Day of Reckoning

A young husband has his DAY OF RECKONING when he's sent to prison for embezzlement.

Fine performances raise what is essentially a soap opera above its material and provides some dandy entertainment along the way. While the subplots grow a little thick, all is resolved in time for an idyllic, if somewhat bittersweet, ending.

Leading man Richard Dix sheds his usual in-charge persona for a much more vulnerable characterization. Although they share few scenes, he is given firm support by perky Una Merkel playing his devoted Southern maid. She easily upstages pretty Madge Evans as Dix's conflicted wife. Stalwart Stuart Erwin plays the friendly milkman in love with Merkel.

Some fine character actors do quite well in smaller roles. Conway Tearle is the family friend who takes advantage of Dix's absence. Isabel Jewell is properly distraught as Tearle's former mistress. Raymond Hatton is effective as a prison trustee who befriends Dix. James Bell is noteworthy as a prisoner driven crazy by worry over his wife's supposed infidelity. Samuel S. Hinds manages to become suitably repellent in his brief screen time as a crooked lawyer. Tiny Spanky McFarland, of OUR GANG fame, turns on the charm as Dix's infant son.

Movie mavens will recognize an unbilled Clarence Wilson as a bail bondsman.

Day of Reckoning (1933)

*** (out of 4)

Highly entertaining pre-code from MGM about a loving husband (Richard Dix) who embezzles some money in order to keep his shop-happy wife (Madge Evans) into the things she needs. The husband gets sent away for two years and while the maid (Una Merkel) is busy taking care of the two kids, the wife is out doing other things. There's a lot more details to the plot but I'm going to quit there because the twists are so good that there's really no point in ruining them for those unfamiliar with the picture. It's always great fun when a film buff can see a forgotten movie and then go out and sing its praises and DAY OF RECKONING is just the type of film that deserves to be rediscovered. I'm sure most people are familiar with the always fun Dix but this here is without question one of the best performances I've seen from him. This character goes through quite a bit in the picture and I thought Dix was incredibly sympathetic but when he "snaps" you can believe and see the rage and anger in his eyes. Evans is also extremely entertaining as the wife and there's no question that Conway Tearle makes for a great villain. Merkel steals nearly every scenes she's in as the loving maid and manages to bring some laughs. Classic film fans will also recognize Raymond Hatton, Paul Hurst, George 'Spanky' McFarland and D.W. Griffith regular Wilfred Lucas can be briefly spotted. The screenplay certainly doesn't fall into the "B" movie traps and instead it stays original throughout and manages to throw a couple nice twists at the viewer as well. One of the best moments in the film is when the maid and her boyfriend are trying to write a letter and there's a baby in the sequence. It appears the baby is acting up and not really behaving like she's supposed to but it's rather cute seeing that the director just let it go and had the actors deal with it the best way that they could. DAY OF RECKONING is one of hundreds of films that have been forgotten but if you're a fan of classic dramas then it's a must see.

Richard Dix's whole universe is turned upside down in this pre-Code drama Day Of Reckoning. Wife Madge Evans is a good soul, but a spendthrift and Dix's gets caught for embezzling company funds and gets two years of county time for the deed.

That's enough time villain Conway Tearle figures he has to move in on Madge Evans. He's a friend and neighbor of Dix whose hormones have been pining away for Evans for some time. Tearle even pays for Samuel S. Hinds to be Dix's lawyer to throw the case. And Hinds in his couple of scenes stands out.

Providing a bit of comic relief and stalwart support for Dix and Evans are maid Una Merkel and her boyfriend the milkman Stu Erwin. Isabell Jewell as Tearle's mistress whom he throws over for Evans has some real bite in her scenes.

Life does take a funny old bounce as Tearle and Dix are together for a really thrilling climax. Day Of Reckoning is something these two most definitely have.

As for the film, a bit melodramatic, but the ensemble cast really delivers in this one.

If you like Classic Films with great actors, try to catch this film on TV. Richard Dix(John Day),"The Secret of the Whistler,'46 was a man wrongfully accused and sent to prison, his wife (Madge Evans), "Army Girl",'38 was fooling around and was killed and his children were left in the care of Una Merkel (Mamie),"SpinOut",'66,who talks with a very high pitched voice and very dippy. Una Merkel was a film actress from the early 20's, 30's and 40's and could play any role she was offered to perfection. There are actual outdoor scenes of John Day fighting above the streets of Los Angeles on roof tops and lots of model T Fords running all around throughout the city. If you look close, you will see a great film actor when he was young, Raymond Hatten (Hart) who appeared in 349 films, one "Shake, Rattle & Rock" '56. Samuel S. Hines,(O'Farrell),"Bed of Roses", who also appeared in many great Classic films, appeared in 210 films. If you love Richard Dix as the "Whistler" on Radio and TV, this is your kind of movie.

Richard Dix as wealthy John Day is celebrating his birthday with his wife Dorothy (Madge Evans) and their friends. But there is trouble brewing. In the opening scene the milkman (Stuart Erwin as Jerry) has been instructed not to give the Days any more milk until the bill is paid up, which Dorothy makes excuses for, yet she still manages to keep a recently purchased expensive evening gown. The cops break up the celebration and arrest John for embezzlement, which he minimizes as just some kind of misunderstanding. It is - other people don't seem to understand that John has taken to "borrowing" money that is not his to satisfy his wife's expensive tastes.

The Days soon find out who their friends are as John doesn't even have the money to make bail. The only person who will help them is Hollins (Conway Tearle). However, his motivation is to keep John in jail so he can have his way with John's beautiful wife. He pays off a crooked lawyer to do just a bad enough job that John gets two years in the county jail when normally he would have gotten probation.

Dorothy talks the talk of the loyal wife, but she likes Hollins' gifts. Two years gives Hollins just enough time for Dorothy to forget John, have his way with her for awhile, and then discard her. However, Hollins' plot is not foolproof. You see, he has a recently discarded mistress, she does not like being replaced by Dorothy, plus she apparently has access to firearms. I'll let you watch and see how this all works out.

This love quadrangle - John, Dorothy, Hollins, the discarded mistress - and the story behind somebody in jail who is loyal to John beyond reason (Raymond Hatton as Hart) would take at least 90 minutes to flesh out halfway properly, but this was probably a second bill film so 68 minutes is all we are allowed. As a result, I felt like I had really been rushed through a story I didn't truly understand.

Now for the bright side - Una Merkel as Mamie, the Days' loyal servant, who somehow manages to keep everything going for the Days' two very small children, nursing them in sickness, and even bringing them to the yard in front of the jail so John can see his children. She is much more of a mom to these kids than their actual mother. Then there is the sweet romance that brews between Mamie and Jerry the milkman. You know how Jerry feels upfront, but you are not sure just how serious Mamie is until the very end. In this film that is a sea of characters who have bad intentions or at least bad actions, Mamie and Jerry are a breath of fresh air and actually take up more screen time than Richard Dix gets.

I'd recommend it, but just remember this little precode was probably never intended to be an A list film.