Bordertown (1935)

Director:

Archie Mayo

Writers:

Carroll Graham (suggested by book "Border Town")
Robert Lord (story)
(more)

Release Date:

23 January 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

Plot:

Johnny Ramirez rises from bouncer to partner in Charlie Roark's border town casino. Charlie's wife Marie loves Johnny...

Plot Keywords:

Casino | Murder | Police | One Word Title | Confession Of Crime

Cast

Paul Muni	...	Johnny Ramirez
Bette Davis	...	Mrs. Marie Roark
Margaret Lindsay	...	Dale Elwell
Eugene Pallette	...	Charles 'Charlie' Roark
Robert Barrat	...	Padre
Soledad Jiménez	...	Mrs. Ramirez
Hobart Cavanaugh	...	Harry, the drunk
Gavin Gordon	...	Brook Manville
William B. Davidson	...	Dr. 'Doc' Carter, D.D.S. (as William Davidson)
Arthur Stone	...	Manuel Diego
Vivian Tobin	...	Mrs. Garner, Dale's friend
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Oscar Apfel	...	Judge Rufus Barnswell, law school speaker (uncredited)
Wade Boteler	...	Man wanting to buy Roark's casino (uncredited)
Glen Cavender	...	Man restraining Johnny in courtroom fight (uncredited)
Jack Chefe	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Wallis Clark	...	Friend of Dean, on podium (uncredited)
Carlos De Valdez	...	Magistrado (uncredited)
John Eberts	...	Alberto (uncredited)
Alphonse Ethier	...	Banker (uncredited)
Eddie Graham	...	First trial court clerk (uncredited)
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Judge at first trial (uncredited)
Milton Kibbee	...	Man restraining Johnny in courtroom fight (uncredited)
Eddie Lee	...	Sam Wong, Marie's houseboy (uncredited)
Chris-Pin Martin	...	José (uncredited)
Addie McPhail	...	Carter's girl (uncredited)
Edward McWade	...	Dean of law school (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse	...	Club Extra (uncredited)
Edmund Mortimer	...	George, man at new casino (uncredited)
Ralph Navarro	...	Eduardo, Johnny's defense attorney (uncredited)
David Newell	...	Mr. Cole (uncredited)
Marjorie North	...	Janet (uncredited)
Jack Norton	...	Gambler at Silver Slipper (uncredited)
Henry O'Neill	...	Attorney J. L. Chase (uncredited)
Frank Puglia	...	Police commissioner in Mexico (uncredited)
George Regas	...	Guillermo, the jailer in Mexico (uncredited)
Julian Rivero	...	Mexican prosecuting attorney (uncredited)
Mary Russell	...	Miss Martin, Dale's other friend (uncredited)
Cliff Saum	...	Man restraining Johnny in courtroom fight (uncredited)
Harry Semels	...	Silver Slipper cashier (uncredited)
Teru Shimada	...	Law School graduate (uncredited)
Arthur Treacher	...	Roberts, Elwell's butler (uncredited)
Jack Trent	...	Mr. Garner (uncredited)
Carlos Villarios Villar	...	Carlos, the headwaiter (uncredited)
Arthur Vinton	...	Man wanting to buy Roark's casino (uncredited)
Jack Wise	...	Extra at new casino (uncredited)

Directed by
Archie Mayo		(as Archie L. Mayo)

Writing credits
Carroll Graham		(suggested by book "Border Town")
Robert Lord		(story)
Laird Doyle		(screenplay) &
Wallace Smith		(screenplay)

Produced by
Hal B. Wallis	....	executive producer (uncredited)
Jack L. Warner	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Bernhard Kaun		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Tony Gaudio		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Thomas Richards

Art Direction by
Jack Okey

Costume Design by
Orry-Kelly		(gowns)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	conductor: Vitaphone Orchestra

Other crew
Robert Lord	....	supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (as Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1935) (USA) (theatrical)
• Vitaphone Corporation, The (1935) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Pictures (1937) (USA) (theatrical) (reissue)

Other Companies

• Vitaphone Orchestra  music performed by

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #299)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Nella Walker is on record for the part of Mrs. Elwell, but she did not appear in the film. 'Henry O'Neill' is on record for the part of Mr. Elwell, but he played the role of Attorney J.L. Chase. A modern source lists Eddie Shubert as Marketman, but he was not seen in the print.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Johnny shows Marie to her car, the shadow of the camera is visible on the car door.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Sweet Georgia Brown

"Bordertown" evokes memories of "They Drive By Night"...

PAUL MUNI with dark make-up and an Hispanic accent is a hot-blooded Mexican lawyer who turns to a different sort of life when his career as a lawyer leads nowhere. He works for EUGENE Palette in a gambling joint and is soon the jovial man's partner. On the sidelines watching him is BETTE DAVIS, in one of her early femme fatale roles, a bleached blonde whose advances toward Muni are promptly rebuffed.

A sub-plot involving Muni's romance with a society girl (MARGARET LINDSEY) is really rather predictable, especially when she flirts with him from the start and then turns on him when he becomes serious, flinging words at him like "savage" and "brute" and telling him to stay with "his own tribe." The script resolves this ill-fated affair in an abrupt manner before the fade-out.

The highlight of the drama is Bette Davis turning on Muni too, on the stand, declaring that he conspired with her to kill her husband, when in fact she is the guilty one. She goes to pieces on the stand, allowing us a Bette Davis moment that was an indication of the kind of actress she was on the verge of becoming.

Frankly, this whole story bears a strong relationship to another tale Warners produced in '41 with Ida Lupino as the stressed out woman filled with guilt over the murder of her husband. Lupino was even more impressive in her mad moment than Davis. In fact, the whole picture was smoother and produced with more polish than this similar version using some of the same story elements.

Summing up: Intense drama suffers from Muni's overacting as the Mexican lawyer and a script that doesn't develop the wife's character sufficiently to lead to her mental breakdown. A better version is THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT ('41)with George Raft and Ida Lupino and Alan Hale as the hubby she wants to get rid of.