Smart Money (1931 film)

Last updated

Smart Money
Smart Money 1931 Poster.jpg
theatrical release poster
Directed by Alfred E. Green
Written byScreen story and dialogue:
Kubec Glasmon
John Bright
Lucien Hubbard
Joseph Jackson
Produced byAlfred E. Green (uncredited)
Starring Edward G. Robinson
James Cagney
Evalyn Knapp
Margaret Livingston
Noel Francis
Boris Karloff
Cinematography Robert Kurrle
Edited by Jack Killifer
Music by Leo F. Forbstein
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • July 11, 1931 (1931-07-11)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Smart Money is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film produced and distributed by Warner Bros., directed by Alfred E. Green, and starring Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney. It is the only occasion Robinson and Cagney appeared in a film together, despite being the two leading actors, mainly portraying gangsters, at Warner Bros. studios throughout the 1930s. Smart Money was shot after Robinson's signature film Little Caesar had been released and during the filming of Cagney's breakthrough performance in The Public Enemy , which is how Cagney came to play a supporting role.

Contents

The supporting cast includes Evalyn Knapp, Margaret Livingston (the "Woman from the City" in F. W. Murnau's 1927 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans ), and an unbilled but prominently featured Boris Karloff, who portrayed the monster in Frankenstein later the same year.

The writing team of Lucien Hubbard and Joseph Jackson [1] were nominated at the 4th Academy Awards in the now defunct Best Story category.

Plot

Nick Venizelos, a prosperous small-town barber, provides his customers with gambling in his back room. He is so lucky that one suggests he go to the big city to take on famous gambler named Hickory Short. Not lacking in self-confidence, Nick puts up half of the $10,000 stake himself, while the others raise the rest. He leaves the shop under the supervision of his assistant, Jack, and takes the train into the city.

He learns from Marie, the pretty blonde working at the hotel cigar stand, where Hickory is holding his illegal, high-stakes poker game. Nick sits down at the game, but loses all his money. Later, however, he sees a newspaper article reporting that the real Hickory Short has just been released from prison far away in Florida. The man he thought was Hickory is actually conman Sleepy Sam, and Marie is his girlfriend and accomplice. When Nick foolishly tries to get his money back, Sleepy Sam and the other fake poker players beat him up. After he gets out of the hospital, he vows to get revenge.

Nick goes back to barbering and raises another stake. Six months later, he tracks down Sleepy Sam and his gang in another city. He proposes a one-on-one game, each man putting up $50,000 and playing until one man has all the money. Sam accepts. Nick insists on sending out for fresh decks of cards, just to be safe. When Nick wins and tries to leave, the con artists reach for their guns, but Jack and another man burst in with their guns already drawn. Nick then gloats, pointing out that he simply cheated better than Sam by using shaved cards.

Nick becomes very successful. He finally gets to play the real Hickory Short; a Walter Winchell column reports the rumor that Nick beat Hickory to the tune of $300,000. Nick becomes the king of illegal gambling in the city, with Jack as his right-hand man.

However, he still has a weakness for women, particularly blondes. As they are driving by, they are stopped and asked to take a young woman who has been fished half drowned out of the river to the hospital. Irene revives during the ride, but Nick insists she stay at his mansion until she is fully recovered, over the very suspicious Jack's protests. Eventually, she is so touched by Nick's kindness, she confesses she is fleeing from a charge of blackmail, but he is unconcerned.

Nick is so brazen that public outrage puts pressure on District Attorney Black, who is up for re-election soon. He has Irene picked up. Black threatens to prosecute her unless she cooperates in incriminating Nick, but she refuses at first. Finally, he gets her to agree to put a racing form in Nick's coat, which will be enough to put Nick in jail for a month. Jack finds out, but when he tries to warn his friend, Nick becomes furious and knocks him to the floor. The police raid the illegal casino, and Black arrests Nick. Then they discover that Jack is dead. Aghast, Irene begs Nick for forgiveness, which he generously gives. He is sentenced to ten years. As he is boarding the train to go to prison, he offers to bet that he will be out in five.

