Hunted Men

HUNTED MEN (Paramount, 1938), directed by Louis King, is one of many in a long assembly of crime programmers as produced by Paramount during the mid to late 1930s, and one of its better assortments. Somewhat competing with the more sturdier gangster melodramas produced at Warner Brothers at the time, whether starring the likes of top box office draws as James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson or Humphrey Bogart, HUNTED MEN is a showcase for its own contract player tough guy, Lloyd Nolan, in spite of his name appearing second in the cast under the pert and pretty Mary Carlisle, he gives a good and memorable performance.

The plot: Joe Albany (Lloyd Nolan) is a tough racketeer who guns down James Flowers (Larry "Buster" Crabbe), a local night club owner, for double-crossing him. In an attempt to get away from the police, he finds himself accidentally being knocked down by the car being driven by the slightly drunken Peter Harris (Lynne Overman), who mistakes him for somebody he knows. Not only does he offer him a ride but allows himself to take this runaway gunman into his respectable but quiet household, consisting of his wife, Mary (Dorothy Peterson), their attractive daughter Jane (Mary Carlisle) and young son, Robert (Delmar Watson). Albany's henchmen, who have followed him to his present location, advise him to take refuge, convincing him that this setup is his most perfect hideout. Albany's lawyer, Henry Rice, better known as "Counselor" (J. Carroll Naish), shows up periodically to keep him up to date of the police search. However, because Jane is bored with her present existence, she finds herself ignoring her boyfriend, Frank Martin (Johnny Downs), a young man closer to her age, and taking an interest in the new "house guest." Albany soon finds himself changing into a sentimentalist as the young boy Robert, who now hero worships him, invites him to join his G-Man organization with the other fellas, shortly before the police learn of his whereabouts.

Unlike certain themes regarding innocent people becoming hostages at gunpoint by a hardened criminal (and his gang) or an escaped convict, as with THE PETRIFIED FOREST (WB, 1936) with Humphrey Bogart as the hostages holder, HUNTED MEN gets to show off the human side to a tough guy with a price on his head. Somewhat predating Paramount's much more dramatic, and violent THE DESPERATE HOURS (1955) starring Humphrey Bogart playing once again a gang leader accompanied by two other convicts keeping a middle-class family hostages against their will, but in this case, having no remorse in what they have done nor what they are about to do. The major difference between HUNTED MEN and THE DESPERATE HOURS is its length. THE DESPERATE HOURS, at nearly two hours, stretches out its basic theme to a point while HUNTED MEN, a "B" film at a tight 65 minutes, appears to have all the ingredients, suspense, and fast-pacing along with a touch of sentimentality which does not get in the way of the plot, thus, making this a well-made "shoot 'em up" crime drama.

The supporting cast of familiar faces includes Anthony Quinn as "Mac," Regis Toomey as Donovan; with John Hamilton, Zeffie Tilbury and John Elliott. But this is Lloyd Nolan's show all the way, which makes it a shame that he never rose above the major ranks as his gangster contemporaries as Bogey, Robinson or Cagney, who, like them, is not only believable, but also convincing as well in doing comedy and good guy roles. HUNTED MEN might never win any awards nor immortality in cinema history, considering its unavailability on the television markets for many years now (such as WPIX, Channel 11, in New York City, where it used to be a late show favorite prior to 1972), but does present itself as to how good a "B" film can actually be. (**1/2)

Brother of Henry King, Louis was not a shining director, far from that, and that's certainly not with the Charlie Chan or Bulldog Drummond stuff that he was recognized, or remembered in any way. But let's be fair with him, during the late thirties, he gave us some thriiling crime dramas, action flcks that looked very like Warner Brothers features in terms of intensity and fast paced action stories. And the actors were Lloyd Nolan Tony Quinn, J Carrol Naish or Akim Tamiroff. Robert Florey did more or less the same for a short period of time. This one: HUNTED MEN, is the best example of what those movies were about. Short, tense, gritty. Don't miss them. Lloyd Nolan's character is very close to the Akim Tamiroff's one in DANGEROUS TO KNOW, from director Robert Florey. A gangster who encounters a turn in his emotional life. But not in the same manner, nor with the same kind of person.

