Quick Millions

Spencer Tracy is not readily linked with gangster pictures, yet he started off his career with a number of efforts in this vein: these included John Ford's UP THE RIVER (1930) and Michael Curtiz' 20,000 YEARS IN SING SING (1933); this film (which happens to be director Brown's debut) is another and certainly the most typical.

In fact, its narrative follows much the same path as those of 'rival' productions (notably Warners', who were to the form what Universal was to Horror) which sees the protagonist – a former truck driver – build a criminal empire but getting his come-uppance eventually, for attempting to climb one step too many along the society ladder (while pushing his devoted commoner girlfriend around)! Tracy's entry into the racket is depicted via a droll sequence where he systematically destroys a number of parked cars, so that he can then offer his protection to the affected business!

While less inclined towards showing off with his camera here than in Brown's two subsequent – and only other – movies, this still emerges as possibly his best work owing to Tracy's compelling portrayal (on the strength of which I have set out to acquire a number of his early and, by all accounts, minor vehicles) and another stalwart 'gangland' presence i.e. George Raft (in a supporting role, which goes from lackey to defector to victim while also incorporating a rare opportunity to showcase his dancing skills[!], he would refine in Howard Hawks' SCARFACE [1932] on his way to achieving personal stardom).

The film (accompanied on the TCM-sourced copy I acquired by forced French subtitles!) is a breezy 66 minutes long – though other sources give its official running-time at 72! – highlighted by smart dialogue and a handful of nicely-judged action sequences (the ending is particularly great). Pity that, reportedly due to his temper, Brown would get into hot water with Hollywood bigwigs and eventually forced to abandon his directorial career for good (a brief sojourn to Britain in order to make the 1934 version of THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL would similarly fall through and end up being handed to someone else!)

PUBLIC ENEMY, SCARFACE and LITTLE CAESAR are the ones we all know but this one should definitely be on that same shelf. If you like 'the big three' you're bound to like this as well. Is it as good? Not quite but still a must see for any old gangster fans.

This was so obviously made in America in 1931 which was not a happy place. Filmmaker Rowland Brown was very much part of that seedy and dangerous world and it was his mission to show everyone the reality of how he saw life. His film is therefore quite pessimistic - it offers no answer or way out of the escalating problem of crime and corruption which to so many people back then seemed unstoppable. In one scene someone says that in twenty years time, America will no longer be a democracy but a land ruled by gangsters,hoodlums and petty warlords. This film is about that society so there's not many smiles per minute!

Although a very talented writer - his DOORWAY TO HELL really was one of the very best of the early thirties gangster pictures (better than LITTLE CAESAR) but as a director he was more an enthusiastic amateur than a filmmaker. This film is packed with so much story that it doesn't quite allow enough time to develop the characters. As is often the case with first movies, he possibly tries to squeeze too many ideas into his seventy minutes? This is the first film he directed and it unfortunately shows. He doesn't quite manage to make his actors into real people. Marguerite Churchill, for example, one of the most beautiful actresses ever to grace the screen is completely wasted in this - she only has about ten lines. Her role is just decoration. And "For the ladies" there's George Raft - again we don't get to know him.

The big, big, big difference between this and the thirties' best gangster movie, PUBLIC ENEMY is that William Wellman's film was about a person you could relate to. It had focus. Cagney's character wasn't exactly likeable but you felt you knew enough about him to want to know more. You could understand why he was the way he was. Spencer Tracy doesn't feel like someone you'd want to know - he's thoroughly unpleasant.

In summary, this is a well-made film, it's watchable, interesting and entertaining but to be critical, it does lack emotional engagement. Like Brown's (excellent) DOORWAY TO HELL (and also SCARFACE), this invests most of its effort into reflecting early thirties society than telling us about the characters and what makes them tick. As a time machine it's brilliant in transporting you, body and soul to the grimy, gritty and dangerous streets of 1931. If you want a sense of that era, this is perfect.

