Wild Company

1930's "Wild Company" was an early talkie attempt at the generation gap, a rare starring role for Frank Albertson, remembered as the rich oil magnate flirting with Janet Leigh 30 years later in "Psycho." Larry Grayson (Albertson) and his younger sister (Joyce Compton) spend their evenings out partying, much to the consternation of their wealthy politician father (H. B. Warner) and doting mother (Claire McDowell), but when Larry falls for a singer (Sharon Lynn) known for her association with notorious gangster Joe Hardy (Kenneth Thomson), his father decides the time has come to limit Larry's resources. However, it's already too late, as Hardy plots to rob the Skyrocket nightclub, firmly believing that if Larry is involved, his father will try to hush it up. Rifling the safe, Hardy is interrupted by the club's owner, Felix Brown (Bela Lugosi), who, despite pleading for his life, is gunned down for his troubles, with Larry just outside the door, and his father present to see his beloved son sneaking out the window. Yes, the latter portions do become preachy, but it was a different time then. Sharon Lynn is best remembered as James Finlayson's chanteuse wife in Laurel and Hardy's "Way Out West," and there is a brief unbilled appearance from Grady Sutton, flirting with Larry's sister (he too worked with Laurel and Hardy, as well as W. C. Fields). Lugosi, again employed at Fox in those early days prior to "Dracula," has only a few minutes of screen time, and gets bumped off 22 minutes before the end of this 73 minute feature. H. B. Warner, who had played Christ in 1927's "King of Kings," would later work with Boris Karloff in 1931's "Five Star Final."