SLIGHTLY HONOURABLE

US, 1939, 85 minutes, Black and white.
Pat O'Brien, Edward Arnold, Broderick Crawford.
Directed by Tay Garnett.

Slightly Honourable is typical of the gangster expose films of its time. It resembles very much many Warner Bros. films of the '30s and early '40s. It gives an opportunity for Pat O'Brien and Broderick Crawford to be honourable men in terms of political and police corruption. Edward Arnold is, once again, the criminal. Eve Arden has an enjoyable supporting role.

The film is dated in its blend of treatment of gangsters and its comic touches. However, the issues that it raises have remained as part of the American system and the corruption of politics and big business in subsequent decades. To this extent, the film is an interesting comparison with treatments of similar themes in,subsequent decades.

The film is also the work of director Tay Garnett who made a number of interesting films in the '40s and '50s ranging from action romances to big budget M.G.M. dramas including The Postman Always Rings Twice. Entertainment time-passer. Of historical cinema interest.