The Gold Racket (1937)

the audience applauded

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

O.K., so there is gold, but this film lacks in the charms of the golden age of movies, even B films. This is one of four Grand National films dealing with the characters played by Conrad Nagel and Eleanor Hunt, federal agents out to expose members of a racket smuggling gold in from Mexico to the Unites States where it is apparently worth a lot more. One gold examiner can tell where its from, and I wondered just how you tell the difference between gold from the mines of the good old U.S.A. or south of the border. "Because it wears a little sombrero, Rose" was the only thing I could think of, quoting Bea Arthur on "Golden Girls" when she was questioned why a fly was identified as Spanish. Actually, there's a lot of humor in this merely just average racket film where the agents utilize a cabaret as a place of stake out and later this end up in a small mining town where they get homespun wisdom from a toothless old coot and close in on the crooks. From what I recall having seen the other three films, they are a mixed bag, not bad or great, but certainly no mental challenge either.

Another in the Conrad Nagel-Eleanor Hunt series of crime-busting "B" features, this one is not nearly as interesting as the ones actually directed by Joseph H. Lewis who here officiates as supervising film editor – but with little distinction. Maybe he just had nothing to work with and could do little with the dull material shot by director Louis J. Gasnier (even though, according to IMDb, Lewis had an uncredited hand in the direction here as well). On the other hand, this entry is competently acted, notwithstanding some banal dialogue – "Either we get out of here fast, or it's curtains for us!" How Nagel can speak lines like these with a perfectly straight face does credit to his professionalism. The plot is not only routine, but actually runs out of steam about three-quarters the way through, and thus needed to be padded out with some comic relief episodes involving Si Jenks as a crusty old cabdriver. On the other hand, there's probably just enough action and just barely sufficient production values to satisfy the series' most undemanding fans. Available on a good quality Alpha DVD.

Grand National made four films starring Conrad Nagel and Eleanor Hunt as Agent O'Connor and his girlfriend, Bobbie Reynolds. I've seen three and the best of them is below average! So, it's not particularly surprising that I found little to appeal to me in "The Gold Racket".When the film begins, you learn that there have been some smuggled gold shipments brought into the US from Mexico. American and Mexican agents are working on the case and Agent O'Connor is brought in to investigate. However, like in the other films, Bobbie tags along--even though he tells her repeatedly to get lost. Eventually, the pair are able to locate the mine where the gold is being dug--all they need to do now is capture the criminals.While all this SOUNDS like it's going to be exciting, it isn't. Rarely is it exciting or even interesting. Bland is the best descriptor I can think of for the picture. This, along with a badly faded print with poor sound, make you wonder why anyone would watch it. Why did I?! I wish I knew!

This is the third from an agreeable series of four films that feature FBI agents Alan O'Connor (Conrad Nagel) and Bobbie Reynolds, performed by Eleanor Hunt, the latter married to the series producer George Hirliman, who in this manner promotes his wife's movie career in these low budget but well cast and generally neatly configured Grand National pictures. Although Louis J. Gasnier is credited as director, that influential master during the period of seminal French cinema, later at the helm of American silent serial successes (especially PERILS OF PAULINE with Pearl White) struggled with quite imperfect comprehension of the English language, and therefore direction here is from future auteur Joseph H. Lewis, who handles as well supervisory editing functions. United States based smugglers of gold ore from Mexico into the U.S. have become increasingly aggressive, having slain three FBI agents, following which O'Connor and Reynolds are assigned to the affair, the duo journeying into Mexico to a mining region that an assayer, through analysis of a gold bar confiscated from smugglers indicates is the sector wherein the criminals are operating, and there Alan and Bobbie attempt a systematic investigation, but also arouse suspicions of the evildoers. The two agents frequent a night club, the "Tarantella", where Bobbie is able to obtain employment from Scotty (Fuzzy Knight), the club's American owner, as an entertainer, since the spot is a hangout for the border crossing contrabandists, but when the latter discern the true occupation of Alan and Bobbie, they as a result must face a dangerous, and possibly deadly, confrontation with the smuggling group. Hunt, an alluring brunette, with proved talent as comedienne in addition to singing and dancing skills, easily steals the show, generating considerable interest within a mediocre production, and dominating all of her scenes, while former Paramount matinée idol Nagel handily walks through his role during a period when he coveted assignments as a director more than as actor. A striking sense of rhythmic action that will become a Lewis trademark is apparent from the opening action of a film that also benefits from his above standard handling of a seasoned cast that includes a panoply of villains against whom the FBI agents must fight, including Warner Richmond, Charles Delaney, Karl Hackett, Albert J. Smith, et al. A cast member who shall be mentioned in a negative fashion is Knight, whose indigestible efforts at humour could not have been written by anyone with a scrap of self-respect. Distributor Alpha Video utilizes a good print for a DVD version that offers excellent sound quality, and it is to be hoped that Alpha will complete its chronology of the O'Connor/Reynolds quartet of films by releasing the initial two of the string: YELLOW CARGO (1936) and NAVY SPY (1937).