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Greetings, and welcome to VIEWING THE CLASSICS. Here you'll find capsule reviews of vintage movies from the early days of cinema through the 1970s, with a special emphasis on sci-fi, horror, and mystery movies. Be sure to check out the Pages links, where you can find a Film Index of all my reviews, links to the reviews organized by cast members, directors, and other contributors, and links to my reviews of the films of talented young director Joshua Kennedy.

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Thursday, November 2, 2017

The World Gone Mad (1933)

Starring Pat O'Brien, Evelyn Brent, Neil Hamilton, Mary Brian, Louis Calhern
Directed by Christy Cabanne
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A wisecracking reporter uses unorthodox methods to find the men behind the murder of a district attorney, one of his dearest friends.

Pat O'Brien, known for his many Irish or Irish-American roles, and perhaps best for his portrayal of Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne, stars as one of the ubiquitous wisecracking reporters of the 1930s in this low-budget drama.  He's okay although he doesn't have the best of material to work with, nor enough talent behind the camera to showcase him, but those used to his later roles might find some enjoyment in his youthful appearance here.  In fact there's a plethora of character actors better known for their later films in the cast, including Neil Hamilton (Batman's Commissioner Gordon), as well as J. Carrol Naish and Louis Calhern.  The film was distributed by the short-lived Majestic Pictures studio, which is probably best known for their production of The Vampire Bat, and there's a scene where a couple of characters walk by some posters advertising that very movie.

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