Kick In

It's generally accepted that silent-film star Clara Bow's career was ruined by sound, and she herself even said so, but I'm not so convinced. Before she made her first talkie, her fans were already aware of her prole Brooklyn accent. I think that a more plausible reason for her decline was simply that she was getting older: the 'It' Girl became a star in Jazz Baby roles during the Roaring Twenties, and by the time she hit her own mid-twenties she was starting to look dissipated.

'Kick In' is the unfortunately light-hearted title of a serious drama about crime and regeneration. In the central role, Clara Bow gives an extremely impressive performance, all the more laudable because -- cast as a working-class woman -- she has the sense not to try for glamour at the expense of credibility.

SLIGHT SPOILERS COMING. There's a cheap attempt to mislead us in the opening sequence. We see Regis Toomey as a penitentiary inmate, nervously watching the clock. We're led to believe he's about to be executed, but in fact he's about to be released after doing porridge for a minor felony. His wife (Bow) is waiting for him, but they've no money and he finds it difficult to get an honest job.

Paul Hurst, who usually played despicable characters, is more hissable than usual here as a Javert-like plainclothesman who keeps stalking Toomey, hoping he'll commit another crime so that Hurst can nick him. (Don't the police have anything better to do?) Toomey's trying to go straight, but he still hangs about with his criminal acquaintances (James Murray and Wynne Gibson).

Murray burgles the D.A.'s wife's necklace, but gets shot by the D.A.'s butler. He must be using boomerang bullets: the butler fires at Murray's right profile, but Murray gets shot in his left side. James Murray, so tragically doomed in real life, gives a riveting performance in his death scene here. Also impressive is Leslie Fenton -- looking amazingly like Christopher Walken -- as Bow's 'snowbird' brother, although they failed to convince me that they were siblings. Oddly, the dialogue makes frequent references to the 'stuff' that Fenton's addicted character is using, but never identifies it explicitly.

Donald Crisp has some good dialogue, which he delivers crisply (no pun intended, for once) in his incongruous Scottish accent as police chief Garvey. Less pleasant is the cod accent employed by Juliette Compton as Murray's criminal companion, who cries herself Piccadilly Bessie(!) but who speaks in a rhinestone accent that's apparently meant to be Mayfair, while she freely admits she's never been to England. The interrogation scene between Crisp (all Highland burr) and Compton (sounding like a Jessie Matthews impersonator) will fascinate any phonologists in the audience.

I found Paul Hurst's character deeply implausible, but Hurst gives an excellent performance in the role. Wynne Gibson is impressive too here, and quietly attractive as a moll who -- for love of Murray -- deliberately maims her own hand. Toomey's character knows some guy named Oscar who stays off screen but is willing to dispose of corpses at a moment's notice; where can *I* find a fellow like that? I'll rate this movie 8 out of 10. I enjoyed 'Kick In', and I wish that this drama were better known ... so that people will realise that Clara Bow was an actress of genuine talent, and not merely the 'It' Girl.

Here's a real treat for buffs: Clara Bow's last film for Paramount, a very rare title, never on TV or video, but recently restored and shown to audiences for the first time in decades. Some rediscovered movies fall short of expectations, but Kick In is a winner all the way, well written, well acted, and relentless. This is a tough crime melodrama which puts most of its characters through absolute hell, tightening the screws as it goes along. Although it's a Pre-Code talkie from the early '30s, Kick In plays more like one of those bleak, paranoia soaked thrillers from the late '40s, and that may have been a prime reason behind its failure on its initial release. This was not a movie set to gladden the hearts of Depression-weary viewers. A solid noir like this one can be an exhilarating experience in its own way, but "feel good" it's not, and audiences of 1931 just weren't buying.

On top of that, star Clara Bow had been through a great deal of personal (albeit highly publicized) hell of her own just prior to the production of this film, and was under a terrible strain during the shooting. It's said that she was barely able to complete the picture, and its failure ended her long and lucrative association with Paramount, an association far more lucrative for the studio than for their biggest star. It's a terrible irony, for the film is one of Clara's strongest talkies. There's little evidence on screen of her shaky emotional health, aside from some facial puffiness noticeable at times, and her role suits her talents perfectly. But it's also true that much of the weight of the drama is carried by an outstanding supporting cast, especially Regis Toomey as Clara's husband, Paul Hurst as a mean cop, and ever reliable Donald Crisp as the Police Commissioner. Buffs will also recognize the ill-fated James Murray, star of King Vidor's silent classic The Crowd, in a significant role.

Viewers unaccustomed to Pre-Code movies may be startled by the frank depiction of a key character's drug addiction. This coke addict -- or "snowbird," as he's called -- is depicted as pathetic and weak, yet pitiable. This is no Reefer Madness, it isn't campy or laughable, and the writers weren't stupid. The people who made this film seem to have known what they were talking about. We don't smirk at naive dialog here, because there isn't any. There are occasional touches of humor in Kick In, but the plight of the characters is so harrowing that for the most part we watch tensely, hoping for the best, but dreading the outcome. I won't give away the ending, but it might surprise you.

Flaws? Well, the judicious use of background music at key moments might have helped (it would be another year or two before film scoring really kicked into gear), but, on the other hand, the lack of music might actually be a plus: the naturalistic soundtrack heightens the suspense, making the experience similar to watching a gripping stage drama. Pictorial quality is amazingly good, thanks to the fact that the restored prints of Kick In derive from the original nitrate camera negative. Happily, this is one case where a movie emerged from a long hibernation looking just about as good as it must have looked when it was new. And unlike some of those aforementioned rediscoveries, i.e. the disappointing ones, Kick In is a movie that seems to have improved with the passage of time. We can only hope this film finally gets the wide exposure and attention it deserves.

This was called a "B" film by Bow biographer David Stenn when he introduced the first showing of the restored print of this film at New York's Film Forum, but then Paramount never really gave Bow an "A" film budget. If the term "B" film implies anything less than a top-notch, tight, tense, realistic drama with an intelligent script and excellent performances, then this is definitely not a "B" film!

One is caught up in and involved in the characters from the start. Toomey is released from prison, his wife Bow waiting for him. He finds it hard to get a job, but he is determined and is helped out financially by a fellow crook who is happy to see him go straight. The detective who sent him up doesn't believe anyone can go straight and keeps an eye on him. Finally he gets a good job and after three years a substantial promotion. But then his pal, the thief, pulls a jewelry heist--from the district attorney's house!--and is seriously wounded. There are many twists to the plot, all of them believable, completely character driven and tautly presented. The performances are superb: Fenton as Bow's coke-fiend brother, Crisp as the Police Chief, tough but fair even though he's in a tight spot with the DA, and Hurst as the bad detective, thoroughly despicable and totally unlikable but still a human character, not a stock villain. Not to mention Toomey, who gives surprising force to the lead character, a man with inner strength even though he knows he's been dealt a position of weakness, and Bow, equally steadfast against the odds. Especially good is Wynne Gibson as the thief's girl. Her love for him is deep and her grief when he dies is ultimately is what brings about the denouement. In fact, one of the great things about the film is that, though the odds are against them, both couples derive great strength from their love. The story moves fast, and although it's tightly plotted, there's nothing that happens that's expected. Just top notch construction. On a second viewing, I found that the story still moved so swiftly and inevitably that I was again completely wrapped up in the characters and events. This is indeed a top-notch thirties film! Very realistic, well structured, well written script, great acting, great pace. Now that it has been restored, it should be made available on DVD as soon as possible!