Blood Money

1933

1h 5m

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

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Crime

The title refers to the business of affable, ambitious bail bondsman (and politically-connected grifter) Bill Bailey, who, in the course of his work, crosses paths with every kind of offender there is, from first-time defendants to career criminals.

Directors

Rowland Brown

Writers

Rowland Brown(writer by)

Hal Long(writer by)

Speed Kendall(writer by)

Stars

George Bancroft

Judith Anderson

Frances Dee

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Top cast

Bill Bailey

Ruby Darling

Elaine Talbart

Drury Darling

Singer

Bail Bond Clerk

Charley

Davy's Girlfriend (uncredited)

Herman Bing

Butcher Weighing Sausages (uncredited)

John Bleifer

Bombmaker (uncredited)

Ann Brody

Jewish Client (uncredited)

Bess Flowers

Party Guest (uncredited)

Noel Francis

Red's Girlfriend (uncredited)

Henry Lewis Jr.

Jewish Client's Son (uncredited)

Nina Mae McKinney

Rebecca, Ruby's maid (uncredited)

Bert Moorhouse

Charley's Henchman (uncredited)

Theresa Harris

Jessica (uncredited)

Henry Kolker

Newspaper Managing Editor (uncredited)

Directors

Rowland Brown

Writers

Rowland Brown(writer by)

Hal Long(writer by)

Speed Kendall(writer by)

All cast & crew

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Review

Featured review

8/10

This is a saucy pre-code melodrama that deserves cult status. Bail bondsman George Bancroft is known all throughout New York City and encounters people from every scrape of society in this pre-code crime drama. But he's going to need every ounce of street-smarts when he strikes up an acquaintance with kleptomaniac Frances Dee, a woman with a rather animistic sexual appetite. Judith Anderson gets to display a rare glamorous side here as the nightclub hostess obviously in love with Bancroft, with her famous mole darkened into a beauty spot. Dee gives Bancroft several looks that It's nice to see her playing a softer character. This is a fast-moving programmer, made on a dime, but not showing it. Quick edits, snappy photography and dialog, nice musical interludes by Blossom Seeley (singing such standards as "Melancholy Baby"), and a side of seedy New York sung about in the same year's "42nd Street" diluted in most movies. There's hints about lesbianism in addition to Dee's whacked-out libido. Tons of familiar character actors pop in and out, most notably Etienne Girardot, Chick Chandler (as Anderson's gangster brother), Clarence Wilson and Edward Van Sloan. There's even a very young Lucille Ball in a quick appearance! An exciting dog racing sequence is one of the film's visual highlights, and the finale is downright suspenseful, like something Hitchcock might do.

waltzma14 Dec, 2017