Public Hero ﹟1
Public Hero ﹟1 is a 1935 American crime film starring Lionel Barrymore, Jean Arthur, Chester Morris and Joseph Calleia. The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production was directed by J. Walter Ruben.
Plot
Undercover FBI agent Jeff Crane is planted in the same prison as Sonny Black, who is suspected of belonging to the notorious Purple Gang. Jeff helps Sonny escape in the hope that he will lead Jeff back to the rest of the gang.Sonny is seriously wounded during the escape, and makes his way to his home in central Wisconsin. He sends Jeff for Dr. Josiah Glass, an alcoholic who has saved the lives of many of the gang members. In his rush, Jeff forces a bus off the road during a late-night rainstorm. One of the passengers, Maria Theresa "Terry" O'Reilly, gets him to take the stranded people back to town. However, he refuses Terry's persistent requests that he drive her to her destination, only a few miles away.
Jeff finds Dr. Glass, but has to wait, as the storm has made a bridge impassible. During that time, he and Terry become acquainted. He learns that she is going to see her brother "Dinkie". She has not seen him in many years, and he has refused to respond to her letters about an inheritance from their uncle. Jeff is shocked when he sees a photograph of her brother: Dinkie is Sonny. Terry is unaware of Sonny's criminal activity.
When Jeff takes Dr. Glass to Sonny, Terry stows away in the car. She meets Sonny, and learns that he is the subject of a nationwide manhunt. However, family ties are strong, and she helps nurse him back to health. Later, when Sonny slaps Terry for persistently trying to persuade him to turn himself in, Jeff cannot control himself. He punches Sonny. Sonny angrily orders Jeff and Terry to leave, at gunpoint.
Jeff's boss, Special Agent James Duff, had warned Jeff not to get involved with Terry. The whole operation seems to be ruined, so Duff fires Jeff.
However, Jeff has an idea. Knowing that the gang is planning to strike that day, he tricks Dr. Glass into taking him to their hideout, a roadhouse named Little Paree. He notifies Duff, and a fierce gunfight ensues. All of the gang members are killed except Sonny, who escapes. A dying Dr. Glass confirms that Sonny was the boss.
Weeks go by, but Sonny eludes capture. A newspaper publishes photographs of Sonny and Jeff side by side—one captioned "Public Enemy No. 1", and the other "Public Hero No. 1". Duff and Jeff learn that Sonny has undergone plastic surgery. Knowing that he must be out of money, they have his sister watched at the vaudeville theater where she is the cashier. They also place an advertisement supposedly from Terry offering to help Dinkie. Sure enough, he approaches her for money at the theater and is spotted. Terry warns him, but he is gunned down in an alley by Jeff.
Afterwards, Terry wants nothing to do with her brother's killer. However, Jeff corners her on a train and they reconcile.
Cast
- Lionel Barrymore as Doctor
- Jean Arthur as Maria Theresa "Terry" O'Reilly
- Chester Morris as Jeff Crane
- Joseph Calleia as "Dinkie" O'Reilly aka "Sonny" Black
- Paul Kelly as Duff
- Lewis Stone as Warden
- Paul Hurst as Rufe Parker
- George E. Stone as Butch
- Sam Baker as Mose
| Jack Pennick | Bus Driver |
| Cora Sue Collins | Little girl on bus |
| Bert Roach | Bus passenger annoying Theresa |
| Russ Powell | MacGinnis - hotel bartender |
| Arthur Housman | Hotel bar drunk |
| Zeffie Tilbury | Deaf woman in hotel bar |
| Dick Elliott | Gas station attendant |
| Gladden James | Federal agent |
| William Irving | Federal agent |
| Pat O'Malley | Federal agent |
| Bert Moorhouse | Federal agent |
| James Flavin | Flavin, Federal agent |
| Billy Sullivan | Federal agent |
| Frank Darien | Dr. Hale - plastic surgeon |
| Anderson Lawler | Higgins - Federal agent |
| Lillian Harmer | Mrs. Higgins |
| Helene Costello | Woman in vaudeville theater |
| Frank Rice | Cab Driver |
| Lane Chandler | Train conductor in final scene |
| Carl Stockdale | Train conductor in final scene |