Another Face | |
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Directed by | Christy Cabanne |
Written by | |
Story by | |
Produced by | Cliff Reid |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Jack MacKenzie |
Edited by | George Hively |
Music by | Roy Webb |
Production company | |
Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 69-72 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Another Face (released in the UK as It Happened in Hollywood) [1] is a 1935 film directed by Christy Cabanne and starring Wallace Ford, Brian Donlevy and Phyllis Brooks. A wanted gangster has plastic surgery and becomes an actor.
Wanted by the police, murderer and gang leader Broken Nose Dawson (Brian Donlevy) goes to unscrupulous Dr. H. L. Buler (an uncredited Oscar Apfel) to have his appearance changed. Buler is assisted by nurse Mary McCall (Molly Lamont), who is aghast when she recognizes the patient. When Dawson heals, he is amazed by his new face; his underling, Muggsie Brown (Frank Mills, uncredited), remarks that he is now as handsome as a movie star.
Dawson sends Muggsie to eliminate Buler and McCall, then phones in an anonymous tip about his henchman to get rid of everyone who knows about his new appearance. Muggsie kills Buler and a nurse (only it is not McCall) and is in turn gunned down by the police. Frightened when she reads about the murders in the newspaper, McCall flees across the country.
Remembering Muggsie's comment, Dawson decides to become a movie star and moves to Hollywood, where he takes elocution lessons. Under the alias "Spencer Dutro", he gets hired to portray a gangster opposite top actress Sheila Barry (Phyllis Brooks) by director Bill Branch. Barry is unimpressed by Dutro's acting ability and inflated ego.
Meanwhile, Zenith Studio press agent Joe Haynes (Wallace Ford) is warned about his publicity stunts by Police Captain Spellman (an uncredited Charles Wilson). Studio general manager Charles L. Kellar (Alan Hale) agrees that Joe's zany antics have to stop.
Mary McCall calls on Haynes, sent by her fiance, Western star Tex Williams (Addison Randall), to get a job. She recognizes Dutro from publicity photos on Haynes' desk and tells Haynes who he is. When Dutro comes into the office, Haynes locks McCall in a closet for her safety. After getting Dutro to leave, however, Haynes decides not to call the police right away. He wants to milk the gangster's capture for all the publicity he can; Kellar reluctantly approves his plan.
Haynes arranges for everyone to work on the film that night, including an annoyed Barry (they were to fly to Yuma to get married). Things do not go quite as planned: when the police arrive, Dutro takes Barry hostage and flees. In the search of the studio grounds, Dutro also captures Haynes. When Dutro tries to leave a building and get to a car, Haynes pushes Barry outside and locks the door, with the two men inside. A chase ensues. In the end, Haynes manages to knock Dutro out, and is forgiven by Barry for his latest caper.
The Public Enemy is a 1931 American pre-Code gangster film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The film was directed by William A. Wellman and stars James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods, Donald Cook and Joan Blondell. The film relates the story of a young man's rise in the criminal underworld in prohibition-era urban America. The supporting players include Beryl Mercer, Murray Kinnell, and Mae Clarke. The screenplay is based on an unpublished novel—Beer and Blood by two former newspapermen, John Bright and Kubec Glasmon—who had witnessed some of Al Capone's murderous gang rivalries in Chicago. In 1998, The Public Enemy was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Wallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in Grand Hotel (1932), as Long John Silver in Treasure Island (1934), as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa! (1934), and his titular role in The Champ (1931), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Beery appeared in some 250 films during a 36-year career. His contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer stipulated in 1932 that he would be paid $1 more than any other contract player at the studio. This made Beery the highest-paid film actor in the world during the early 1930s. He was the brother of actor Noah Beery and uncle of actor Noah Beery Jr.
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The Finger Points is a 1931 American Pre-Code drama film directed by John Francis Dillon and written by John Monk Saunders, W.R. Burnett and Robert Lord. The film stars Richard Barthelmess, Fay Wray, Regis Toomey, Robert Elliott, Clark Gable, Oscar Apfel and Robert Gleckler. The film was released by Warner Bros. on April 11, 1931.
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