Cast

Production

Home media

Smart Money was released on DVD by Warner Bros in 2008, and featured an audio commentary by Alain Silver & James Ursini.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Cagney</span> American actor and dancer (1899–1986)

James Francis Cagney Jr. was an American actor, dancer and film director. On stage and in film, he was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances. Cagney is remembered for playing multifaceted tough guys in films such as The Public Enemy (1931), Taxi! (1932), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), The Roaring Twenties (1939), City for Conquest (1940) and White Heat (1949), finding himself typecast or limited by this reputation earlier in his career. He was able to negotiate dancing opportunities in his films and ended up winning the Academy Award for his role in the musical Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). In 1999 the American Film Institute ranked him eighth on its list of greatest male stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Orson Welles described him as "maybe the greatest actor who ever appeared in front of a camera".

<i>The Public Enemy</i> 1931 film

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".

<i>Yankee Doodle Dandy</i> 1942 film by Michael Curtiz

Yankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 American biographical musical film about George M. Cohan, known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway". It stars James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, and Richard Whorf, and features Irene Manning, George Tobias, Rosemary DeCamp, Jeanne Cagney, and Vera Lewis. Joan Leslie's singing voice was partially dubbed by Sally Sweetland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward G. Robinson</span> Romanian-American actor (1893–1973)

Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-American actor of stage and screen, who was popular during Hollywood's Golden Age. He appeared in 30 Broadway plays and more than 100 films during a 50-year career and is best remembered for his tough-guy roles as gangsters in such films as Little Caesar and Key Largo. During his career, Robinson received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in House of Strangers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Raft</span> American actor (1901–1980)

George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembered for his gangster roles in Quick Millions (1931) with Spencer Tracy, Scarface (1932) with Paul Muni, Each Dawn I Die (1939) with James Cagney, Invisible Stripes (1939) with Humphrey Bogart, and Billy Wilder's comedy Some Like It Hot (1959) with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon; and as a dancer in Bolero (1934) with Carole Lombard and a truck driver in They Drive by Night (1940) with Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino and Bogart.

<i>Saratoga Trunk</i> 1945 film by Sam Wood

Saratoga Trunk is a 1945 American Western film directed by Sam Wood and starring Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, and Flora Robson. Written by Casey Robinson, based on the novel Saratoga Trunk by Edna Ferber, the film is about a Texas gambler and the daughter of a Creole aristocrat and his beautiful mistress. They become lovers and work together to seek justice from a society that has ruined their parents and rejected them. The title of the film and novel has a dual meaning. Clio says at one point that she thought a Saratoga trunk had to do with luggage, not a railroad line. It meant both. Saratoga trunks were top of the line for elegant travelers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Litel</span> American actor (1892–1972)

John Beach Litel was an American film and television actor.

<i>The Strawberry Blonde</i> 1941 American romantic comedy film by Raoul Walsh

The Strawberry Blonde is a 1941 American romantic comedy film directed by Raoul Walsh, starring James Cagney and Olivia de Havilland, and featuring Rita Hayworth, Alan Hale, Jack Carson, and George Tobias. Set in New York City around 1900, it features songs of that era such as "The Band Played On", "Bill Bailey", "Meet Me in St. Louis, Louie", "Wait Till The Sun Shines Nellie", and "Love Me and the World Is Mine". It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1941 for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture. The title is most often listed beginning with the word The, but the film's posters and promotional materials called it simply Strawberry Blonde.

<i>Blonde Crazy</i> 1931 film

Blonde Crazy is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic comedy-drama film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Noel Francis, Louis Calhern, Ray Milland, and Guy Kibbee. The film is notable for one of Cagney's lines, a phrase often repeated by celebrity impersonators: "That dirty, double-crossin' rat!"

