1930 The Racketeer

"The Racketeer" is a 1929 American pre-Code crime drama film, not 1930. It was one of the early sound films, featuring elements of the gangster genre that would become highly popular in the early 1930s.

Here's a description of the movie:

Title: The Racketeer

Release Year: 1929 (often mistakenly cited as 1930)

Genre: Crime, Drama, Gangster, Pre-Code

Director: Howard Higgin

Screenplay by: Paul Gangelin, Howard Higgin (based on the novel by Paul Gangelin)

Production Company: RKO Pictures

Plot:
The film centers on Mahoney (played by Robert Armstrong), a powerful and ruthless mob boss who controls a significant portion of the city's underworld operations. He is a quintessential gangster figure of the era, feared and respected in equal measure within his criminal empire.

The plot introduces Helen Grant (played by Carole Lombard), a young, naive, and innocent woman who gets unwittingly entangled in Mahoney's criminal world. She falls for a man who is connected to the racketeering operations, or perhaps Mahoney himself takes an interest in her, leading to a dangerous romance.

A key element of the story involves Tony Chapo (played by Paul Hurst), a rival gangster who is constantly vying for control and challenging Mahoney's authority. Their escalating conflict forms much of the dramatic tension, leading to shootouts, double-crosses, and violent confrontations typical of the gangster genre.

The film explores themes of ambition, power, loyalty, and betrayal within the criminal underworld. It also often touches upon the destructive nature of crime and its impact on innocent lives caught in its web. As a pre-Code film, it would have been able to depict violence and moral ambiguities more explicitly than films after the Hays Code was strictly enforced.

Key Cast:

Robert Armstrong as Mahlon "Mahoney" Durkin

Carole Lombard as Helen Grant

Paul Hurst as Tony Chapo

Jeanette Loff as Betty

Roland Drew as Jack

Significance:
"The Racketeer" is notable as an early example of the talking gangster film. It capitalizes on the public's fascination with organized crime during the Prohibition era. For audiences of the late 1920s, it provided a glimpse into the dangerous and often violent lives of bootleggers and mobsters, cementing the archetype of the cinematic gangster that would flourish in the subsequent years with films like Little Caesar, The Public Enemy, and Scarface. It's also an interesting early role for future star Carole Lombard.