The Murder Man (1935)

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Copyright 15 July 1935 by Metro Goldwyn Mayer Corp. New York opening at the Capitol: 26 July 1935. U.S. release: 12 July 1935. Australian release: 1 April 1936. 7 reels. 70 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Who killed a racketeering investment broker? His partner? A disgruntled client? A discarded lady? A rival "businessman"?COMMENT: "A"-grade murder mystery which plays scrupulously fair to its viewers. In fact, I would say it's too fair, as a keen-eyed and acute-eared audience will have no trouble spotting the killer straight away. Nonetheless, it's directed with pace and enacted by as fine a cast as M-G-M ever assembled. Tracy in his first outing for the Lion provides a typically driving performance in a characterization which seems remarkably close to the knuckle. Miss Bruce makes a charming and sympathetic "love" interest. Although his role can be counted as small, "Shorty" Stewart will not disappoint his fans as his gawky mannerisms and drawling delivery are already fully fledged. We also enjoyed Lionel Atwill's ingratiating police captain. Aided by a first-class script, Atwill (in a rare totally-on-the-side-of-the-angels part) builds an uncommonly rounded portrait of a dedicated detective.As for the support players, just look at that cast! I'd love to go through the list and congratulate all, one by one, but let's just say that Lucien Littlefield, as the patently law-abiding shooting gallery-man, and Charles Trowbridge, an immaculate District Attorney, are especially fortunate both in the size and scope of their roles and the vital way in which their scenes are directed by tenacious Tim Whelan.As well as its powerful direction and cup-runneth-over assembly of Hollywood's brightest players, The Murder Man also boasts a friendly budget with top-of-the-drawer production values plus atmospherically A-1 behind-the-camera credits.

A man is deeply wronged by smart businessmen and acts upon it. He is morally in the right, since the culprit being acted upon would go on with his mayhem if he was not stopped and there was only this way to stop him.I cannot tell much more without Writing a spoiler but I wanted to Review this film because it tells about a moral code that seems lost today. Today everybody in America seems so committed to business that they would not react like the man above because I hear of no such stories although there must be a billion of them around and seemingly nobody is reacting on them.Maybe it will happen some time and then it will come like a big Avalanche and sweep most of it Clean - who knows? If it happens though, it will be the end of all business and the beginning of decency.

This was a great B&W film from the 1930's and the film was full of great veteran actors. Spencer Tracy, (Steve Grey) "Edison" '40 played a hot shot murder reporter for a large newspaper and some times he would go on very long serious drinking bouts. His fellow reporters often wondered why he drank so much, but Steve never revealed what was bothering him. Virginia Bruce,(Mary Shannon), "Strangers When We Meet",'60, worked for the same newspaper as Steve and a small spark of romance started between them, but his drinking kept them a part. Lionel Atwill, (Police Capt. Cole), "House of Frankenstein",'44, gave a great supporting role along with William Demarest,(Red), "My Three Son's",'65 TV series, was a character actor who played a newspaper reporter on another newspaper in town. In real life, Spencer Tracy would often go on drinking bouts and not be seen for weeks during breaks between his filming engagements. This is a great 1935 film and even James Stewart, (Shorty-reporter) made a very brief performance.

The Murder Man is one of several newspaper films from the 1930's that ran the gamut of dramatic to comedic, like The Front Page and His Girl Friday respectively. What it has in common with both is its lightning quick pace and snappy dialog. What it lacks is a believable story and compelling, well drawn characters. Spencer Tracy plays Steve Grey, the murder man, so named because he handles all of the Star newspaper's homicide stories. Tracy played this hard-bitten, dramatic type of role well throughout his career, and this film is no exception. Lionel Atwill is on hand as a police official in an unusual good guy role for him. Virginia Bruce plays an unusually unglamorous role for her, that of Tracy's newspaper co-worker. The film contains a few welcome supporting performances from William Demarest, Lucien Littlefield, and a guy by the name of James Stewart (in his feature film debut). The film rests solely on Tracy's performance to carry it, and he does to a certain extent. However, the twist ending is not that believable and seems almost abrupt. In retrospect, everything in the film leading up to the ending seems contrived. It's still worth viewing for an early Tracy performance and Stewart's debut. **1/2 of 4 stars.