THE STAR WITNESS (1931) THE MAN WHO DARED (1939)

From those frugal Warner Brothers: First-Class and Coach iterations of the same tale. A regular ruse at the studio, optimizing story use; pay once, make again & again. Often to diminishing returns, but this time, sporting some unusually interesting adjustments to match changing times. Three generations are in the middle of family dinner when a cold-blooded murder interrupts the meal. Scary enough just watching out the window, worse when the killers evade the police by dashing thru the house. Yikes! What’s the country coming to? Eager to do their civic duty, the whole family saw the men and are ready to testify. Or are till Dad is roughed up by gangster confederates & the second youngest son kidnapped to insure silence in court. Only irascible Gramps refuses to be cowed. And he’s got an idea on where to find the boy. In William Wellman’s 1931 version, the bad guys are machine-gunning mobsters, and top-billed Walter Huston gets major screen time as the hard-charging District Attorney who puts Public Good over Private Concerns. (It’s also Wellman’s best period, fresh from THE PUBLIC ENEMY.) On to 1939, where the story turns from mobsters to civic corruption in a more suburban environment. Here, connections go straight to the Mayor and the story has an allegorical anti-fascist tone. (Hitler and Mussolini get a mention and the family’s eldest son spouts Communist rhetoric to answer all questions.) Simply put, 1931 is the better-made/more violent version while the remake holds more historical interest. Together they make a nice lesson in social history and in studio A-pic/B-pic æsthetics.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: Charley Grapewin, Gramps in ‘39, a vet who charged up San Juan Hill with Teddy Roosevelt, 70 when he made this. While Charles ‘Chic’ Sale, who had the role in 1931 and plays a Civil War vet, specialized in oldsters and was only 46. ALSO check out the case of the two ‘Dickies.’ Little Dickie Moore, adorable as the youngest son/’31; and charmer Dickie Jones in ‘39 as the second youngest. Jones made ten pics that year, three classics: DESTRY RIDES AGAIN; MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON; YOUNG MR. LINCOLN; as well as laying down vocal tracks for PINOCCHIO/'40.

DOUBLE-BILL: Self-evident, no?