Terrific cast in a terrific movie, stylishly directed at a really fast pace by William A. Wellman. Mind you, we do have to wait a long time for the murder and it wasn't made plain to me that the victim was the character played by Lyle Talbot but I guess if you want events to unroll at speed, you can't stop the action to add necessary identification. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. is billed large above the title and fully deserves this recognition. He gives a remarkably charismatic performance and manages to outclass the rest of the cast – even Lee Tracy who enjoys some typical high-pitched verbal routines. Frances Dee also gives the performance of her life as the Clayton's heroine (i.e. the heroine you have when you're not having a heroine) and is beautifully photographed by that master of noir cinematography, Sid Hickox. Oddly enough, Ann Dvorak is billed above everyone except Fairbanks, although her role is both small and not of great importance. Hickox doesn't seem to devote too much energy trying to light her attractively either, whereas he obviously spent hours lighting Fairbanks and Dee. I'd agree that Ann's face was a bit difficult to photograph Hollywood-style alluringly, but it could be done with time and patience. Available on an excellent Warner Archive DVD.
Review of Love Is a Racket
