Thomas E. Jackson Movies

Directed by Harry Beaumont, the courtroom drama Unashamed stars Robert Young as Dick Ogden, who will do anything to protect his sister Jean (Helen Twelvetrees). Unfortunately, Jean is in love with the sleazy Harry Swift (Monroe Owsley), who is only interested in her fortune. After Harry (Owsley) manipulated Jen (Twelvetrees) into spending the night alone with him, Mr. Odgen (Robert Warwick) refused to give them permission to marry. A furious Harry threatens to ruin Jean's reputation, but is shot by Dick (Young) before he can say anything. Heartbroken, Jean does not forgive her father or brother and plans to testify against Dick even if it means the death penalty. It looks as if Dick will be sent to the gas chamber until the very end, when his sister suddenly has a change of heart. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Fay Wray screams when she first lays eyes on Lionel Atwill in Doctor X, but don't let that fool you. Atwill plays Fay's father this time around, and he may very well not be the diabolical "Moon Murderer" whom the police are seeking. Dr. Xavier (Atwill) maintains a research lab in a remote Long Island estate. The police suspect that one of Xavier's assistants--all "second-chancers" whose previous misdemeanors range from botched experiments to cannibalism!--is the mysterious murderer who strikes only when the moon is full. Newspaper reporter Lee Tracy sneaks into the estate to get a swell scoop, whereupon he falls in love with Fay. In trying to help the authorities, Xavier stages an elaborate trap for the Moon Murderer, with his daughter as the willing bait. The killer (we won't tell you who it is, but you'll figure it out anyway) reveals himself by coating his body with "synthetic flesh", which gives him supernatural powers. Based on a play by Howard C. Comstock and Allen C. Miner, Doctor X was originally filmed in two-color Technicolor; available for years only in black and white, the film was restored to its full tinted state in the 1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Women Go On Forever is almost as old-fashioned as its title. Silent-screen queen Clara Kimball Young makes a comeback attempt as Daisy Bowman, the salty but lovable proprietress of an all-female boarding house. Like all landladies from the dawn of recorded time, Daisy takes special interest in the tribulations of her tenants. Special attention is given to shopgirl Betty (Marion Nixon), the course of whose romance with cabdriver Eddie (Paul Page) never runs as smooth as it should. Inevitably, gangsters intrude upon Daisy's establishment, leading to the tying up of several loose plot strands. The film was based on a play by Edward H. Peple, which had served as a rare dramatic vehicle for comedienne Mary Boland. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a married couple who own a speakeasy aspire to go legitimate and open a gas station; unfortunately, they are perennially broke because the husband is addicted to gambling on the horses. Their situation makes them easy marks for a racketeer who uses the couple as a front. Fortunately, the couple overcome their weaknesses, save the needed money, and achieve their humble dream. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

24 Hours is all it takes for tippling married man Jim Towner (Clive Brook) to go from social respectability to convict stripes. Upset that his wife Fanny (Kay Francis) has been unfaithful, the wealthy Jim weaves drunkenly from one nightclub to another. He falls for a cabaret performer (Miriam Hopkins) and begins an affair. The girl is killed by her gangster boyfriend (Regis Toomey), but Jim is arrested for the crime. Released from prison, the chastened Jim returns to his wife, who has vowed to remain loyal to her husband. 24 Hours was based on a novel by Louis Bromfield. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Fall Guy isn't Lee Majors in this 1930 RKO Radio programmer but instead a hapless druggist played by Jack Mulhall. Upon losing his job, Johnny Quinlan (Mulhall) falls in with underworld chieftain Nifty Herman (played by Thomas Jackson, usually cast as dedicated detectives). Hoping to use Johnny as a dupe to cover up his own shady activities, Herman plants a generous supply of illegal drugs on the poor fellow. Government agent Charles Newton (Pat O'Malley) is prepared to put the cuffs on the lad but instead goes along with Johnny's scheme to trick Herman into a confession. The picture is stolen by Mae Clarke (a full year before her "grapefruit massage" in Public Enemy) as Johnny's wife and Ned Sparks as a saxophone-playing boarder. Based on a stage play by Tim Whelan and George Abbott, The Fall Guy was directed by Leslie Pearce, who later helmed the memorable W.C. Fields two-reeler The Barber Shop. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first "talkie" gangster movie to capture the public's imagination, Mervyn LeRoy's Little Caesar started a cycle of crime-related movies that Warner Bros. rode across the ensuing decade and right into World War II with titles such as All Through the Night (1941). At the start of the picture, Caesar Enrico "Rico" Bandello (Edward G. Robinson, made up to look a lot like the real-life Al Capone) and his friend Joe Massara (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) are robbing a gas station -- later on, at a diner, they're looking over a newspaper and see a story about Diamond Pete Montana (Ralph Ince), a gangster so well known that he gets headlines and stories written about how powerful he is. That's what Rico wants, more than money or anything else: to be czar of the underworld and "not just another mug." Joe admits that sometimes he just thinks of trying to become what he wanted to be when he started out: a professional dancer. They head east to Chicago (which is never named, but with the talk of the north side and the territories, you know what city it is) and Rico talks his way into the local mob run by Sam Vettori (Stanley Fields). The leader has his doubts over how quick Rico is to go for his gun, but also thinks he might be useful if he is as fearless as he says and can be kept under control.