<i>The House Across the Bay</i> 1940 American film

The House Across the Bay is a 1940 film directed by Archie Mayo, starring George Raft and Joan Bennett, produced by Walter Wanger, written by Myles Connolly and Kathryn Scola, and released by United Artists. The supporting cast features Lloyd Nolan, Walter Pidgeon and Gladys George.

<i>Taxi!</i> 1932 film

Taxi! is a 1932 American pre-Code film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring James Cagney and Loretta Young.

<i>Side Show</i> (film) 1931 film

Side Show is a 1931 American pre-Code musical comedy drama film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Winnie Lightner, Charles Butterworth, Evalyn Knapp and Donald Cook. It was produced and released by Warner Bros. The film was based on a story by William K. Wells. Although it was planned and filmed as a full-scale musical, most of the songs were cut from the film before release due to the public tiring of musicals.

<i>Brother Orchid</i> 1940 film by Lloyd Bacon

Brother Orchid is a 1940 American crime/comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Edward G. Robinson, Ann Sothern and Humphrey Bogart, with featured performances by Donald Crisp, Ralph Bellamy and Allen Jenkins. The screenplay was written by Earl Baldwin, with uncredited contributions from Jerry Wald and Richard Macauley, based on a story by Richard Connell originally published in Collier's Magazine on May 21, 1938. Prior to the creation of the movie version of Connell's story, a stage adaptation was written by playwright/novelist Leo Brady. The script was originally produced at Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

<i>White Heat</i> 1949 American film noir directed by Raoul Walsh

White Heat is a 1949 American film noir directed by Raoul Walsh and starring James Cagney, Virginia Mayo and Edmond O'Brien.

Seton Ingersoll Miller was an American screenwriter and producer. During his career, he worked with film directors such as Howard Hawks and Michael Curtiz. Miller received two Oscar nominations and won once for Best Screenplay for fantasy romantic comedy film Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) along with Sidney Buchman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evalyn Knapp</span> American actress (1906–1981)

Evalyn Knapp was an American film actress of the late 1920s, 1930s and into the 1940s. She was a leading B-movie serial actress in the 1930s. She was the younger sister of the orchestra leader Orville Knapp.

<i>The Millionaire</i> (1931 film) 1931 film

The Millionaire is a 1931 all-talking pre-Code comedy film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and starring George Arliss in the title role. The film is a remake of the 1922 film titled The Ruling Passion, which also starred Arliss. The film was based on the short story "Idle Hands" by Earl Derr Biggers. In one of his early film roles, James Cagney had a brief but key appearance as a life insurance salesman. The supporting cast features Florence Arliss, David Manners, Evalyn Knapp, Noah Beery Sr., Cagney, J. Farrell MacDonald, Charley Grapewin and Tully Marshall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralf Harolde</span> American actor (1899–1974)

Ralf Harolde was an American character actor who often played gangsters. Between 1920 and 1963, he appeared in 99 films, including Smart Money with Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney, Jimmy the Gent with James Cagney and Bette Davis, Night Nurse with Barbara Stanwyck and Clark Gable, I'm No Angel with Mae West, Baby Take a Bow with Shirley Temple, A Tale of Two Cities with Ronald Colman, Our Relations with Laurel and Hardy, and Murder, My Sweet with Dick Powell.

<i>Silver River</i> (film) 1948 film by Raoul Walsh

Silver River is a 1948 American western film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan and Thomas Mitchell. The film is based on a Stephen Longstreet story that was turned into a novel. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros.

<i>Mothers Cry</i> 1930 film

Mothers Cry is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film released by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., and directed by Hobart Henley. The movie stars Dorothy Peterson, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Evalyn Knapp and Sidney Blackmer. The film is based on the popular novel of the same name written by Helen Grace Carlisle.

References

  1. "The 4th Academy Awards (1931) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . AMPAS. Retrieved April 6, 2014.