IMDb RATING
6.6/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
An honest police captain vows to bring down a powerful bootlegger who is protected by corrupt politicians and judges.An honest police captain vows to bring down a powerful bootlegger who is protected by corrupt politicians and judges.An honest police captain vows to bring down a powerful bootlegger who is protected by corrupt politicians and judges.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 nomination total
G. Pat Collins
- Patrolman Johnson
- (as Pat Collins)
George E. Stone
- Joe Scarsi
- (as George Stone)
Sam De Grasse
- District Attorney Welch
- (as Sam DeGrasse)
Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher
- Miller
- (as Skeets Gallagher)
Frank Austin
- Man at Funeral
- (uncredited)
Jimmy Dime
- Rival Gang Lookout
- (uncredited)
Jim Farley
- Detective
- (uncredited)
Sherry Hall
- Orchestra Leader
- (uncredited)
Sydney Jarvis
- Bartender
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOnly one copy of the film is known to have survived. It was long thought lost before being located in Howard Hughes' film collection after his death. The film was restored and preserved by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas film department. The restored copy is frequently shown on Turner Classic Movies in the US.
- GoofsMcQuigg's holster is embossed with his name and rank, but it also says CITY OF followed by a blank space.
- Quotes
Cub Reporter Ames: I told you not to look after me... Why did you do it?
Helen Hayes: Because - -- because you affect me like a mammy song.
- Alternate versionsIn 2004, The University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Flicker Alley, LLC copyrighted a new digital version with a new orchestral score composed, arranged and conducted by Robert Israel. It was produced by Jeffery Masino and runs 84 minutes.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film (2008)
Featured review
What's All the Racket About This First-Year Best Picture Nominee? Plenty....
If you've read some of my other comments, you'll know that I'm in the middle of watching all movies that received Academy Award nominations in the Academy's very first year, 1927-28. "The Racket" was one of three nominees for Best Picture, along with "Seventh Heaven" and "Wings," and though it's by far the least ambitious and "important" of the three, it's the one that I found to be most satisfying.
It's a quick, speedy little gangster thriller from Lewis Milestone about one committed cop's determination to see a crime lord brought to justice. It was based on a play, but Milestone does a terrific job of keeping things cinematic -- this movie moves, and that plus the fact that it's not long to begin with makes its running time go racing by.
Thomas Meighan, who apparently was a big name at the time but who is unfamiliar to me, plays the cop, while Louis Wolheim plays the gangster. Both are terrific, but both are upstaged, as is everyone else, by Marie Prevost (playing a character named, of all things, Helen Hayes) as surely one of the first memorable gangster molls. She gets a really good pre-Code line (if silent films can be said to have lines) about babies and storks that gives you one of those "could they really say things like that back then" moments that pre-Code movies always have.
As far as I know, this movie isn't available anywhere for legitimate viewing. I had to see it the same way I saw "Wings," by watching it in pieces on a site whose name I won't mention. Better catch it soon before someone takes it down.
Grade: A
It's a quick, speedy little gangster thriller from Lewis Milestone about one committed cop's determination to see a crime lord brought to justice. It was based on a play, but Milestone does a terrific job of keeping things cinematic -- this movie moves, and that plus the fact that it's not long to begin with makes its running time go racing by.
Thomas Meighan, who apparently was a big name at the time but who is unfamiliar to me, plays the cop, while Louis Wolheim plays the gangster. Both are terrific, but both are upstaged, as is everyone else, by Marie Prevost (playing a character named, of all things, Helen Hayes) as surely one of the first memorable gangster molls. She gets a really good pre-Code line (if silent films can be said to have lines) about babies and storks that gives you one of those "could they really say things like that back then" moments that pre-Code movies always have.
As far as I know, this movie isn't available anywhere for legitimate viewing. I had to see it the same way I saw "Wings," by watching it in pieces on a site whose name I won't mention. Better catch it soon before someone takes it down.
Grade: A
helpful•51
- evanston_dad
- Sep 16, 2011
- How long is The Racket?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 24 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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