From prison stripes to tuxedos, Wallace Beery goes from convicted gangster to wealthy ex-con, free because he got money from oil found on the family farm he left behind. Coming from a prison farm, he tells newcomer Tom Drake to come visit him when he's out of prison, simply because Drake saved his life after a a violent attack by another prisoner. When he's out of prison, fellow mobster Leon Ames makes arrangements for Beery to be reunited with his long-lost daughter, Dorothy Patrick, who is actually a struggling actress and not berries daughter at all. When Drake comes to visit as promised, Beery is upset that Patrick and Drake hit it off and does everything he can to keep them apart, only to have the truth hits him in the face like a ton of bricks.
Uninteresting characterizations and unbelievable plot twist turns this crime drama and to something ordinary and predictable. With few exceptions, Beery hasn't played a different kind of character since the beginning of talkies, and this is just another variation of the "ah, shucks" champ that he won an Oscar for. Drake and Patrick have absolutely no chemistry for obvious reasons, leaving the real strong performances here from the excellent Leon Ames and the underused Gladys George as Beery's lady friend.
This is a film that would have been acceptable in 1938, but a decade later, seems already out of step with the times. Beery's switch of wardrobe comes so sudden that it is jarring and seems truly out of step with the first part of the film. Had this been cast with a slightly younger MGM contract player, it could have been an interesting programmer and with a tougher script, would have made a memorable film noir.
Uninteresting characterizations and unbelievable plot twist turns this crime drama and to something ordinary and predictable. With few exceptions, Beery hasn't played a different kind of character since the beginning of talkies, and this is just another variation of the "ah, shucks" champ that he won an Oscar for. Drake and Patrick have absolutely no chemistry for obvious reasons, leaving the real strong performances here from the excellent Leon Ames and the underused Gladys George as Beery's lady friend.
This is a film that would have been acceptable in 1938, but a decade later, seems already out of step with the times. Beery's switch of wardrobe comes so sudden that it is jarring and seems truly out of step with the first part of the film. Had this been cast with a slightly younger MGM contract player, it could have been an interesting programmer and with a tougher script, would have made a memorable film noir.