The Bowery (1933)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

Howard Estabrook (writer)
James Gleason (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

7 October 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

"CHUCK" CONNORS MONARCH OF ALL HE SURVEYED AND COULD LICK!

Plot:

"In the Gay Nineties New York had grown up into bustles and balloon Sleeves ... but The Bowery had grown younger...

Plot Keywords:

Brooklyn Bridge | Based On Novel

Cast

Wallace Beery	...	Chuck Connors
George Raft	...	Steve Brodie
Jackie Cooper	...	Swipes McGurk
Fay Wray	...	Lucy Calhoun
Pert Kelton	...	Trixie Odbray
Herman Bing	...	Max Herman
Oscar Apfel	...	Ivan Rummel
Ferdinand Munier	...	Honest Mike
George Walsh	...	John L. Sullivan
Lillian Harmer	...	Carrie A. Nation
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Irving Bacon	...	Hick (uncredited)
Lucille Ball	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
John Bleifer	...	Mumbo the Mute (uncredited)
Phil Bloom	...	Pug (uncredited)
Kid Broad	...	Pug (uncredited)
James Burke	...	Recruiting Sergeant (uncredited)
Wong Chung	...	Irate Chinese Man (uncredited)
Heinie Conklin	...	Drunk / Fight Spectator (uncredited)
Jimmy Conlin	...	Enlistee (uncredited)
Lester Dorr	...	Cynic (uncredited)
Bobby Dunn	...	Cockeyed Violinist (uncredited)
Pueblo Jim Flynn	...	Pug (uncredited)
Joe Glick	...	Pug (uncredited)
Paulette Goddard	...	Blonde who annouces Brodie's jump (uncredited)
Mack Gray	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Kit Guard	...	Arsonist / Henchman (uncredited)
Pat Harmon	...	Fireman (uncredited)
Jack Herrick	...	Pug (uncredited)
Joseph Herrick	...	Pug (uncredited)
Harold Huber	...	Slick (uncredited)
John Ince	...	Crony (uncredited)
William Irving	...	Fireman (uncredited)
John Kelly	...	Lumpy Hogan (uncredited)
Fred Kelsey	...	Detective Kelsey (uncredited)
Charles Lane	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Charles McAvoy	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Al McCoy	...	Pug (uncredited)
Charles Middleton	...	Detective (uncredited)
Frank Mills	...	Fireman (uncredited)
Frank Moran	...	Bettor (uncredited)
Fletcher Norton	...	Googy Cochran (uncredited)
Rose Plumer	...	Carrie Nation Follower (uncredited)
Hal Price	...	Editor (uncredited)
W.C. Robinson	...	Pug (uncredited)
Harry Semels	...	Artist (uncredited)
Phil Tead	...	Tout (uncredited)
Harry Tenbrook	...	Fireman (uncredited)
Andrew Tombes	...	Shill (uncredited)
Dorothy Vernon	...	Carrie Nation Follower (uncredited)
Sailor Vincent	...	Pug (uncredited)
Tammany Young	...	Fireman (uncredited)

Directed by
Raoul Walsh

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Howard Estabrook		writer
James Gleason		writer
Michael L. Simmons		novel
Bessie Roth Solomon		novel

Produced by
William Goetz	....	associate producer
Raymond Griffith	....	associate producer
Darryl F. Zanuck	....	producer

Original Music by
Alfred Newman

Cinematography by
Barney McGill

Film Editing by
Allen McNeil

Art Direction by
Richard Day

Camera and Electrical Department
Kenneth Alexander	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Cliff Shirpser	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Alfred Newman	....	musical director

Other crew
Joseph M. Schenck	....	presenter
Harvey Parry	....	double: George Raft (uncredited)

Production Companies

• 20th Century Pictures

Distributors

• United Artists (1933) (USA) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1946) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• R&B Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• R&B Video (2005) (USA) (VHS)

Runtime:

92 min | USA:87 min (re-release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16

Company:

20th Century Pictures

Trivia:

George Raft and Wallace Beery were at odds during filming. According to Raft, before the fistfight scene, Beery asked Raft to let him throw the first punch and then proceeded to sucker-punch Raft, knocking him out for several minutes. "When I came to I got up and called him everything I could think of," Raft said. They then fought for real, and the crew had to break it up.

Quotes:

Chuck Connors: Never tie yourself to a guy that's on the downgrade.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies and the American Dream (1998) (TV)

Check political correctness at the door when entering the Bowery

Culled from the real life exploits of Chuck Connors and Steve Brodie in 1890s New York, "The Bowery" is high energy and good natured.

But be warned: Casual racial epithets flow off the tongues of Wallace Beery and little Jackie Cooper. The very first shot might be startling. This is true to the time it was set and the time it was made. And it also speaks to the diversity of population in that neck of the woods. It certainly adds to the gritty flavor of the atmosphere.

Beery as Connors is the blustering thunder at the center of the action, a loud-mouth saloon keeper with his own fire brigade. And he has a soft spot for ornery orphan Cooper. Raft as Brodie is Connors' slicker, better looking rival in almost every endeavor. Brodie could never turn down a dare and loved attention, leading up to a jump off the Brooklyn Bridge (it is still debated whether he actually jumped or used a dummy).

Beery is as bombastic as ever with a put-on Irish-American accent. He is just the gruff sort of character to draw children, cats and ladies in distress. This is possibly the most boisterous character Raft ever played, and he even gets to throw in a little dancing (as well as a show of leg). And again he mistakes the leading lady (lovely Fay Wray) for a prostitute. Cooper is as tough as either of them, though he gets a chance to turn on the tears.

The highlight isn't the jump off the bridge but a no-holds-barred fistfight between Connors and Brodie that in closeup looks like a real brawl between the principals. It's sure someone bruised more than an ego.