Bordertown (1935 film)
| Bordertown | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | Archie Mayo |
| Produced by |
Jack L. Warner Hal B. Wallis |
| Screenplay by | Laird Doyle Wallace Smith |
| Story by | Robert Lord |
| Based on |
Border Town by Carroll Graham |
| Starring |
Paul Muni Bette Davis |
| Music by | Bernhard Kaun |
| Cinematography | Tony Gaudio |
| Edited by | Thomas Richards |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Bordertown is a 1935 American drama film directed by Archie Mayo and starring Paul Muni and Bette Davis. The screenplay by Laird Doyle and Wallace Smith is based on Robert Lord's adaptation of the 1934 novel Border Town by Carroll Graham. The supporting cast features Margaret Lindsay, Eugene Pallette and Robert Barrat.. Although the films They Drive by Night (1940) and Blowing Wild (1953) are not specifically remakes of Bordertown, they include many of its plot elements and similar scenes.
After graduating from Pacific Night Law School in Los Angeles, feisty and ambitious Mexican American Johnny Ramirez loses his first court case because he is ill-prepared. His poor, Hispanic client's truck was destroyed by careless debutante Dale Elwell. Johnny is harassed by the opposing attorney, uppercrust Brook Manville, who is defending his lover, Elwell. Johnny reacts, losing his temper and the case. Disbarred for his actions, he journeys to a small town south of the border and finds work as a bouncer, in a seedy casino owned by Charlie Roark. Johnny helps transform the dive into a first-class nightclub called the Silver Slipper that attracts an upscale crowd, and Charlie makes him a partner to reward him for his efforts.
Charlie's lonely, unhappily married wife Marie makes a play for Johnny, who resists her advances. Certain Johnny has shunned her simply because she is married, she locks her inebriated husband in the garage and leaves the car running, asphyxiating him.
Dale Elwell and her society friends, including Brook Manville, visit the club and Johnny becomes infatuated with her. A jealous Marie accuses Johnny of murdering Charlie, but when called to testify at his trial, she collapses on the witness stand, having become insane. Johnny returns to Los Angeles and proposes to Dale, who contemptuously rejects him, citing the dramatic differences in their racial and economic backgrounds, then is hit and killed by a car trying to get away from him. Johnny decides to sell the Silver Slipper, donate the proceeds to a law school, and settle in Los Angeles among his own people.
...
Wikipedia