As was popular in the early 1930s, Hollywood made another film to celebrate the dedicated police force who tried to clear up crime and violence created by gangsters and bootleggers. Most of these movies had opening dedications, intended to make the audience appreciate and understand the risks our boys in blue take every day. In The Beast of the City, there are so many vices the film warns against, it's unsure which is actually the "beast": violence, alcohol, or bombshell blondes.
Jean Harlow made a splash hit in this film as a hardened moll, quick with a wise crack and even quicker with her men. This is a pre-Code film, so all bets are off, as far as making every man in America fall in lust with Jean. She tells her main squeeze that she likes violence, when it's "in the right spirit." She gives him a lap dance, famously filmed by director Charles Brabin through the window, and she thumbs her nose at cops and drinks gin at wild parties. She may have been introduced to American audiences in Hell's Angels, but she became a star with The Beast of the City.
Walter Huston stars as the police chief, determined to bring down the crime syndicate. As you might expect, you'll be torn between rooting for his honesty and decency and the raring good time had by Jean and the gangsters. There's no scrimping on the violence in this film, and since it's pre-Code, when men get shot, they don't just clutch their unstained breast pocket. This flick is gritty, even though it's more remembered for Jean's lap dance than for anything else.
Jean Harlow made a splash hit in this film as a hardened moll, quick with a wise crack and even quicker with her men. This is a pre-Code film, so all bets are off, as far as making every man in America fall in lust with Jean. She tells her main squeeze that she likes violence, when it's "in the right spirit." She gives him a lap dance, famously filmed by director Charles Brabin through the window, and she thumbs her nose at cops and drinks gin at wild parties. She may have been introduced to American audiences in Hell's Angels, but she became a star with The Beast of the City.
Walter Huston stars as the police chief, determined to bring down the crime syndicate. As you might expect, you'll be torn between rooting for his honesty and decency and the raring good time had by Jean and the gangsters. There's no scrimping on the violence in this film, and since it's pre-Code, when men get shot, they don't just clutch their unstained breast pocket. This flick is gritty, even though it's more remembered for Jean's lap dance than for anything else.