I Am a Criminal (1938) Online

This was in a DVD package of 16 gangster films. When I saw the opening title, "A Monogram Picture," I winched as I knew it was going to be a poverty row "C" picture. However, I cheered up a bit when I saw that the director was William Nigh who had done the fine "Mr Wong" detective series and the excellent spy drama "British Intelligence," both with Boris Karloff.

The movie starts out with a very long and talky scene of the District Attorney George Lane (Lester Matthews) telling gangster Brad McArthur (John Carroll) that he was going to clean up the city by getting him. McArthur says that he's a rich businessman who employs a lot of people and has a lot of friends. I like a film that lays its cards on the table. I expected the film to be a battle of wills and guns between the D.A. and the criminal.

Surprisingly, this turns out to be a subplot. The real plot develops when McArthur meets newspaperboy and street urchin Bobby (Martin Spellman). Bobby is an orphan, living alone, making $4 a week. McArthur offers him $6 a week to come work for him. McArthur wants to use Bobby to establish a clean image. The rest of the movie is really about the bonding of McArthur and Bobby.

Your reaction to the movie will hinge on your reaction to Martin Spellman's portrayal of young Bobby. If you find him adorable and sweet, you will probably like the movie. If you find him sugary, overacting, and annoying, you'll hate it. Martin did go on to appear in "A" pictures,"Beau Geste" and "Let Us Live" (starting Maureen O'Sullivan and Henry Fonda). His career consisted of about a dozen films that he did between the ages of 13 and 16. Based on this picture, one would have expected him to become a star or at least a good character actor.

John Carroll gives a nice, laid-back performance as the gangster. He never became a big star, but he had some good parts in some "A" pictures, including "Susan and God" (Joan Crawford and Fredric March) and "Go West" (The Marx Brothers) This is a cute and sweet film in the kid-turns-bachelor's-life-upside-down mold. If you're looking for a real tough gangster flick, run away quick.

The film is hindered by its low budget sets and obviously quick production schedule which seems to have forced a many scenes to be done in long takes. I suspect they only had a five or six day shooting schedule. Still director Nigh is a good story-teller and makes a very pedestrian comic melodrama fun to watch.

An accidental death and a bad relationship puts reformed criminal wannabee on the run with his adopted ward in this fairly enjoyable comedy/drama that is a combination of "Little Miss Marker" and the same year's "A Slight Case of Murder" where Edward G. Robinson and Ruth Donnelly took in a juvenile delinquent. It's John Carroll this time, taking in an orphaned paper boy (Martin Spellman) who is constantly getting into trouble. Reminding me of the musical "Newsies" with its bad young boy trying to find a good life, this is adequately acted, OK as far as the script is concerned, yet not as snappy as I would have liked it to be. It looks pretty good budget wise for a Monogram programmer, and the spark between Carroll and Spellman prevents this from getting too sentimental. Kay Linaker deserves boo's and hisses for her nasty character's betrayal of Carroll, while former silent "Our Gang" star Mary Kornman deserves a box of candy for her completely sweet country girl whom Carroll and Spellman rent a room from while on the run. May Beatty provides some big-hearted love and a few laughs (especially when she gives Linaker a good tongue lashing) as the Mary Gordon like housekeeper. But the film is missing a key element in its plotting that makes it flow in a way that keeps you truly engaged. In that sense, this is simply just another "B" movie that focuses on "moments" rather than the entire kit and caboodle.