1931 was a bumper crop year featuring up and coming movie stars (Cagney, Robinson, Tracy) who would become legends doing gangster turns, followed in 32 by Paul Muni in Scarface. While Robinson and Cagney scored in in Little Caser and Public Enemy respectively, Spencer Tracy in Quick Millions proved he was more at home with virtue than vice.

Truck driver with a sense of ambition, Bugs Raymond (Tracy) organizes drivers with some muscle and is soon running a sweet protection racket across the city. Working his way up the food chain he garners respectability and a desire to marry the upper crust daughter (Sarah Churchill) of his extorted, legitimate partner. When she rejects him he hatches an absurd plan to whisk her away, giving his former mob pals an opportunity to exploit his power.

Tracy simply is not up to the iconic mobster performances delivered by the aforementioned actors getting their starts. Too measured in his rage he lacks the operatic pretense of Rico, the natural smart alecky ways of Cagney, the disturbing incestuous lunacy of Muni to be absorbing and put spark into the picture. Margurite Churchill as the love interest also does the picture no favors with a flat performance while Sally Eilers as Daisy and George Raft as a triggerman give plus performances.

Directed by the supposedly talented but temperamental Rowland Brown and lensed by underrated Joe August, Millions displays some moments of fine mise en scene, but in total this is lack luster Spence, an actor more at home on the side of decency than immorality. More adept at hearing confessions than giving them.

"Quick Millions" is a shadow of better gangster films made the same year (Public Enemy and Little Caesar) but for all its awkwardness it grows with the viewing and is better the second time around.

Aesthetically, it is not an important film and explores only familiar territory. Still, there are unexpected delicious moments. The studio seemed to be trying to make Spencer Tracy into James Cagney with this turn as a racketeer trying to class himself up.

In film history, "Quick Millions" is important. It was Tracy's first starring role, and he needed it badly. It's not a common character for him and yet his skills at underplaying are clear and marvelous. For George Raft, who looks totally GQ in his every scene, this film was the direct reason he landed a similar henchman role in the terrific "Scarface," which proved to be his breakthrough. It also got him his contract with Paramount. Despite a rough beginning, Tracy and Raft became good friends while filming "Quick Millions." It's an interesting aspect, almost an unconscious battle of screen chemistry. Just try to keep your eyes off Raft doing absolutely nothing in the background except shifting his weight while you're supposed to be paying attention to Tracy's important dialogue with other characters.

What works: Great lighting direction during the holdup at the "testimonial dinner." Focus on Raft's legs while dancing at a party, which initially seems to be just showing off his deft moves but in fact is leading up to the next time we see his legs in a brilliantly shot murder scene. Surprising musical interludes. Tracy incorrigible and so believable in carrying the film.

What does not work: Ham-fisted camera work - even in '31 cinematography was advanced beyond this clumsiness. Long-winded anti-racketeering speeches. While dialogue is often sharp, the storytelling leaves gaps.

And watch out for a flip of the bird.

In his second film Spencer Tracy could have been typecast the rest of his career on the strength of his performance in Quick Millions. Fortunately for him he wasn't, but he's pretty nigh unforgettable here.

Long before Jimmy Hoffa came around, Spencer Tracy got the idea in this film that if truck drivers could be organized there was a lot of money to be made for the one who did it. With the support of girl Sally Eilers who wants a taste of the good life too in those Depression years, Tracy gets a whole lot of people under his thumb. As he shows what can one do without material being delivered. One can't sell produce or build buildings without the material at hand. Jimmy Hoffa would have liked the way Tracy's character Bugs Raymond thinks.

But Hoffa sure would not have liked the way Tracy obsesses over society girl Marguerite Churchill. She's the sister of John Wray from whom he extorted a partnership in the building trades via his truck union. That obsession is what leads to his downfall.

Quick Millions was also the second film for George Raft who plays Tracy's bodyguard and trigger man. Raft also does an occasional freelance job and that is what does him in as well. Raft would have to wait another year for his breakout role in support of Paul Muni in Scarface in a similar role as in Quick Millions.

One of the few gangster films of the era that specifically does not deal with Prohibition, Quick Millions is an early example of labor racketeering shown on film. And it's a great early work for Spencer Tracy.