Just watched this early sound gangster film and proto-noir, which was nominated for several of the then-new Academy Awards. It has a lot to recommend it, including excellent moving camera work, art direction by William Cameron Menzies, a memorable bit of police brutality, a star-making performance from Chester Morris, and a dark and well-staged conclusion. The final shot of Morris is a wow, I won’t say more.

There is also an over-the-top supporting performance from Regis Toomey, who gets an extended death scene of the weepy Irish melodrama variety. (Toomey toned down and was a lot better in Other Men’s Women a couple of years later.)

Director Roland West made two more pictures with Morris, The Bat Whispers and Corsair, and then retired youngish (mid-40s), I’m not sure why. He was talented. He was questioned in connection with his girlfriend Thelma Todd’s 1935 death. Rumors about his involvement are written up in Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon, naturally.