When a crusader against rackets is murdered, a grand jury battles the rackets by promoting McLaren to be in charge of the cleanup. He fires NYPD Detective Blake, who punches him and joins th... Read allWhen a crusader against rackets is murdered, a grand jury battles the rackets by promoting McLaren to be in charge of the cleanup. He fires NYPD Detective Blake, who punches him and joins the racket.When a crusader against rackets is murdered, a grand jury battles the rackets by promoting McLaren to be in charge of the cleanup. He fires NYPD Detective Blake, who punches him and joins the racket.
- Capt. Dan McLaren
- (as Joseph King)
- Ed Driscoll
- (as Richard Purcell)
- Clerk
- (uncredited)
- Prizefighter
- (uncredited)
- Grand Jury Woman
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJohnny Blake, played by Edward G. Robinson, was based on real-life New York City policeman Johnny Broderick (c.1896-1966) aka "The Duke" or "the toughest cop on Broadway", while Al Kruger, played by Barton MacLane, was based on notorious gangster Dutch Schultz.
- GoofsWhen Fenner and Kruger are in the theatre watching Ward Bryant's newsreel re-creation of mobsters collecting money from the nickel game machines, there are school children playing the machines. Later on in the real-world, when the police raid Schultz Drug Store and confiscate the nickel game machines, school children are also shown playing the machines. But the school children in the real world are the same ones used in the re-creation including wearing the same clothes.
- Quotes
Lee Morgan: Well, it's time you got wise to yourself. Around this town the only reason friends pat you on the back is to find an easy place to break it!
Johnny Blake: Yeah. You're a friend, aren't you?
Lee Morgan: Well, I guess you're dumb enough to think so.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Breakdowns of 1936 (1936)
*** (out of 4)
A hard boiled detective (Edward G. Robinson) gets kicked off the force so a gangster (Barton MacLane) hires him onto the underground. Robinson pretends to be telling them how to stay clear of getting busted but a second hand man (Humphrey Bogart) rightly suspects the detective of just being undercover. Here we have yet another gangster film from Warner and yet another winner as the film contains some very good performances, nice action and some true drama. The actual story of a cop going undercover is certainly nothing new and the film really doesn't hit on anything new but that really doesn't take away from any of the entertainment. The story this time out is also rather low key and we don't get any major action scenes but that's okay because the dialogue is strong enough as are the performances to give us the drama we need. Robinson turns in another fine performance as it's always nice seeing him play the hero. MacLane does a very good job in his role as the top guy and of course it's always fun seeing Bogart playing the second fiddle. Joan Blondell does a fine job as well even though her character, a numbers runner and friend to Robinson, is underwritten. Then for comic relief we get Frank McHugh but he too doesn't have that well of a written character. In terms of the Warner gangster films this certainly can't compare to Little Caesar, Angels with Dirty Faces or White Heat but on its own it's a nice little drama that has enough appeal to overcome its weaknesses.
- Michael_Elliott
- Jan 11, 2009
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Sindikat zločina
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $8,605
- Runtime1 hour 22 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1