Richard Barthelmess had surprisingly been one of the highest paid stars of the early sound era but by the mid thirties his popularity was on the decline. After 16 years he found himself freelancing and also back at Paramount, the studio where he had started off, for a gripping little thriller which found him in top form. Norman Krasna had adapted it from his play "Little Miracles" and he used the "Grand Hotel" formula of several different slices of life with the setting being the lobby and auditorium of a New York theatre.
Hat check boy Joe is in a heap of trouble, balancing job, law studies and dewy eyed girl friend Helen (top crier Helen Mack who found plenty to cry about in the first half of this movie) - he still found time to play around and was now in danger of falling for the oldest line in the book!! Another vignette has Lady Sylvia Temple (Gertrude Michael) having a clandestine meeting with her lover (Ray Milland) in the theatre foyer.
Towering above them all is Richard Barthelmess' mighty performance as Tony Mako. Mako is a beaten man, on the way to his execution, accompanied by a kindly cop (Charles C. Wilson), the anger and resentment which saw him take to crime has left him. Now he calmly chats to his companion about appropriate gifts for a 13 year old girl and gives the policeman his savings of $300 with the advice "ask what she wants for her birthday and buy it for her"!! Marooned in New York between trains, Tony is galvanized into one last desperate act after finding out that the gang member (Noel Madison) who sold him out is alive and well and has a wife who works at the theatre. She is Mae (Dorothy Tree), the same one who is trying to shake down Joe with the old "marry me or I need $200" trick!!
The stories tie in - Joe is accused of stealing Sylvia's diamond brooch and the subsequent inquiries show up Milland as the cad he is. Mako also recognises Mae as Anderson's wife - that's when he realises that his nemesis is nearby. Noel Madison may have only a few minutes of screen time but he makes them count with a dynamic piece of acting!!
Hat check boy Joe is in a heap of trouble, balancing job, law studies and dewy eyed girl friend Helen (top crier Helen Mack who found plenty to cry about in the first half of this movie) - he still found time to play around and was now in danger of falling for the oldest line in the book!! Another vignette has Lady Sylvia Temple (Gertrude Michael) having a clandestine meeting with her lover (Ray Milland) in the theatre foyer.
Towering above them all is Richard Barthelmess' mighty performance as Tony Mako. Mako is a beaten man, on the way to his execution, accompanied by a kindly cop (Charles C. Wilson), the anger and resentment which saw him take to crime has left him. Now he calmly chats to his companion about appropriate gifts for a 13 year old girl and gives the policeman his savings of $300 with the advice "ask what she wants for her birthday and buy it for her"!! Marooned in New York between trains, Tony is galvanized into one last desperate act after finding out that the gang member (Noel Madison) who sold him out is alive and well and has a wife who works at the theatre. She is Mae (Dorothy Tree), the same one who is trying to shake down Joe with the old "marry me or I need $200" trick!!
The stories tie in - Joe is accused of stealing Sylvia's diamond brooch and the subsequent inquiries show up Milland as the cad he is. Mako also recognises Mae as Anderson's wife - that's when he realises that his nemesis is nearby. Noel Madison may have only a few minutes of screen time but he makes them count with a dynamic piece of acting!!