Warren William as a carnival con man who thrives as a fake swami, but his wife (Constance Cummings) wants him to make an honest living. This is a wonderful pre-code tells the tale of a first class con-artist who works his way from a medicine show to that of a reader of fortunes and the future. Here he meets and falls in love with the daughter of a rube (a country bumpkin) and marries her with hopes of continuing “the life” but finds it increasing difficult to provide the sleight-of-hand necessary for his craft and his marriage. Cagney, Bogart and Robinson eventually replaced Warren William, a big star for Warner Bros. at the time and an excellent actor at the box-office. But here he is at once convincing as Dr. Muro whose “magic crystal ball” seems to predict the most sordid outcomes for each of his clients as described by a newspaper clipping -- “Dr. Munro’s Magic crystal is relieving the depression, by making business brisk for divorce lawyers – his line of patients are long than the well known bread line – “ Here we have the outing of adultery and avarice; an interesting juxtaposition for Dr. Muro as we have come to know him. Several things make this movie interesting not the least of which is a knockout performance by Mayo Methot (Bogart’s wife prior to Bacall) in an amazing three-minute suicide scene enhanced with Warner Bros. realism of the day as to make anyone cringe. Directed by the dependable Roy DelRuth, who understood better than most the kind of gritty, tightly made urban crime melodramas that provided bread and butter to the brothers Warner during the depression. Lot’s of fun and proof positive of the difference between the Circus and the sideshow. Only better done by my favorite carnival movie Nightmare Alley staring Tyrone Power.
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