Behind the Headlines (1937 film)

Last updated
Behind the Headlines
BehindTheHeadlines.poster.jpg
Lobby card for the film
Directed by Richard Rosson
Screenplay by Edmund Hartmann
J. Robert Bren
Story by Thomas Ahearn
Produced by Cliff Reid
Starring Lee Tracy
Diana Gibson
Cinematography Russell Metty
Edited by Harry Marker
Production
company
Release date
  • May 14, 1937 (1937-05-14)(US) [1]
Running time
60 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Behind the Headlines is a 1937 American drama film directed by Richard Rosson from a screenplay by Edmund Hartmann and J. Robert Bren, based on an original story by Thomas Ahearn. It was produced and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, who released the film on May 14, 1937. The film stars Lee Tracy and Diana Gibson, with a supporting cast which includes Donald Meek, Paul Guilfoyle, Philip Huston and Frank M. Thomas.

Contents

Plot

Eddie Haines (Lee Tracy) is a big-city radio reporter, known for his on-the-scene reporting. He does it with a backpack radio and lapel microphone. His associate, Tiny (Tom Kennedy), relays Haines' reports to the station with a radio-equipped car. Haines is romantically involved with a reporter for the Star newspaper, Mary Bradley (Diana Gibson), whom he constantly scoops. Frustrated by this, Mary steals the pack radio and hides it in her car.

Haines leaves his jacket with the microphone in a room where gangster Art Martin (Paul Guilfoyle) and his crew are planning to rob a government gold shipment to the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox. Haines and Tiny overhear their plan, but so does Mary, eavesdropping on them. She goes to phone the Star with the story, but first encounters Potter (Donald Meek), a Federal officer she had met before.

Potter tells her that the Feds are onto the plot, and to kill her story. He offers in return to bring her along on the operation, and they drive to Louisville in her car. There he turns her over to Martin and his gang: Potter is actually the mastermind of the plot. Haines and Tiny had tried to follow Martin from the meeting, but he evaded them.

The gang successfully ambush and capture the armored truck carrying the gold, with Potter and Mary looking on from her car; then all of them drive to Potter's cave hide-out. During the ambush, Mary secretly drops her inscribed watch (a gift from Haines) on the roadside.

Back east, Mary's editor thinks Haines has kidnapped her, but Haines sees a ticker report about the watch found at the crime scene, and they join forces with the Feds in Kentucky. Haines inquires among local associates of his underworld acquaintances back east, but they know nothing.

In the cave, Mary takes to playing music on her car's console radio. Under cover of this, she uses the pack radio stolen from Haines to call for help. Her call interferes with the broadcast of the Kentucky Derby, and is overheard by Haines in a bar. When she calls again, Federal agents locate her approximate position by radio direction finding.

Feds and state police surround the area, while Tiny cruises overhead in the Goodyear blimp, listening for more calls from Mary. She gets off another call, and he hears and traces it.

Potter spots the pack radio, but Mary grabs it and locks herself in the armored truck, still broadcasting, leading Tiny to the track leading into the cave. The gang try to open the truck with a cutting torch, but the Feds arrive in time to save Mary. Haines embraces her, and puts her on the air to tell her story, but she tells the audience to read it in the Star.

Cast

(Cast list as per AFI film database) [1]

Reception

Harrison's Reports gave the film a mostly positive review. Although they felt the story was a bit "farfetched", they thought the film was well-paced, with plenty of excitement, and an appropriate amount of humor interspersed throughout. [2] The Film Daily gave it a positive review, referring to it as an exciting thriller, and especially lauding the performance of Tracy, calling him "effervescent and dynamic". They also praised Gibson and Meek's performances, as well as Rosson's direction. [3] Modern Screen gave it a less enthusiastic review, rating it at 2 out of 4 stars. They thought it was a run of the mill melodrama, only made worthwhile by the performances of Tracy and Gibson. They were also impressed with the acting of Meek, Hudson, Guilfoyle, and Kennedy. [4] Motion Picture Daily was even less kind, calling the film's plot "far-fetched", and saying it was "just another film", good only as a second-feature. [5] The Motion Picture Herald gave the film a very positive review, saying it "is fast-paced melodrama that never lets you down and builds to a most exciting climax." The Herald praised Tracy, and were particularly impressed with Gibson. They felt the weak point was casting Meek as the villain, although they felt he handled the role capably. [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Libeled Lady</i> 1936 film by Jack Conway

