Special Agent **½ (1935, Bette Davis, George Brent, Ricardo Cortez, Jack La Rue, Henry O’Neill) – Classic Movie Review 2746

Bette Davis and George Brent star in the brisk and capable 1935 crime drama film Special Agent, one of 13 movies they made together. 

William Keighley directs this 1935 early Bette Davis star vehicle at a commendably fast pace in a short running time of 76 minutes. Despite its humble status, Special Agent is a brisk, capable and professional job of work.

George Brent co-stars as newspaper reporter Bill Bradford, who is deputised as a US Treasury special agent for the Internal Revenue Bureau tax service, and is assigned to find enough evidence to charge racketeer Alex Carston (Ricardo Cortez) with tax evasion.

Bradford goes undercover in Carston’s organisation and Carston’s bookkeeper Julie Gardner (Davis) cooperates with him to try to put Carston in jail. But they are uncovered by an informer and Julie is kidnapped.

Based on a story by co-producer Martin Mooney, with a screenplay by Laird Doyle and Abem Finkel, this Warner Bros studio production line story is one that we have seen many times. It is just a quickie made to fill the bottom half of a double bill in 1935, and it is nothing very special even for that.

Nevertheless, it is highly watchable and entertaining, mainly thanks to the fine Warner stock players, Davis’s enduring star appeal, Brent’s polished turn, Cortez’s eye-catching villainy and some fine snappy dialogue that builds and accumulates to provide entertaining sequences.

The Hays Office objected to some of character Alex Carston’s dialogue spoken by Ricardo Cortez, but to save money re-shooting the scene, the sound was eliminated. So Cortez’s lips can be seen moving but nothing is heard on the soundtrack.

It is remade as Gambling on the High Seas (1940), with Wayne Morris, Jane Wyman and Gilbert Roland.

It is one of three 1935 films co-starring Davis and Brent, who appeared on screen together 13 times. Brent said it was ‘a poor, paltry thing, unbelievable and unconvincing’ but Warner Bros ensured that his remarks remained unpublished at the time.

Also in the cast are Joseph Sawyer, Joseph Crehan, Joseph King, Irving Pichel, Jack La Rue, Henry O’Neill, J Carrol Naish, Robert Strange, Robert Barrat, William B Davidson, Paul Guilfoyle, Charles Middleton, Joe King, John Alexander, Edwin Argus, Frank Bruno, Allan Cavan, Eddy Chandler, Alan Davis, John Dilson, Lester Dorr, Frank Fanning, James Flavin, Jerry Fletcher, Oscar Dutch Hendrian, Thomas E Jackson, Jerry Jerome, John Kelly, Milton Kibbee, Tom Mahoney, Larry McGrath, Jack McHugh, Torben Meyer, Bob Montgomery, Gene Morgan, Jack Mower, Louis Natheaux, Bill Naylor, Wheeler Oakman, Frank O’Connor, Pat O’Malley, Garry Owen, Lee Phelps, John Quillan, Herbert Skinner, Martha Tibbetts, Emmett Vogan, Lucille Ward, Huey White and Douglas Wood.

Special Agent is directed by William Keighley, runs 76 minutes, is made by Cosmopolitan Production [Warner Bros], is released by Warner Bros (1935) (US) and First National Film Distributors (1935) (UK), is written by Laird Doyle and Abem Finkel, based on a story by Martin Mooney, is shot in black and white by Sid Hickox, is produced by Samuel Bischoff and Martin Mooney, is scored by Leo F Forbstein and designed by Esdras Hartley.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2746

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