JohnHowardReid Copyright 31 October 1932 by Universal Pictures Corp. New York opening at the Winter Garden: 18 December 1932. U.K. release: 29 April 1933. Australian release: February 1933. 69 minutes. NOTES: The stage play opened on Broadway at the Avon, after a sensational off-Broadway debut on 22 April 1932 at Provincetown where it attracted record-breaking crowds and an unusually large volume of press attention. It ran 56 performances before transferring to the Avon where it lasted five weeks. It tells of a hotel bellboy (Elisha Cook Jr) who witnesses a murder by an influential crime czar (Harold Huber), who has the witness imprisoned and finally killed by the policemen who are supposed to be guarding him. Walter Hart and Michael Blankfort produced. Hart also directed. COMMENT: An exceptionally hard-hitting drama of judicial and political corruption, directed with surprising verve by Edward L. Cahn some years before he became a dreary director of inescapable, low-low-budget "B" movies. The cast is unusually strong, with stand-out performances from Tully Marshall as the cowering District Attorney, Louis Calhern as his corrupt assistant, Berton Churchill as the shifty mayor, Frank Sheridan as Police Commissioner Garvey, and Edward Arnold in the Harold Huber part. Superbly photographed by Karl Freund, Afraid to Talk is an excellent example of the socially-aware Hollywood movie of the early 1930s. One's only quarrel with Hollywood is the substitution of a happy ending for the play's more effectively dramatic downbeat curtain.Fortunately, it now appears that two endings were filmed. A happy one for American release and a version close to the stage play's for the European market.OTHER VIEWS: For some reason, this brilliant film noir has not made anybody's must-see list. Why? Too old? Hardly. Underworld (1927) is frequently cited as a classic example of the genre. Does this movie lack an appropriately noirish mood and atmosphere? Again, no. In fact cameraman Karl Freund is often quoted as a master of film noir lighting

melvelvit-1 A hotel bellhop witnesses a gangland murder and it almost rips the lid off a corrupt city ...almost...I must say this Universal gangster film made "Warner Bros cynicism" look like child's play. "The Czar Of Noir" Eddie Muller screened this and the same year's OKAY America (another Universal with Edward Arnold & Louis Calhern) for one of his "Noir City" film festivals as a classic example of "proto-noir". Some call it a "cheat" (Linden survives his hanging) but the ending, to me, is both jaded and hopeful, no mean feat -and Cahn's handling of the boy's "interrogation" still has the power to shock. It's the kind of story that'll never go out of style but it was also very topical. Although pains were taken to show the city in question wasn't New York (Linden tells his bride that his brother in NYC will help them make a new start), it was obvious to one and all at the time that it was a thinly disguised account of Mayor Jimmy Walker's corrupt reign. I also liked the Pre-Code sensibility on display; for example, when the bellhop and the elevator boy are taking the lift up to answer a call, the bellhop says, "I'll bet it's a dame" and when an effeminate man enters, the elevator boy forks over a quarter. And when one of the DA's men starts developing a conscience after the bellhop's beating, his co- hort snarls, "Whaddaya, going 'pansy' on us?" Simpering Sidney Fox and slinky Mayo Methot (a cross between Mae West and Baclanova) made for a nice distaff contrast. Fox (who, like Helen Twelvetrees, lost momentum and faded away when the Code came in) had been forgotten for decades until her name cropped up on Jack Paar's TONIGHT SHOW in the 60s when Jack was interviewing Bette Davis. They were discussing Davis' debut and Bette pointed out that it was actually Sidney Fox and not she who was THE BAD SISTER. Jack did a double take and gasped, "He was??" Sid, the mistress of both Laemmele Sr. and Jr., eventually committed suicide, just like Twelvetrees. This film was remade in East Germany as HOTELBOY ED MARTIN (1955) and one has to question the intent. It's obvious that the bellboy was "everyman" in America but in East Germany was the corrupt system a pluperfect example of capitalism at work? Hmmm...