Libeled Lady is a 1936 screwball comedy film starring Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Spencer Tracy, written by George Oppenheimer, Howard Emmett Rogers, Wallace Sullivan, and Maurine Dallas Watkins, and directed by Jack Conway. This was the fifth of fourteen films in which Powell and Loy were teamed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Harlow</span> American actress (1911–1937)

Jean Harlow was an American actress. Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930s and one of the defining figures of the pre-Code era of American cinema. Often nicknamed the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde", Harlow was popular for her "Laughing Vamp" screen persona. Harlow was in the film industry for only nine years, but she became one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars, whose image in the public eye has endured. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Harlow number 22 on its greatest female screen legends of classical Hollywood cinema list.

<i>Mahogany</i> (film) 1975 film by Berry Gordy

Mahogany is a 1975 American romantic drama film directed by Berry Gordy and produced by Motown Productions. The Motown founder Gordy took over the film direction after British filmmaker Tony Richardson was dismissed from the film. Mahogany stars Diana Ross as Tracy Chambers, a struggling fashion design student who rises to become a popular fashion designer in Rome. It was released on October 8, 1975. The soundtrack included the single "Theme from Mahogany", which peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1976.

<i>Tumbleweeds</i> (1999 film) 1999 film by Gavin OConnor

Tumbleweeds is a 1999 American comedy-drama film directed by Gavin O'Connor. O'Connor co-wrote the screenplay with his then-wife Angela Shelton, based on Shelton's childhood memories spent on the road with her serial-marrying mother. It stars Janet McTeer, Kimberly J. Brown and Jay O. Sanders.

<i>Bombshell</i> (1933 film) 1933 film

Bombshell is a 1933 American pre-Code romantic screwball comedy film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan, C. Aubrey Smith, Mary Forbes and Franchot Tone. It is based on the unproduced play of the same name by Caroline Francke and Mack Crane, and was adapted for the screen by John Lee Mahin and Jules Furthman.

<i>State of the Union</i> (film) 1948 film by Frank Capra

State of the Union is a 1948 drama film directed by Frank Capra about a man’s desire to run for the nomination as the Republican candidate for President, and the machinations of those around him. The New York Times described it as "a slick piece of screen satire...sharper in its knife-edged slicing at the hides of pachyderm schemers and connivers than was the original." The film was written by Myles Connolly and Anthony Veiller and was based on the 1945 Russel Crouse, Howard Lindsay Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joyce Compton</span> American actress (1907–1997)

Olivia Joyce Compton was an American actress.

<i>Keeper of the Flame</i> (film) 1943 film by George Cukor

Keeper of the Flame is a 1942 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) drama film directed by George Cukor, and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn.

<i>The Terror of Tiny Town</i> 1938 American Western film

The Terror of Tiny Town is a 1938 American musical Western film produced by Jed Buell, directed by Sam Newfield and starring Billy Curtis. The film was shot at a sound studio in Hollywood and partly at Placeritos Ranch in Placerita Canyon, California. The inspiration came when Buell overheard an employee jokingly say "If this economic dive keeps going, we'll be using midgets as actors".

<i>Flight from Glory</i> 1937 film by Lew Landers

Flight from Glory is an American B movie about a run-down air cargo company in the Andes. It was directed by Lew Landers, and starred Chester Morris, Whitney Bourne, Onslow Stevens and Van Heflin. When released on August 20, 1937, Flight from Glory was considered one of the films that broke new ground in "pioneering airline sagas", comparing favorably to big-budget features such as 1936's Thirteen Hours by Air.

<i>The Women</i> (1939 film) 1939 film by George Cukor

The Women is a 1939 American comedy-drama film directed by George Cukor. The film is based on Clare Boothe Luce's 1936 play of the same name, and was adapted for the screen by Anita Loos and Jane Murfin, who had to make the film acceptable for the Production Code for it to be released.

