battlebeast
Senior HTF Member
After a long absence I'm back reviewing Best Picture Nominees (I'm sure much to the chagrin of several...) anyway...
The Racket (1928)
Director: Lewis Millestone
Cast: Thomas Meighan, Louis Wolheim, Marie Prevost, George Stone, G. Pat Collins
Oscars won: 0
Nominations: 1
The Racket was one of the first three nominees for Best Picture. It was a lost film for many years until the one and only surviving copy was found in Howard Hughes' personal collection after his death. Hughes, the eccentric aviator and film producer, portrayed brilliantly in Scorsese's The Aviator (2004), had this pictured started right after Two Arabian Knights. Incidentally, both films were directed by Lewis Milestone.
Milestone was nominated for Best Director three times in the Oscar's first four years, winning two of the first three. He won for Two Arabian Knights, and again in 1930 for All Quiet on the Western Front. He was nominated again (his last) in 1931 for The Front Page.
The Racket started out as a Broadway play. When it tried to move on to Chicago, the play was banned, due in large part to the allegory between the main character Scarsi and Al Capone, who basically controlled the city. The play moved on to Los Angeles where the film rights were purchased by Howard Hughes.
The Racket stars Louis Wolheim as ganster Nick Scarsi, based on the real 'Scarface' Al Capone, a powerful bootlegger who controls the city with help from corrupt judges and politicians. Thomas Meighan plays Captian McQuigg, an honest police captain who vows to stop at nothing to bring down Scarsi and his criminal empire.
I found this film very hard to watch because the copy I had to view was not taken from the TCM restoration. It was terrible to watch. The sound was worse/ Hissy and noisy and just plain awefull. Had I been able to watch the TCM restoration, I may have a better opinion of this film.
The score was decent, but I'm sure it wasn't the original score. Again, I was not able to hear the TCM resoration score, outside small clips, so I really can't compare them.
However, I found the acting lousy, the pacing terrible, and the title cards incoherant.
The Racket was one of the first big Gangster films, popularized by Warners in the 1930's. Incidentally, a young Edward G. Robinson was part of the Los Angeles cast of the play, who was quickly signed by Warners to appear in their own Gangster films.
For uber film buffs, silent film buffs, and especially Oscar buffs like myself, this is a must watch, as it is one of only four silent films nominated for Best Picture (The others being Wings, The Patriot and The Artist), I don't recommend it for the average film fan. I would love to see a DVD of the Turner Classic Movies restoration, and, indeed, a Blu Ray would be amazing. I really do think this film would look amazing on Blu Ray.
Film: 1.5/5
Picture: 1.5/5
Audio 3/5
partially RECOMMENDED
The Racket (1928)
Director: Lewis Millestone
Cast: Thomas Meighan, Louis Wolheim, Marie Prevost, George Stone, G. Pat Collins
Oscars won: 0
Nominations: 1
The Racket was one of the first three nominees for Best Picture. It was a lost film for many years until the one and only surviving copy was found in Howard Hughes' personal collection after his death. Hughes, the eccentric aviator and film producer, portrayed brilliantly in Scorsese's The Aviator (2004), had this pictured started right after Two Arabian Knights. Incidentally, both films were directed by Lewis Milestone.
Milestone was nominated for Best Director three times in the Oscar's first four years, winning two of the first three. He won for Two Arabian Knights, and again in 1930 for All Quiet on the Western Front. He was nominated again (his last) in 1931 for The Front Page.
The Racket started out as a Broadway play. When it tried to move on to Chicago, the play was banned, due in large part to the allegory between the main character Scarsi and Al Capone, who basically controlled the city. The play moved on to Los Angeles where the film rights were purchased by Howard Hughes.
The Racket stars Louis Wolheim as ganster Nick Scarsi, based on the real 'Scarface' Al Capone, a powerful bootlegger who controls the city with help from corrupt judges and politicians. Thomas Meighan plays Captian McQuigg, an honest police captain who vows to stop at nothing to bring down Scarsi and his criminal empire.
I found this film very hard to watch because the copy I had to view was not taken from the TCM restoration. It was terrible to watch. The sound was worse/ Hissy and noisy and just plain awefull. Had I been able to watch the TCM restoration, I may have a better opinion of this film.
The score was decent, but I'm sure it wasn't the original score. Again, I was not able to hear the TCM resoration score, outside small clips, so I really can't compare them.
However, I found the acting lousy, the pacing terrible, and the title cards incoherant.
The Racket was one of the first big Gangster films, popularized by Warners in the 1930's. Incidentally, a young Edward G. Robinson was part of the Los Angeles cast of the play, who was quickly signed by Warners to appear in their own Gangster films.
For uber film buffs, silent film buffs, and especially Oscar buffs like myself, this is a must watch, as it is one of only four silent films nominated for Best Picture (The others being Wings, The Patriot and The Artist), I don't recommend it for the average film fan. I would love to see a DVD of the Turner Classic Movies restoration, and, indeed, a Blu Ray would be amazing. I really do think this film would look amazing on Blu Ray.
Film: 1.5/5
Picture: 1.5/5
Audio 3/5
partially RECOMMENDED
