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Overview

User Rating:
6.8/10   625 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
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Director:
Archie Mayo
(more)
Writers:
Robert Lord (story)
Abem Finkel (screenplay) ...
(more)
Contact:
View company contact information for Black Legion on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
30 January 1937 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Crime more
Plot:
When a hard-working machinist loses a promotion to a Polish-born worker, he is seduced into joining the secretive Black Legion, which intimidates foreigners through violence. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. more
User Comments:
Sensationalistic, but brave for it's day. more (18 total)
US TV Schedule:
Wed. Dec. 210:00 AMTCM   

Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)

Humphrey Bogart ... Frank Taylor
Dick Foran ... Ed Jackson
Erin O'Brien-Moore ... Ruth Taylor

Ann Sheridan ... Betty Grogan
Helen Flint ... Pearl Davis (Credits) / Pearl Danvers
Joe Sawyer ... Cliff Moore (Credits) / Cliff Summers (as Joseph Sawyer)
Clifford Soubier ... Mike Grogan
Alonzo Price ... Alf Hargrave
Paul Harvey ... Billings
Dickie Jones ... Buddy Taylor
Samuel S. Hinds ... Judge (as Samuel Hinds)
Addison Richards ... Prosecuting Attorney
Eddie Acuff ... Metcalf
Dorothy Vaughan ... Mrs. Grogan
John Litel ... Tommy Smith
Henry Brandon ... Joe Dombrowski
Charles Halton ... Osgood
Pat C. Flick ... Nick Strumpas
Francis Sayles ... Charlie
Paul Stanton ... Barham
Harry Hayden ... Jones
Egon Brecher ... Dombrowski
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Don Barclay ... Drunken member (scenes deleted)
Joseph Crehan ... (scenes deleted)
Paul Graetz ... (scenes deleted)
Robert Barrat ... Brown (Black Legion official) (uncredited)
Ted Bliss ... Radio announcer (uncredited)
John Butler ... Jenkins (auto salesman) (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler ... Motorcycle cop (uncredited)
Larry Emmons ... Man in drugstore (uncredited)
John Hiestand ... First radio announcer breaking Black Legion story (uncredited)
Robert Homans ... Motorcycle cop (uncredited)
Milton Kibbee ... Reporter (uncredited)
Frederick Lindsley ... March of Time announcer (uncredited)
Wilfred Lucas ... Bailiff (uncredited)
Fred MacKaye ... Third radio announcer breaking Black Legion story (uncredited)
Dennis Moore ... Reporter at jail (uncredited)

Carlyle Moore Jr. ... Reporter (uncredited)
Jack Mower ... Court clerk (uncredited)
Frank Nelson ... Radio announcer (uncredited)
Lee Phelps ... Guard at jail (uncredited)
Sam Rice ... Extra on bus (uncredited)
Frank Sully ... Truck driver's helper (uncredited)
Emmett Vogan ... News commentator (uncredited)
Max Wagner ... Truck driver in diner (uncredited)
Billy Wayne ... Jim (diner counterman) (uncredited)
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Directed by
Archie Mayo  (as Archie L. Mayo)
Michael Curtiz (uncredited)
 
Writing credits
Robert Lord (story)

Abem Finkel (screenplay) and
William Wister Haines (screenplay)

Produced by
Robert Lord .... producer (uncredited)
Hal B. Wallis .... executive producer (uncredited)
Jack L. Warner .... executive producer (uncredited)
 
Original Music by
W. Franke Harling (uncredited)
Howard Jackson (uncredited)
Bernhard Kaun (uncredited)
 
Cinematography by
George Barnes (photography by)
 
Film Editing by
Owen Marks 
 
Art Direction by
Robert M. Haas  (as Robert Haas)
 
Costume Design by
Milo Anderson (gowns)
 
Production Management
Frank Mattison .... unit manager (uncredited)
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack Sullivan .... assistant director (uncredited)
 
Sound Department
C.A. Riggs .... sound recordist (uncredited)
 
Special Effects by
Fred Jackman Jr. .... special effects (uncredited)
Hans F. Koenekamp .... special effects (uncredited)
 
Camera and Electrical Department
Gene Davenport .... assistant camera (uncredited)
George Gordon Nogle .... second camera operator (uncredited)
 
Crew verified as complete


Production CompaniesDistributors
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
83 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
Norway:16 (1937) | Finland:(Banned) (1937) | USA:Approved (PCA #2507)
Filming Locations:
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA more
Company:
Warner Bros. Pictures more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Director Michael Curtiz was brought in to shoot some additional footage after the production wrapped. It is known that he shot at least the scene with the Black Legion executives. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When the Legion trusses Mike Grogan to the tree branch before flogging him, in the shot from the front both of his arms are fully extended from the branch. However, in the shot from behind, his right wrist is strapped to the branch with his arm bent at the crook of the elbow. more
Quotes:
Cliff Moore: Well, what's the matter? You afraid?
Ed Jackson: So, you're afraid! Maybe they better change the name of your outfit from the Black Legion to the Yellow Legion.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Warner at War (2008) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
The Lady in Red more

FAQ

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful.
Sensationalistic, but brave for it's day., 2 August 1999
7/10
Author: David Atfield (bits@alphalink.com.au) from Canberra, Australia

The opening credits of this film declare in large letters that the characters and institutions portrayed in the film are entirely fictional. It seems even the brothers Warner were afraid of the Ku Klux Klan. And why wouldn't they be in the Thirties when lynchings and other acts of terror were common - are they still? Bogart is fine in an early role as a young worker, dismayed at a Polish worker getting a promotion he was seeking, who joins the Klan (or the Black Legion as they call it here). It's interesting to see him before he was typecast as the tough guy - he is very vulnerable here but not entirely sympathetic.

The film wears its sincerity on its sleeve a bit and is never wholly believable, but it is a brave attempt to confront the racism that was rife in Depression era America, when getting and keeping a job was very tough.

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