Product Details

• Actors: Walter Huston, Jean Harlow, Wallace Ford
• Directors: Charles Brabin
• Format: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Warner Bros.
• DVD Release Date: June 22, 2009
• Run Time: 85 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B002E7GCMC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #136,694 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Beast of the City" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Early Vigilante Film, April 8, 2010

By 

Dr. James Gardner (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beast of the City (DVD)

"Beast of the City" is a pro-police reaction to the gangster films of the 30s. Crime dramas, especially gangster films were the big hits of the early 30s - Wallace Beery in "The Big House" (1930), Edward G Robinson's "Little Caesar" (1930), Peter Lorre's "M" (1931), Jimmy Cagney's "Public Enemy" (1931), Clark Gable and Jean Harlow in "The Secret Six" (1931) and Paul Muni's "Scarface" (1932). Most of these films glorified the gangster and showed the authorities in a poor light (a notable exception was Lewis Stone's performance in "The Big House"). With the advent of the Hayes code and changes in popular culture, producers felt a need to be more pro law enforcement.

The film "Beast of the City" has a big name cast, starring Walter Huston, Jean Harlow, Wallace Ford, and Jean Hersholt. Also featured are J. Carrol Naish, Tully Marshall, and, if you look closely, Mickey Rooney plays Huston's son.

Walter Huston plays a crusading police captain. At this point in his career, Huston was churning out films in assembly-line precision. He appeared in 4 films in 1931, 8 in 1932 (including "Beast"), and 5 in 1933. His performances are relatively undistinguished, even if some of the films (e.g., "Gabriel Over the White House") were hits. Huston got better as he got older, and he was nominated for an Oscar in 1937 ("Dodsworth"), 1942 ("Devil and Daniel Webster") and 1943 ("Yankee Doodle Dandy") and won in 1949 for "Treasure of the Sierra Madre". He died in 1950. His performance in "Beast" is enthusiastic (as usual) but ordinary.

Jean Hersholt plays the Italian gangster. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1906 and 1955, including such memorable films as "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" (1921), Erich von Stroheim's "Greed" (1924), Karloff's "The Mask of Fu Manchu" (1932), and "The Country Doctor" (1936). He's best remembered as Shirley Temple's grandfather in "Heidi" (1937). In "Beast" he seems to be trying too hard to do a stylized version of Al Capone, which may have been terrifying in its time, but today looks a little silly.

20-year old Jean Harlow plays the gangster's moll. Harlow was the biggest sex symbol of her times. Only Marilyn Monroe in the 50s ever achieved a rival position. Harlow specialized in playing the gangster's moll in such films as "Hell's Angels" (1930), "The Secret Six" (1931), and "Public Enemy" (1931). Look for a picture of Clark Gable on a table in Jean Harlow's apartment. Harlow and Gable appeared together in 6 films, starting with "The Secret Six" (1931), and were good friends. Harlow is Harlow.

Wallace Ford plays Huston's brother who falls in love with Harlow, and ultimately betrays his big brother, only to seek redemption in the final scene. Ford appeared in over 100 films from 1930 to 1965, often as a comic foil. He did 5 films for John Ford including "They Were Expendable" (1945) and "The Last Hurrah" (1958). He was nominated for a Golden Laurel in 1965 for "A Patch of Blue", his last film. Ford's performance in "Beast" is typical of the gangster genre.

The film was directed by Charles Brabin who directed nearly 100 films between 1912 and 1934, the most famous of which are "The Mask of Fun Manchu" (1932) with a young Boris Karloff, and "Rasputin and the Empress" (1932) which is the only film to feature all 3 Barrymore siblings. Brabin is best known for his long lasting marriage to screen vamp Theda Bara.

William Riley (W.R.) Burnett was the writer. Given his previous work with "Littler Caesar" and "Scarface", the crime elements of the film are pretty standard. Burnett also produced "High Sierra" (1944), "This Gun for Hire" (1942) and "The Asphalt Jungle" (1949), but he wasn't limited to crime themes. He also did such memorable films as "Wake Island" (1942) for which he received an Oscar nomination, "Sergeants 3" (1962), and "The Great Escape" (1963). Burnett's particular skill, regardless of the genre, was creating interesting characters to populate his novels/films, and this is certainly true in "Beast."

For 1932 the film is particularly well photographed, avoiding the look of a studio flick. There is one tacky scene where models are used to simulate a crash from a bridge, but otherwise the cinematography is sharp. Norbert Brodine is the cameraman. He was nominated for an Oscar 3 times, and won an Emmy for "Letter to Loretta" (1953). He filmed more than 100 films including James Mason as "The Desert Fox" (1951), Howard Hawks' "I Was a Male War Bride" (1949), Victor Mature's "One Million BC" (1941), and "Of Mice and Men" (1939).

The film is extremely interesting in the first 10 minutes. It starts with a plea from President Herbert Hoover for citizens to stop glamorizing gangsters. Then it shows how a major city police department worked, and provides examples of how the protection racket results in generating price increases to cover the costs of protection. After this, it shifts to a crime story that features the police as the main protagonists. "Beast" is not the only film to focus on the police, and many of the key crime stars came to play on the other side of the fence - Jimmy Cagney stars in "G-Man" (1935), Edward G Robinson plays an undercover detective in "Bullets or Ballots" (1936) and a crusading law professor in "I am the Law" (1938), Peter Lorre becomes "Mr. Moto" (1937) and Bogart becomes a detective.

The film shows how gangsters are allowed to operate due to corruption at every level. Huston perseveres, but is unable to make any in roads. Precursing the vigilante films ("Death Wish", "Dirty Harry") of later years, Huston decides to take the law into his own hands and with a dozen men, invades the gangster's night club and carnage ensues. Ironically, the climatic scene is really unmatched by most of the classic gangster films in terms of death and destruction. It has been ranked among the top 10 shoot-outs of all time and surely was the inspiration for Peckinpah's conclusion in "The Wild Bunch".

The film is worth watching to give you the other (neglected) side of the crime dramas in the early 30s, but it in no way compares to the classics from that period. Thus, its appeal is largely to sociology students or people interested in the history of cinema.