Wolf of New York (1940) User Reviews

A decent high level B-movie crime and courtroom drama

[secondtake · 7/10 · 2 July 2013]

Wolf of New York (1940)

This is one of Republic Picture's better attempts at a Warner Bros. style crime film. And it's pretty good! This comes just a year or two before the first proto-noir films and it lacks some kind of existential loneliness and a good femme fatale, but in other ways noir lovers will see precursors at work.

Or just think of it as a crime flick, with a crooked lawyer, a dubious lawyer, a fumbling D.A., and a sweetheart of a girl who is involved with two of the three. Throw in a couple of sidekicks with character (and a couple more, like William Demarest, who overplay their parts) and you have a good, mix-em-up, not sure who to root for movie. It even has someone executed for a crime he didn't commit--a big deal that would be much bigger these days.

Republic was a small budget, B-movie studio that ventured into larger budget films over time. By 1940 they were well established and made some key films with major Hollywood players between contracts or loaned out. No one huge appears in this one, but a sense of good production values is visible, except the editing, I think, which is functional and even cursory, breaking the flow of a pretty sporty series of events.

So, with good social themes, a believable plot of theft and murder, and a rivalry between to top lawyers, this clicks along. The lead is a man who might interest those who like earlier films (from the silent era and the 1930s)--Edmund Lowe. He has a kind of John Barrymore persona (not to compare them further than that) and a stature and appearance that seem a little vintage for a 1940 production. But he's very good, and helps pull off some tricky scenes. The D.A. is the same guy who played a the D.A. in "Miracle on 42nd Street" and he's fine, too. The woman is played by Rose Hobart, who is really rather good, just not quite a leading lady cliché. (Joseph Cornell, the artist, was a big fan.)

See this? Well, yes, if you know you like this era of film even if it's not a great masterpiece. It's sharp enough, and with some good turns, and I think it's worth a look.

Fast Moving

[boblipton · 5/10 · 2 October 2019]

Edmund Lowe is a great criminal-defense attorney. He gets all the crooks off. That's why former girlfriend and secretary Rose Hobart left him. However, his current client is innocent, and he has the witness to prove it. Instead of going to his friend, DA Jerome Cowan to offer exculpatory evidence, he holds him as his final, surprise witness... and the guy is assassinated the night before he is to testify. Lowe's client goes to the chair, then a deathbed confession proves him innocent, so Cowan, who tries all his office's cases, resigns. Lowe is appointed DA and sets about cleaning up the town.

Some good performances (including the reliable William Demarest as Lowe's investigator) and fast-moving direction by William McGann keep this one moving along in the style of a 1930s Warners B. There are a few procedural plot holes in the script, and the dialogue tries a little too hard to be clever. Still, it's short, and as a second feature, relatively painless.

Would you want to be cross-examined by someone who eats a sardine sandwich?

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 19 August 2022]

Having played Perry Mason and on the verge of going on to play Boston Blackie, Edmund Lowe was an ace at playing attorneys, detectives and on occasion, a dashing criminal. He's the district attorney of a large, unnamed city (with a generic looking newspaper called the Daily Chronicle pronouncing all the crimes going on), dealing with trying to unmask the mysterious "wolf" crime boss. Things get tight when veteran cop Charles D. Brown (the father of Lowe's lady friend Rose Hobart) is shot, and Lowe finds himself determined to prove that main suspect Maurice Murphy is innocent.

This is pretty elaborate for a Republic film, having sets that look like they were on the back lot of an A studio. William Demarest provides comic relief as Lowe's right-hand man, with James Stephenson, Jerome Cowan, Edward Gargan and Ben Welden, who has a hair raising experience in court. Lines like "He could give the jury a hangover" gives an indication of the atmosphere to expect. Lowe's great in these types of roles, and his easy going personality is a plus. With hundreds of films like this released during this era, it's hard to call it anything groundbreaking, but it's the kind of film that viewers could enjoy and forget about, that is until the next similar film came out.