The Fall Guy (1930)
** (out of 4)
Extremely bland but mildly entertaining film about a man (Jack Mulhall) who gets fired from his job at the worst time because his wife (Mae Clarke) has her lazy brother (Ned Sparks) living with them and none of them have a dime to their name. The man finally gets desperate enough to try and make some quick cash with some illegal doings but soon he finds himself as the fall guy.
THE FALL GUY is a very forgettable movie that most people won't bother coming to unless they're a fan of Clarke and want to see one of her early performances. This was made a year before WATERLOO BRIDGE and FRANKENSTEIN and there's no question that she's the best thing in the picture even though she's not given too much to do. She does get a few good scenes where she breaks down on the husband who goes against her wishes and runs with this bad crowd.
Outside of Clarke there's really not too much here. Mulhall is okay in the lead but he certainly isn't strong enough to carry the picture. Sparks is incredibly dull and lifeless as the lazy brother. Wynne Gibson is decent as the sister-in-law and Pat O'Malley is decent as well. The biggest problem with THE FALL GUY is its direction by Leslie Pearce, which is downright bad. I say that because there's not an ounce of energy to be found anywhere in the picture and for the life of me the film was so flat that I really couldn't tell whether it was a drama or a comedy.
I will say that, technically speaking, it's quite good for 1930. The soundtrack is recorded extremely well and there aren't any technical glitches that we often found in these early talkies.
** (out of 4)
Extremely bland but mildly entertaining film about a man (Jack Mulhall) who gets fired from his job at the worst time because his wife (Mae Clarke) has her lazy brother (Ned Sparks) living with them and none of them have a dime to their name. The man finally gets desperate enough to try and make some quick cash with some illegal doings but soon he finds himself as the fall guy.
THE FALL GUY is a very forgettable movie that most people won't bother coming to unless they're a fan of Clarke and want to see one of her early performances. This was made a year before WATERLOO BRIDGE and FRANKENSTEIN and there's no question that she's the best thing in the picture even though she's not given too much to do. She does get a few good scenes where she breaks down on the husband who goes against her wishes and runs with this bad crowd.
Outside of Clarke there's really not too much here. Mulhall is okay in the lead but he certainly isn't strong enough to carry the picture. Sparks is incredibly dull and lifeless as the lazy brother. Wynne Gibson is decent as the sister-in-law and Pat O'Malley is decent as well. The biggest problem with THE FALL GUY is its direction by Leslie Pearce, which is downright bad. I say that because there's not an ounce of energy to be found anywhere in the picture and for the life of me the film was so flat that I really couldn't tell whether it was a drama or a comedy.
I will say that, technically speaking, it's quite good for 1930. The soundtrack is recorded extremely well and there aren't any technical glitches that we often found in these early talkies.