Although only three previous reviews of this picture are provided here as this note is written, the film "Hunted Men" is pretty well covered by them. I felt unsatisfied with the film in general, both with the premise of the story and where it goes, and also with the Lloyd Nolan gangster character being so disgusting.

Taking Nolan first, it is difficult to fathom Nolan as such a rotten character being appreciated by his fans, both because he is such a cold-hearted mobster and because he additionally has such a lecherous eye for young girls about less than half his age. Of course, when this film was made Nolan was still developing a track record and a following. Sympathy seems to be requested for him as the film moves along, but giving it to him is a big step for the viewer... I couldn't go there. It was never made clear in the film why he became a badman, so because of that and his demonstrated bad behavior there is little reason for us to root for or even care about whether he can claim redemption. What's more, there really is no other person in the play that we are asked to care about, either. That Nolan lingers at the home for many days on end without any ramifications or local interest by anyone other than the two that know his secret seems a little unlikely.

The acting by the cast is sensitive and done well, but built-in energy is minimal. One further difficulty is that after the story gets rolling there is little variety in the way of locales to keep one's interest from dulling. Although Mary Carlisle headed the credits (for at the time of production she had a recognized name), her role, too, engenders little in the way of caring, either (Carlisle reportedly passed away in 2018 at age 104 years). The film was aptly pointed out by another reviewer as being ancestral to "Angels With Dirty Faces," and I might add possibly with a distant and older relative named "Petrified Forest." In summation, "Hunted Men" (not really apt for this film's title) is most interesting for seeing a relatively early Loyd Nolan in a role as a bad guy. It is well-acted by an earnest cast, but the story as told is only fair and the movie definitely stands in the B-picture line.

Gangster Lloyd Nolan kills a partner who has been cheating him. He's spotted, and has to go on the lam. He winds up in the home of Lynn Overman, where the exposure to their decent behavior slowly forces him to reevaluate himself.

The movie begins with an exciting opening, but it soon turns into a soggy, middle-class version of ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES. While the scenes with Mary Carlisle spoke to me, the scenes with Delmar Watson seemed forced. Nolan gives it his all, and his performance is up to his usual standards of excellence, his face showing the disjuncture between his behavior and his thoughts.

Most of the problems with this movie -- the subplot with Delmar Watson -- are due to a simplistic understanding of the issues of redemption which became popular in the years following the imposition of the Production Code. I believe in redemption, but the implications of this movie are so troubling as to render the circumstances of Nolan's potential redemption irrelevant. It supposes that Nolan is completely unaware of any world outside his narrow world of gangsters, gambling and night clubs. Apparently this character has been too busy killing people to listen to the radio or go to a movie.

The movie is not without its engaging points of interest. Nolan, as noted, gives a fine performance, and the other performers do likewise. However, the situation is so distinct from reality as to make the movie mediocre.

"Hunted Men" is not a bad film. But, it certainly was formulaic and schmaltzy. This is all the more obvious when you compare it to the similar classic film, "The Desperate Hours"...a film with pretty much the same plot but unlike "Hunted Men" it doesn't pull its punches.

When the story begins, mobster Joe Albany (Lloyd Nolan) confronts his business partner. It seems the guy's been embezzling...and soon this confrontation turns violent. Albany plugs the guy and almost immediately the police come looking for him. In desperation, Joe hides out with an unsuspecting family...and instead of leaving the next morning, things are still hot and Joe's right hand man tells him to stay put. So, Joe has no choice but to tell these nice folks who he is and that he's NOT leaving. And, if they tell the cops, Joe's men will make them pay!

Now this set-up is nearly exactly what's in "The Desperate Hours". But what happens next is a disappointment. While Joe is supposed to be a hardened criminal, the film tries to humanize him and make a sort of final redemption...something that just seemed false and a wimpy way out of a tough situation. In particular, the bits involving the 'cute kid' and Joe...well, they're just too saccharine to be believable. Still the basic plot IS very good....and you can see how they'd later recycle it and gave it a noir edge.