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IMDbPro

The Beast of the City

  • 1932
  • Passed
  • 1h 26m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
Jean Harlow and Wallace Ford in The Beast of the City (1932)
Film NoirCrimeDrama

Police Chief Jim Fitzpatrick ruthlessly goes after organized crime and is prepared to use brutal and violent methods to fight it.Police Chief Jim Fitzpatrick ruthlessly goes after organized crime and is prepared to use brutal and violent methods to fight it.Police Chief Jim Fitzpatrick ruthlessly goes after organized crime and is prepared to use brutal and violent methods to fight it.

  • Director
    • Charles Brabin
  • Writers
    • W.R. Burnett
    • Ben Hecht
    • John Lee Mahin
  • Stars
    • Walter Huston
    • Jean Harlow
    • Wallace Ford
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.7/10
    1.6K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Charles Brabin
    • Writers
      • W.R. Burnett
      • Ben Hecht
      • John Lee Mahin
    • Stars
      • Walter Huston
      • Jean Harlow
      • Wallace Ford
    • 39User reviews
    • 17Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos50

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    Top cast61

    Edit
    Walter Huston
    Walter Huston
    • Jim Fitzpatrick
    Jean Harlow
    Jean Harlow
    • Daisy Stevens
    Wallace Ford
    Wallace Ford
    • Ed Fitzpatrick
    Jean Hersholt
    Jean Hersholt
    • Sam Belmonte
    Dorothy Peterson
    Dorothy Peterson
    • Mary Fitzpatrick
    Tully Marshall
    Tully Marshall
    • Michaels
    John Miljan
    John Miljan
    • District Attorney
    Emmett Corrigan
    Emmett Corrigan
    • Chief of Police Burton
    Warner Richmond
    Warner Richmond
    • Tom
    Sandy Roth
    • Mac
    J. Carrol Naish
    J. Carrol Naish
    • Pietro Cholo
    Eddie Baker
    Eddie Baker
    • Detective
    • (uncredited)
    Elmer Ballard
    • Mayor
    • (uncredited)
    Sammy Blum
    Sammy Blum
    • Turnkey
    • (uncredited)
    Edward Brophy
    Edward Brophy
    • Police Dispatcher
    • (uncredited)
    Ed Cassidy
    Ed Cassidy
    • Policeman #5 on Telephone
    • (uncredited)
    Allan Cavan
    Allan Cavan
    • Pat - Car 47 Driver
    • (uncredited)
    Eddy Chandler
    Eddy Chandler
    • Joel - Policeman Outside Car 47
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Charles Brabin
    • Writers
      • W.R. Burnett
      • Ben Hecht
      • John Lee Mahin
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews39

    6.71.5K
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    Featured reviews

    Michael_Elliott

    Great Cast

    Beast of the City, The (1932)

    *** (out of 4)

    MGM gangster film shown from the point of view of the police. Capt. Fitzpatrick (Walter Huston) is out to bring down gangster Sam Belmonte (Jean Hersholt) but is sold out by his brother (Wallace Ford) who has fallen for the gangster's girl (Jean Harlow). This film is certainly a lot different than the Warner gangster pictures as it doesn't glamorize the gangsters but instead puts the spotlight on the public for allowing gangs to rule the streets. Huston is his usual fiery self and both Ford and Harlow shine in their supporting roles. The subplot between Ford and Harlow is a bit weak but it leads to a highly powerful ending, which is among one of the best scenes from all the gangster films from this period.
    boris-26

    Huston, Harlow and a Hail of Bullets!

    MGM tried to go for the hard edged style of Warner Brothers gangster films with this drama about a strict DA (Walter Huston making an amazing turn as a tough guy) looking to clean up the city. The film is stolen by Jean Harlow, as a loose woman luring Huston's rookie cop brother (Wallace Ford) down the highway to sin. Her `koochie-dance' she performs for Ford is quite the eyeful! And dig that vicious, mind bending ending!
    7whpratt1

