THIS DAY AND AGE (1933)

After weathering the loss of his independent studio and suffering thru a humiliating three-pic ‘ordeal’ at M-G-M, a (briefly) chastened Cecil B. DeMille proved you can go home again, resurrecting his status at Paramount in a single stroke with sex, gore, early Christianity in Ancient Rome & Claudette Colbert’s bosom in THE SIGN OF THE CROSS/’32.  Once more able to write his own ticket, DeMille followed with this perplexity, a ‘30s Social Problem pic balanced on the razor’s edge between Populist & Fascist tendencies.  A lumpy work in many ways, where has this fascinating oddity been hiding?  Likeable Richard Cromwell stars as a high school kid who gets ‘wise’ to the ways of the world when he watches helplessly as the wheels of justice toss out his eye-witness testimony and let protection racket boss Charles Bickford walk free from an air-tight murder rap.  But what if there were a backdoor to justice using a gang of righteous kids standing together and willing to get serious with their honorary roles as local Youth Government leaders?  Acting District Attorney; Stand-in Mayor; Trainee Chief of Police.  They're cocked and loaded for the real thing!   Plus the girlfriend. Would she be up for vamping Bickford’s enforcer to trap him in some out-of-the-way place?  She might get pawed in the attempt, but it'd give the boys extra time to get their plan in motion.  The basic insanity of the scheme, with student leaders acting like some intramural Lynch Mob, hits many of the same buttons Frank Capra would deal in, though far less balanced & technically assured.  More than a bit scary, the pic an overlooked key to unlocking the American psyche at a Depression Era crisis point . . . and completely out of its mind.

DOUBLE-BILL: DeMille rarely tackled current events.  But does, in his slightly appalling manner, in MANSLAUGHTER/’22 and THE GODLESS GIRL/’28.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: There’s a nice surprise in seeing DeMille taking care to integrate his High School.  The plot even has Cromwell recruit one of the Black students for the group.  Alas, to play a shoeshine boy as part of the scheme . . . but still.  Progress!  And note how this otherwise regular kid goes into a ‘Darkie’ act to ‘sell’ his role.

CONTEST: One of the questions that trips Cromwell up in the initial court case involves a moonless night affecting his view of the crime.  A ploy used in another Cromwell film in what classic American movie?  Name the film to win a MAKSQUIBS WriteUp of your choosing.