The Mouthpiece

The Mouthpiece is a great showcase for the thespian talents of Warren William playing a great criminal defense attorney. This was the golden age of them with Clarence Darrow, Earl Rogers and James Fallon on whom William's character was loosely based. They and the notorious clients they represented provided much colorful copy for the tabloids of the day.

At one time William was a prosecutor and a good one. But when he sends an innocent young man to the electric chair something snaps inside him. Better to be saving the innocent than killing them. Soon he realizes that a lawyer with his skills can make a lot more money on that side of the courtroom.

One priceless scene is William negotiating an out of court deal over an embezzlement charge that John Wray is really quite guilty of. William really handles it beautifully.

Young tiny Sidney Fox goes to work for William in his law office and William falls for her. But she likes William Janney who's good looking enough, but has no dynamic personality. When Janney is accused of stealing bonds, she goes to William for help and it's the beginning of his downfall.

Aline McMahon as William's super efficient above and beyond the call of duty secretary gives one of her most memorable screen performances. Ditto for J. Carrol Naish in one of his early screen roles as a hood that William gets off with one spectacular gesture in court.

The Mouthpiece really belongs to Warren William. It's certainly easy to see why they chose him for Perry Mason in movie series.

One of the better movies of 1932, "The Mouthpiece" features a tour de force performance by Warren William as a brilliant but corrupt prosecutor with a weakness for dames, drink and dollars but who is redeemed by a stubborn moral sense that sometimes overcomes his vices. The screenplay, by the prolific but tragically short-lived Joseph Jackson (whose other work includes such gems as "Safe in Hell" and "One Way Passage"), is both hard-edged and witty, with many of the funniest wisecracks delivered memorably by the incomparable Aline MacMahon as William's loyal secretary, the type of role that might have been played by Joan Blondell or Glenda Farrell had the studio casting dice landed another way. The familiar Warners-First National stock company appears in full force including Guy Kibbee as a speakeasy bartender; Noel Francis as a golddigger; J Carrol Naish as a gangster; Walter Walker as a district attorney. The diminutive Sidney Fox persuasively plays a secretary in William's firm who helps to set him on the right path.

ADA Vincent Day (Warren William) successfully prosecutes a man for murder through only circumstantial evidence, and when his innocence is discovered Day tries to contact the prison before the man is executed, only to be too late. He is torn up about this, resigns, and then oddly tries to right his wrong by becoming a criminal defense lawyer and getting acquittals for people who are very guilty. He does this sometimes just through his great talent, but he also does some dishonest and very risky things.

Day also likes the ladies, and he hires naive country mouse Celia Farraday (Sidney Fox) for his office staff planning to seduce her. But when her reaction to his advances is not what he expects he has a rebirth of conscience. This conscience comes in handy when Celia's fiance is arrested and accused of stealing his employer's bonds though he claims that he was robbed, and he doesn't seem to have a consistent believable story at all. Complications ensue.

This was the part that got Warren William noticed. He had been playing the cad for about a year, but his performances, though enchanting, didn't have the depth and empathy of his role in The Mouthpiece. The success of this film caused him to be placed in similar roles in a string of precode movies to the point he was typecast and had a hard time continuing his career at the leading man level once the precode era ended. Sidney Fox, largely a Universal star, really does well here. It may even be the best thing she ever did, in spite of that rather distracting southern accent. With Aline MacMahon as Day's Girl Friday with her usual witticisms and wise girl attitude, this one is well worth watching 90 years later.

There may not be a lot of depth in this movie, but it's completely enjoyable, for all the reasons other commentators here have listed - the dialogue and several of the main actors. To that list I'd add the pleasure of seeing life in the 1930s, the cars, the clothing, the buildings, the room decor, all stylish and of the period. I especially got a kick out of the scene near the end where a car revs its engines to make it backfire, the driver moving a tiny lever in the centre of the steering wheel. The elevator, the marble staircase - lots to keep you interested apart from the plot.

Warren William is centre stage throughout and is excellent, tough, smart, sophisticated and slimy. In the scenes in which he crowds the innocent young thing, stooping over her like a vulture, his evil intentions are brilliantly clear in his body language; he looks like a vulture, like Count Dracula.

"...why she wants to marry her simpering boyfriend rather than enjoy a life of luxury with Williams is a mystery." Well, maybe a mystery to some people, but most of us realize that women are not generally tramps willing to trade their affections for luxuries.

An ambitious Ass't DA switches his talents to defending the mob. But is it permanent.

Watching the imperious Warren William (Day) as a legal shark is really impressive. He's got all the tricks of a Houdini, along with the ethics of a cobra. Drinking the poison in court is a real grabber. This part of the movie is riveting and dynamic playing to William's commanding strength. And that's so, even if the diminutive ingenue Fox (Cecilia) is a foot shorter and a lot younger, so there seems something illegal going on when they passion kiss. I can understand the peculiar casting here since Fox projects just the kind of sweet innocence that might turn the head of even the most jaded scalawag. Still, the big turnaround doesn't really jibe with Day's power-grabbing character, and in my book, undercuts the initial setup of its powerful promise.

Speaking of characters, Aline MacMahon (Hickey) darn near steals the film as Day's wisecracking secretary. What a shrewd piece of casting since few actresses can actively compete with the forceful William. Yet, she does, and makes you believe it. Good to see her cast as someone besides a maiden aunt or the family wallflower. Despite the story's central difficulty, this is a smooth production, fluidly paced, that demonstrates the expert professionalism of the old studios, in this case Warner Bros. Anyway, here's to Warren William, a great screen personality deserving of rediscovery.