    Harlow was Red Hot in 1932

    The blond bomb shell, Jean Harlow,(Daisy Stevens),"Reckless",'35 gave an outstanding performance and some of her outfits showed off all the wonderful things males love in a woman during the 1930's and still DO ! Walter Houston,(Capt. Jim Fitzpatrick),"The Great Sinner",'49, played a rough and tough Irish Captain who did not mess around with the mob and especially Jean Hersholt, who really did not fit very well in this role. Jean Hersholt played very few roles as the bad guy during the 1920's and 30's and was a good actor in the radio days. J. Carrol Naish,(Pietro Cholo),"The Beast With Five Fingers",'46, was very young and gave a great supporting role on his way to a fantastic career on the Silver Screen. The ending of this film is great and I thought it was very well directed and produced.
    mukava991

    watchable despite detours and occasional clunkiness

    Unlike most gangster films of the early 30s, this Hearst-produced item was fiercely on the side of the law (with a supporting quote by President Herbert Hoover directly following the opening credits), as personified by Walter Huston, as a charming "everyman" Irish cop with a weak-willed younger brother (Wallace Ford). Huston is a charming family man (extended scenes with his wife and children underscore this point, to distraction) who dedicates himself to wiping out crime in a generic, unnamed American city during Prohibition when bootleggers were the scourge of the nation. Ford, lured by gang moll Jean Harlow, gets mixed up with a crime syndicate (led by German-accented Jean Hersholt uncharacteristically cast as a loathsome Italian gangster). Harlow gets the best lines and is easily the most engaging element of the story. The resolution is earnest if technically clumsy and obvious, but with Harlow, Huston, Hersholt and Tully Marshall, who delivers a rousing courtroom monologue (not to mention a supporting role played by an 11-year-old Mickey Rooney), it's worth a look.
    dougdoepke

    Support Your Local Police

    The prologue says it all—people need to support the cops, not the gangsters. After all, it's 1932, the depths of the depression, and cops are seen by much of the public as enforcers of a broken system. Desperadoes like Dillinger, Baby-Face Nelson, and Bonnie & Clyde are romanticized as ordinary folks driven to robbing hated banks. At the same time, romanticizing films such as Public Enemy (1931) and Little Caesar (1931) are smash hits at the box-office. Tellingly, cops are depicted here as opposing a crime boss's (Belmonte) attempt to take over the city, not busting up strikes, enforcing repossessions, or chasing down dashing desperadoes.

    It's a pretty good crime movie up to the ridiculous climax, where the two sides look like warring armies engaged in a frontier showdown. Why a police chief would deploy his men so recklessly is a real stretch. But, never mind, since there's a metaphorical point at stake here —namely, that police will honorably and bravely defend families no matter the personal cost to them, much as seen in popular Western movies. As a result, what makes for a positive social message is seen in the shootout as not necessarily translating into persuasive cinema.

    Harlow makes for a convincing trollop—note her pre-Code liking for pain when properly done! Also, Walter Huston remains one of the fine forgotten actors from this period. Here, he again shows a real ability to convey strong emotion in an understated way. The movie also benefits from LA street locations. It's always a kick to see the styles and fashions from that long ago time. Anyway, taken in its time period, the movie remains very revealing in more ways than one.

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    Related interests

    Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep (1946)
    Film Noir
    James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Sharon Angela, Max Casella, Dan Grimaldi, Joe Perrino, Donna Pescow, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Tony Sirico, and Michael Drayer in The Sopranos (1999)
    Crime
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    Drama

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Mickey Rooney had just turned 11 years old when he played Walter Huston's young son in his first full-length sound feature film. His character's name is also "Mickey," and his first line is, "Say, those don't look like pancakes!"
    • Goofs
      When Ed and Daisy first kiss, in a medium shot, he's holding her head in the crook of his left arm, and her right had is on his side. In the next closer shot, his arm is down and her right hand is up on his lapel.
    • Quotes

      Daisy Stevens, aka Mildred Beaumont: [Ed grabs her arm tightly] Say! That hurts a little bit.

      Det. Ed Fitzpatrick: And you don't like to be hurt, do you?

      Daisy Stevens, aka Mildred Beaumont: Oh, I don't know.

      [Suggestively]

      Daisy Stevens, aka Mildred Beaumont: Kinda fun sometimes if it's done in the right spirit.

      Det. Ed Fitzpatrick: [Pushes her away] Get the beer!

    • Crazy credits
      Opening card: Instead of the glorification of cowardly gangsters, we need the glorification of policemen who do their duty and give their lives in public protection. If the police had the vigilant universal backing of the public opinion in their communities, if they had the implacable support of the prosecuting authorities and the courts, I am convinced that our police would stamp out the excessive crime, which had disgraced some of our great cities. ---- President Herbert Hoover
    • Connections
      Featured in Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell (1993)
    • Soundtracks
      Chopsticks
      (1877) (uncredited)

      Traditional piano tune

      Music by Euphemia Allen

      Played on piano by Betty Mae Crane and Beverly Crane

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 13, 1932 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • City Sentinels
    • Filming locations
      • 3849 Main Street, Culver City, California, USA(robbery at the Bank of America branch)
    • Production companies
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
      • Cosmopolitan Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $230,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 26m(86 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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