Fifth & final of the Warners/William Dieterle ‘Great Man’ bio-pics*, climaxes with Edward G. Robinson, as News-Wire pioneer Julius Reuter, fighting accusations of fake news! Mighty timely for an 80 year old film. Equally timely then, what with war breaking out in Europe, and the border separating legit news & political propaganda crumbling. Lightest of the series, the first half struggles to find drama. (Poor Eddie Albert, as Reuter’s dreamy assistant, overdoes his fool act for a few weak plot beats.) But the film gains in interest as Robinson moves up from carrier pigeons and telegraphed stock quotes, switching to a news gathering service based on the network of financial news agents he’s built up. And a climax with news of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination (true report or venal stock manipulation?) works up enough suspense (along with a nod at Insider Trading issues) to overcome a lackluster romantic angle between Robinson & Edna Best (they each have more chemistry with the pigeons) and the bizarre casting of angelic Dickie Moore to play Robinson as a little boy in the prologue.
DOUBLE-BILL: *Paul Muni starred in Dieterle’s first three bio-pics (PASTEUR, immunization & science vs. suspicion; ZOLA, on Anti-Semitism; JUAREZ, national self-determination) before Robinson took over the series on DR. EHRLICH (STDs) and this paean to a Free Press. Worthy films (in good ways and bad, see Write-Ups below), though the Muni trio (big ticket prestige items in their day) have largely fallen out of critical favor. Best to start with DR. EHRLICH’S MAGIC BULLETS/’40, lively and retaining its air of daring controversy.
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