Soon Rico is Sam's top enforcer and bodyguard, but it isn't long before he starts acting like the boss, questioning other members' loyalty and bravery and pushing into Sam's role as leader. He also commands the loyalty of the gang through his resourcefulness at planning and pulling jobs that are tough and risky, and getting away with them; the only exception is Joe, their respectable "front man," who has found romance with an actress (Glenda Farrell) and a career, and wants out of helping the gang. Rico won't let him leave, and pushes him to help them on a brazen New Year's Eve robbery of a restaurant, during which the new crime commissioner is shot dead by Rico. Now the heat is on, but instead of keeping a low profile, Rico seizes control of the gang from Sam and secures his power by ruthlessly rubbing out the only member (William Collier) who seems likely to squeal, gunning the man down on the steps of a church. Before long, Rico is the first among equals among the local mob chieftains, sharing a dais at a dinner honoring him with his nominal boss and one-time idol Diamond Pete. He's also making enemies by the bushel -- Flaherty (Thomas E. Jackson), the cop heading the investigation into the murder of the commissioner, won't let up and makes it his personal business to nail Rico, and the rival chieftains don't like the publicity Rico's getting or the attention it brings to all of them. Rico survives attempts on his life and consolidates his hold on the streets, and is suddenly on the edge of achieving his goal -- the "Big Boy" (Sidney Blackmer), the wealthy social Brahmin who really controls crimes in the city, invites him to a meeting to tell him that Diamond Pete is finished. Rico is going to be in charge of the rackets across the entire city and making sure the local bosses stay in line. He is at the pinnacle of his career, and then Rico overreaches -- he can still be nailed for the murder of the commissioner, and is paranoid enough not to trust Joe, even though Joe helped saved Rico's life and insists that he'll never squeal; Rico also plans on supplanting the Big Boy. His rise to power unravels as fast as it happened, in an outburst of violence that drives him underground. But with an ego as big as his, Rico can't stay hidden for too long, and Flaherty is waiting for him.

The violence in Little Caesar may seem tame by today's standards -- although seeing a proper print of the movie, such as the 2005-issued DVD, does restore some of that impact -- but it was shocking at the time, and proved riveting and even seductive, especially because it was tied to a very charismatic performance by Robinson. Between his portrayal and the sounds of pistols and Thompson submachine guns, the movie was a sensory revelation and literalized the violence that had been suggested purely by visuals in such silent gangster classics as Josef Von Sternberg's Underworld (1927), itself yet another telling of a version of Capone's story. The language was also something newly coarse and bracing in movies, at a point when talkies were only a couple of years old. There's also a slightly homoerotic undertone to aspects of the character relationships that managed to get past the censors: Rico doesn't drink and seems uninterested in women; his fixation on Joe Massara, and his seeming competition for Massara's loyalty with the latter's fiancée, are couched in what seem like almost romantic terms; and his feeling of betrayal when Massara says he wants to leave the mob to get married seem almost more appropriate to someone caught in a romantic triangle. This is all made especially vivid when Rico laments not having killed Massara, admitting that he's been undone over "liking a guy too much." It's all nearly as striking as some of the more pointed psychological elements in subsequent gangster movies, including Tony Camonte's incestuous fixation on his own sister in Scarface (1932) and, at the far end of the cycle, Cody Jarrett's mother-fixation in White Heat (1949). ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama a reformed safecracker is pressured by his ex-cellmate to pull off one last job. The cellmate gives the safecracker a chance for peace and happiness on an isolated farm. There he meets a pretty woman and her grandmother. He falls in love with the young woman. Unfortunately, he soon discovers that they are part of his cellmate's gang. Eventually the two lovers are reunited and truly reformed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide