The Beast of the City

directed by Charles Brabin
Category: "Action/Adventure"
Year of Release:1932
Date Added:08/28/2026
Date Watched:08/28/2026
Description:Police chief Jim Fitzpatrick (Walter Huston) vows to clean up the city and get rid of gangster Belmonte and his thugs. His brother Ed, a cop, is seduced by Belmonte's girl, Daisy (Jean Harlow). She talks him into giving the details of a bank delivery and passes the info on to the gangsters. The cops catch the two robbers, one of whom reveals Ed to be the leak. Jim arrests Ed too, and the three are put on trial. Belmonte's lawyer manages to get them declared innocent and makes Jim look like a fool in the process. This is one step too far for Ed, and he confesses everything to Jim. Jim tells him he can make up for it by going to Belmonte's place and letting the gangster know he's going to tell the newspapers everything. As expected, Belmonte responds by shooting Ed just as Jim walks in with a bunch of cops. There's a huge shootout in which all the thugs and all the cops — and Daisy — are all killed.
My Rating:5

Reviews for The Beast of the City

Review - Beast of the City, The

The movie was supposed to counter the pro-gangster movies popular at the time, but the violent methods used by the police didn't make them look much like heroes. Still, it was fine, a little dull but fine, until the end. The face-to-face shoot-out that got everybody killed was just stupid and proved nothing.

Reviewed by Roger on 2026-08-28 17:58:15

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