Polly puts herself in a cage as a gangster’s bird, ready to sing to the police when she discovers who is responsible for her brother’s murder. Edward Cline’s direction is stolid as is Alice White as Polly, both rather straightforward without being overly dramatic and maudlin. But it’s DP Sol Polito that really makes this film come alive with great compositions and tracking shots. For example, in the first act when Polly’s brother leaves the apartment for work, the camera pans downward from a third story window to see him from an extreme high angle shot. As he looks upwards towards the camera (his sister’s POV) a speeding car screeches to a halt next to him and he’s gunned down on the busy street. Polito shoots the film in busy crowd scenes often with a moving camera which is uncommon in early sound films. The opening credit sequence is also strangely without music, as the story begins overlayed with the credits sans soundtrack.
The story is a bit convoluted and I’m wondering if a transition scene or two was excised when this film was edited from a musical down to its bare boned narrative. As the film begins, Polly is living with a man named Jimmy (Harold Goodwin) and they banter back and forth about losing his detective job. When he leaves the apartment, they hug and he pats her on the back instead of a kissing; turns out, they’re brother and sister! Then another fact is revealed later: Jimmy assumed the identity of his target Swifty Dorgan who jumped from a boat and was presumed dead. So, we eventually deduce that this is the reason Jimmy was killed early in the film and, when Swifty (Neil Hamilton) actually shows up, Polly is between a rock and a harder place! Interesting note: did Swifty belong to the burgeoning Nazi Party? There are two scenes that depict Swifty’s travel case which is adorned with the Swastika. The film is 1930 which is a few years before it became the national symbol of hatred, but the Nazi’s appropriated the swastika as early as 1920. Though the symbol has centuries of positive meaning before it was bastardized, in 1930 the symbol would have been recognized as political. This gives another insight into Swifty’s character, maybe a guy who eventually does the right thing…but for what purpose?
In retrospect, the film is best remembered for Edward G. Robinson’s performance just before his breakthrough role in LITTLE CAESAR the next year. His cigar chomping, guttural verbosity and strident posturing are already evident and in-character! The denouement is exceptional as Edward G. as the antagonist is almost gunned down in a hail of lead. However, Sol Polito films this sequence entirely with spotlights in a darkened room, balancing the suspense and drama perfectly. It’s truly an incredibly composed sequence and one that should be preserved with a better print than the one in circulation. I would love to have this on Blu-ray! The current print runs at just over an hour but it seems a few musical numbers were cut-out prior to initial release. Which may explain why there is no soundtrack to the film at all, except for a few diegetic cues.
Final Grade: (B-)