IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022660/
IMDB rating: 7,0
Director: Charles J. Brabin
Main Cast: Walter Huston, Jean Harlow, Wallace Ford, Jean Hersholt
"A reluctantly appointed police chief in a crime-riddled city takes his job seriously and works hard to clean the streets of gangsters and to shape up his own corrupt department in this brutal, gritty film noir. Jean Harlow plays a luminescent but ill-fated gun moll. Adapted by John Lee Mahin from a W.R. Burnett story, and directed by Charles Brabin (The Mask of Fu Manchu), this 1932 talkie is said to be better than average, as a police chief (Walter Huston) sets out to battle organized crime.
This is a very elaborate production for an early 30's film. The camera was surprisingly fluid with some strong cinematography. The Beast of the City was the precursor to many modern crime drama films that pit the gangsters vs. the diligent cops - eventually in a courtroom setting. It was also certainly racy for it's time - made a couple of years before enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code (also known as the Hays Code), with an exceptional cast."
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