<i>Sunset Range</i> 1935 film by Ray McCarey

Sunset Range is a 1935 American Western film set in modern times directed by Ray McCarey and starring Hoot Gibson. The film received a mostly positive reception, with praise for Gibson's acting and delivery of humor in what was his first western film in two years.

<i>The Philadelphia Story</i> (play) 1939 play by Philip Barry

The Philadelphia Story is a 1939 American comic play by Philip Barry. It tells the story of a socialite whose wedding plans are complicated by the simultaneous arrival of her ex-husband and an attractive journalist. Written as a vehicle for Katharine Hepburn, its success marked a reversal of fortunes for the actress, who was one of the film stars deemed "box office poison" in 1938.

<i>Social Briars</i> 1918 American silent comedy-drama film

Social Briars is a 1918 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Henry King and starring Mary Miles Minter. The story was by Jeanne Judson, and it was filmed under the working title of "The Greater Call." As with many of Minter's features, it is thought to be a lost film.

<i>Criminal Lawyer</i> (1937 film) 1937 American drama film directed by Christy Cabanne

Criminal Lawyer is a 1937 American drama film directed by Christy Cabanne from a screenplay by G. V. Atwater and Thomas Lennon, based on a story by Louis Stevens. The film stars Lee Tracy, Margot Grahame and Eduardo Ciannelli. RKO produced the film and premiered it on January 26, 1937, in New York City, with a national release a few days later on January 29. It was the second time Stevens' story had been used for a film, the first being 1932's State's Attorney, starring John Barrymore and Helen Twelvetrees, directed by George Archainbaud, and also produced and released by RKO.

Double Danger is a 1938 American crime drama directed by Lew Landers, using a screenplay by Arthur T. Horman and J. Robert Bren based on Horman's story. The film stars Preston Foster and Whitney Bourne, with supporting roles by Donald Meek and Samuel S. Hinds. Produced by RKO Radio Pictures, it was released on January 28, 1938.

<i>China Passage</i> 1937 American mystery film directed by Edward Killy

China Passage is a 1937 American mystery film directed by Edward Killy from a screenplay by Edmund L. Hartmann and J. Robert Bren, based on a story by Taylor Caven. RKO Radio Pictures produced the film, which stars Constance Worth, Vinton Haworth, Leslie Fenton and Gordon Jones. Haworth was injured in an automobile accident in January 1937, delaying the film's released until March 12, 1937.

<i>Danger Patrol</i> 1937 film directed by Lew Landers

Danger Patrol is a 1937 American drama film directed by Lew Landers from a screenplay by Sy Bartlett based on a story by Helen Vreeland and Hilda Vincent. Produced and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, it was released on December 3, 1937, and stars Sally Eilers, John Beal, and Harry Carey.

<i>Behind the Mike</i> (film) 1937 American comedy film directed by Sidney Salkow

Behind the Mike is a 1937 American comedy film directed by Sidney Salkow, which stars William Gargan, Judith Barrett, Don Wilson, and Sterling Holloway. The screenplay was written by Barry Trivers from a story by Thomas Ahearn and Walton Butterfield. The film was released on September 26, 1937.

The Satin Girl is a 1923 American silent drama film directed by Arthur Rosson and starring Mabel Forrest, Norman Kerry and Marc McDermott. The main themes of the film are amnesia and brainwashing. Lenore Vance, the main character, loses her memory due to shock. A wicked uncle reprograms her into a robber.

References

  1. 1 2 "Behind the Headlines: Detail View". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on April 1, 2014. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
  2. ""Behind the Headlines" with Lee Tracy and Diana Gibson". Harrison's Reports. June 12, 1937. p. 95. Retrieved August 31, 2015. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  3. "Behind the Headlines". The Film Daily. June 3, 1937. p. 8. Retrieved August 31, 2015. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  4. "Behind the Headlines". Modern Screen. August 1937. p. 94. Retrieved August 31, 2015. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  5. "Behind the Headlines". Motion Picture Daily. May 18, 1937. p. 8. Retrieved August 31, 2015. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  6. "Behind the Headlines". Motion Picture Herald. June 12, 1937. p. 84. Retrieved August 31, 2015. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg