic surgery (as Dillinger did), and eventually he's gunned down in an alley near the "Bijou" theater, while Dillinger came to his end outside the Biograph in Chicago. 

The always-surly Chester Morris is perfect as Jeff Crane, although his tough-guy act while in prison is way too obvious. Jean Arthur is appealing as always as Terry (one big twist is that she goes out of her way to attract Jeff's attention, instead of the other way around). There are times when it feels as if Arthur is acting as if she's in another film altogether, and it's hard to believe that the blonde, perky actress could be the sister to the dark, brooding Calleia. (Ann Dvorak would have been much more fitting as Terry.) It's also hard to believe that Terry would have such loyalty to her brother, especially when she finds out what he has done, and considering how he treats her. Instead of acting like the typical brash & bold big shot gangster, Calleia gives Sonny a quiet, snakelike menacing aura that works very well. Paul Kelly plays Jeff's boss, a tough Federal agent determined to wipe out the Purple Gang. (Ironically Kelly spent time in prison himself due to a manslaughter conviction.) 

Lionel Barrymore gets top billing as the drunken doctor, but he's character is basically a nuisance, and the actor overplays outrageously (even for him). The Purple Gang features such tough-guy actors as Paul Hurst and George E. Stone, and among the supporting cast are Lewis Stone as the warden of the prison in the beginning of the film, and Bert Roach and Arthur Housman, who have comedic roles. 

PUBLIC HERO #1 was directed by J. Walter Ruben, who doesn't have much of a legacy among classic Hollywood studio directors (probably due to the fact that he died quite young). The real talent behind this film is cinematographer Gregg Toland, who gives the crime scenes an expressionist feel, while making Jean Arthur look fantastic at the same time. 

I'm a huge Jean Arthur fan, but I must say that PUBLIC HERO #1 might have been better if her character had not been in it, and the story was just a straight crime thriller. Despite the lead billing of Lionel Barrymore and Arthur, their characters only serve as distractions from the main drama between Chester Morris and Joseph Calleia. Perhaps MGM was hoping that Barrymore and Arthur would steer the movie away from being a violent gangster tale and getting in trouble with the Code--it is rather brutal at times for a picture made at that particular studio.