Officer Thirteen (1932)

Too many fans seem to be blown away

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Blistering performances.

In this B-movie, you might notice that although Mickey Rooney is in the film that he's billed as 'Mickey McGuire'. This is because from the late 1920s into the mid-1930s, Rooney played Mickey McGuire in several dozen films.The story begins with two motorcycle policemen on the job. When I guy comes barreling down the road at 70 miles per hour, they cops give chase. One of them is deliberately knocked off the road and he's killed. When his surviving partner brings in the driver and his passenger, he expects justice....but due to some perjury, he's acquitted of manslaughter. And, not surprisingly, the cop is furious--his partner and best friend was killed....and no one seems too concerned that a known gambler and racketeer is responsible but won't be punished. What's next?This is a mildly enjoyable B-movie that is worth seeing but isn't exactly a must-see. Decent enough when it comes to acting and script, it's not bad...just not exactly inspired either.

"I find that I like my daughter", a powerful judge tells the police commissioner when she changes her testimony after clearing a ruthless gangster of manslaughter after the accidental death of a highway patrolman. Swift chase scenes through the Santa Monica mountains lead to the officer's death which lead to socialite Lila Lee plagiarizing herself out of fear. But upon seeing the dead officer's mother (Florence Roberts) and young son (Mickey "MacGuire") Rooney, Lee has a change in heart which leads to the possibility of political scandal as she tries to make amends with the dead man's partner (Monte Blue). While this gets a bit creaky in some of the dialog scenes and is at times sappy, this ranks as one of the better B programmers that have ended up in the public domain and easily available. An early scene has the two officers driving down Hollywood streets (long before it was built up) that results in a humorous sequence with a Spanish speaking truck driver. This is followed by the touching seen with young Rooney followed by the intense chase that leads down Sunset Boulevard and back into the hills right where the Pacific Coast Highway begins.This comments on the apathetic feelings of the upper-crust haves to flat feet cops (a popular term at the time) and the two timing gambler who is obviously using the rather naive Ms. Lee. Frances Rich is very amusing as the socialite pal of Lee's who takes delight at her drama, making light of it even in front of Lee who is obviously despondent. Robert Ellis is downright hissable as the playboy gambler while in a tinier part, Seena Owen is equally nasty as the unfeeling mistress. It's pretty predictable where this will end, but there's more than just a few moments that will make you take notice. The photography alone adds this to my top 100 films of 1932.

Lovely Lila Lee is the top-billed female, but she is generally upstaged by pert Frances Rich, who is given a juicier, if smaller, part.Both deserved a long and well-paid career. Alas, today they are unknown.Monte Blue had a very long career, though he too is not very well known today. He had looks and talent and did keep busy as long as he wanted.Mickey McGuire didn't exactly disappear: He became Mickey Rooney, one of the biggest stars of the century. Deservedly. Here, as a child, he was probably the best actor on the set. Until he got just a few years older, he was controlled and in control, always perfectly under-stated and perfectly believable.Alas, later, he needed firmer directorial hands than he usually got and he was too often over the top.Again, here he was perfect, one of the finest actors in motion picture history.He had a partner in the child part of the story, Jackie Searle. Young Mr. Searle was another extraordinary actor, but one who never reached the heights he also deserved.They and a generally very good cast had a slow-moving story that still keeps one's attention in a taut drama that seems about to let the bad guys win, as is so often true in real life."Officer Thirteen," or "Officer 13," is a low-budget but more than adequate entertainment, one I can recommend, even in the not-so-hot print at YouTube.It might have more historical than entertainment value, but it does have both.

Tom Burke and Sandy Malone are two best friends working as motorcycle traffic cops in California, living with Sandy's mother, his son Buddy, and Buddy's friend Sammy. Sandy is killed in a hit and run accident, caused by Blake, a notorious member of a gambling syndicate. The key witness in the murder trial is Doris Dane, Blake's passenger in the car, who tells Tom that Blake deliberately hit Sandy, but testifies in an affidavit that it was an accident. Tom objects to the procedure and is demoted to a beat in the sticks. Doris feels guilty of her actions and confesses to the police chief the true events of the murder, even though it will mean a perjury conviction for her. The chief won't reopen the Malone case since it will expose the police idleness in the murder trial, and Tom then turns in his badge saying he will go gunning after Blake. The chief, knowing his job will be taken away from his shortly in wake of these events, agrees to help him go after Burke. The film seems like an elongated version of the MGM Crime Does Not Pay series, but with less emotional impact, primarily since director Melford must have thought melodrama was still en vogue. Blue doesn't make a believable transition from happy go lucky cop to vengeful officer that convincingly, while the villains aren't that slimy enough. The film is still an interesting look at a film interpretation of corruption in high places. Rating, 6.