The Big Shakedown

B-movie without an original thought in its script. Naive protagonist used by some crooked hood. Check. Pretty ingénue who stands steadfastly by her man while hoping for domesticity. Check again. Wised up, gum chewing doll who gets double crossed, turns informant and pays a price. You bet. And on and on it goes. You can practically see the conventions of the genre click by as the picture unfolds.

It's not that the movie isn't entertaining if you like the formula but it holds zero surprises. The actors all do their jobs professionally. Charles Farrell, one of the better looking men to ever appear on screen, is earnest and callow in the lead but not very memorable. Ricardo Cortez, Allen Jenkins and many other familiar character actors whose livelihood during these years was playing hoods fill their roles expertly but again their roles are standard stuff. Also nobody could play the flashy moll like Glenda Farrell.

The only thing that makes this different than the hundreds of other programmers churned out by Hollywood during the thirties is the presence of a very young Bette Davis as the ingénue. She looks great in her extreme blondness and exudes her customary confidence on screen but her part is a nothing. It's no wonder she ultimately rebelled against Warners since they continued to stick her in junk like this even after she had attained star billing and an Oscar.