GManfred Like Gangster Pictures? "Afraid To Talk" may be the best of this genre ever made. It tells a story of corruption in which traditional ethical guidelines are erased, in which there are no 'good guys' or 'bad guys'- they're all bad. It was directed in breathtaking and expert fashion by Edward L. Cahn, who directed many crummy B's of the 50's and 60's, and this must be his best picture.This is a pre-code gangster picture and by my reckoning better than "Public Enemy" or "Little Caesar" and despite the fact that there is no big name gangster-type star here.In addition, this is a Universal production, which goes against the 30's Hollywood slogan that, "If it's a Universal it's a Horror". Somehow this backwater studio produced this taut, well-acted, hard-hitting movie and did it in 72 minutes worth of film. The baddest of the bad guys is Louis Calhern, doing his dastardly best (or worst) as a treacherous Asst.District Attorney. In this corner, as a hapless hotel bellhop, is Eric Linden, who is married to munchkin-like Sidney Fox, in a thankless role as a housewife. Other career crooked politicians in the cast are Berton Churchill, Edward Arnold and Robert Warwick. Look for Mayo Methot, Bogie's first wife,as a gang moll.Afraid To Talk has never, to anyones or any publications knowledge, been shown on TV, and is not available in any format except 35MM. Do not miss it if the opportunity ever arises. I was also impressed to learn of the existence of political corruption elsewhere - I'm from N.J. and I thought we invented it.

F Gwynplaine MacIntyre 'Afraid to Talk' is one of those efficient low-budget Hollywood features that deserve to be better known. This drama of corrupt politicos is very much of the 1930s. I don't mean to say that modern politicians are less corrupt than their 1930s counterparts, but the corruption in this film is heavy with the milieu of the Depression era. This movie's appeal is helped considerably by a large cast of familiar faces. Even Arthur Housman gets a look-in, doing his perennial drunk act.SPOILERS AHEAD. The very talented character actor Edward Arnold spent most of his film career portraying two types: incorruptible authority figures, and seemingly incorruptible authority figures who are secretly crooks. Here, for once, Arnold plays an outright crook who doesn't hide his dishonesty ... and named Jig Skelli, no less. Skelli's rival for control of the underworld is one Jake Stransky, played by Robert Warwick. I disliked this casting: Warwick was a deeply cultured actor with a cultivated stage voice (although American, he sometimes played upper-class Englishmen). Warwick, a good actor within his range, is simply not believable as a thick-ear gangster.When Skelli rubs out Stransky, the hit is witnessed by bellboy Eddie Martin (Eric Linden). Determined to leave no witnesses, Skelli tries to kill Eddie but merely wounds him. Eddie grasses to the authorities ... which, in this movie, proves to be a mistake. The district attorney (Tully Marshall, excellent), his assistant (Louis Calhern, quite good) and the mayor are all crooked too, and in Skelli's pocket. The mayor is played by Berton Churchill, who sometimes played respectable authority figures but more typically (and more effectively) portrayed authority figures who are secretly corrupt. Churchill's most memorable role was as the banker who embezzles from his own bank in 'Stagecoach': he plays a similar character here.The D.A. realises it wouldn't be a good idea to indict Skelli, since Skelli has got the goods on every crooked politician in town. But the murder of Stransky has got to be prosecuted. So the D.A. indicts poor Eddie Martin! Talk of being in the wrong place at the wrong time! The innocent Eddie is pressured into giving a false confession, and now he's looking at a death sentence.Eric Linden briefly played lead roles in this and a few other films. As the hapless bellboy Eddie, Linden is impressive in a role requiring a range of emotions. Viewers who have never run afoul of the justice system might have difficulty believing that an innocent man would confess to murder; I found Linden's performance entirely believable, and I'm painfully aware of the tactics which corrupt police and prosecutors employ to wring confessions out of the innocent.Much of 'Afraid to Talk' is excellent. Although there are several fine supporting performances, Sidney Fox is insipid and dull in the female lead as Eddie's frantic wife. Also, the last reel of the movie seems rushed ... as if the scriptwriters needed to tie up the plot before they ran out of typing paper. My rating for this one: 8 solid points out of 10.