The Racket

 

How do you get a whole city to ban your movie? You portray the city government and the police force as corrupt, then base your characters on real-life people like mob boss Al Capone and then Chicago mayor William Hale “Big Bill” Thompson. The city of Chicago took offense at this, and for a while, the movie The Racket, and the play it was based on, were not allowed to be shown in the city. In fact, this film was almost lost for all time until a copy was found amongst Howard Hughes’ effects after his death. It wasn’t until 2016 that it finally underwent preservation by the Academy Film Archive so that future generations could see what all the hullabaloo was all about. Now, if only a print of 1928’s The Patriot could be located and preserved, then the complete Academy Award Best Pictures list could be seen once again. 

The Racket is a film about the fight for justice that seems insurmountable thanks to a corrupt system. The hero is Captain James McQuigg (Thomas Meighan), a dedicated servant of the people who is always butting up against Nick Scarsi (Louis Wolheim), a gangster who has judges and D.A.’s in his pocket to get him out of trouble whenever he lands in jail. After a particularly violent shootout in the streets, McQuigg shows up at a party for Scarsi’s younger brother Joe (George E. Stone). There, McQuigg observes Scarsi kill one of his rival gang leaders with a gun. McQuigg tries to arrest him but is forced to release him after the murder weapon disappears. 

McQuigg is suddenly transferred to “the sticks,” presumably to get him out of Scarsi’s hair, something that the press plays up as Scarsi being scared of McQuigg. This incenses the man who insists the real reason is to avoid any more trouble in the short term leading up to the upcoming election where Scarsi is pushing for “The Old Man” to win, which will give Scarsi a powerful ally in office. Too much trouble from McQuigg could jeopardize this election. 

Meanwhile, Joe Scarsi has been seeing a young dancer named Helen Hayes (Marie Prival) against his brother’s wishes. The two have an argument while driving out in “the sticks,” and she gets out of the car. Joe drives off in a rage and is observed by a police officer hitting a pedestrian, killing her. He is arrested for manslaughter and brought to the same precinct where McQuigg is stationed. This starts off a series of events that will bring Scarsi, “The Old Man,” and the D.A. all out to the precinct for a final showdown that will end in bloodshed.

For a relatively short film, this one is packed with story and characters. The racket the title is referring to is illegal liquor running, a product of Prohibition in the United States, making it a topical subject for audiences of the 1920s, many of whom no doubtably frequented speakeasies or made their own homemade alcohol in defiance of the law. Prohibition was not a popular law, and the big city gangs made a fortune off of smuggling it in and selling it to a very willing clientele. Chicago, in particular, was dealing with Al Capone at the time, who was heavy into that racket and had a lot of the police and other law enforcement on his side through either bribes or blackmail. Releasing a play, then a movie, that portrayed the grim realities of the situation would have been an embarrassment to the force, hence the attempt to ban the production in their city. 

This movie struggles with its characters. There are no shades of grey, no dimensions, to any of them. That goes for both sides of the gang war. Captain McQuigg is as generic as they come, representing the frustrated law in the face of insurmountable odds. We get no back story for him, nor a life outside of his work. Is he married? A bachelor? Who knows; the film isn’t going to tell you. We never see him off duty, either. The same goes for Scarsi, who is a bad guy because he smuggles booze and kills people. Outside of a brief party he is holding for his younger brother, we never see him when he is not conducting business of his own kind. He is played by Louis Wolheim, a character actor whose appearance left him typecast as heavies and tough guys. He certainly had the look for it, complete with a flattened nose to emphasize just how much of a bruiser he was. Both actors are fine here but nothing more. There is nothing special about either of their performances. Some of that can be attributed to how thinly their characters are written. The screenplay, credited to two writers with a third uncredited, is rushed and has little to no nuance or depth. 

The Racket was amongst the first group of films nominated for the Outstanding Picture Oscar. The Academy was still figuring themselves out at this time, and on top of that, the motion picture industry was transitioning from silent films into talking ones. For the 1st Academy Awards, two of the three nominations for Outstanding Picture were silent ones, and the third was in the new synchronized sound process. I have not yet seen 7th Heaven, the talkie film, but I have seen Wings, and The Racket pales in comparison to it. Wings is simply more impressive in every area, leaving The Racket without a chance of winning the top award. It’s entertaining for a late-era silent film, but aside from the infamy of being banned in Chicago for a while, there is nothing that makes it stand out enough to justify seeking it out anymore. 

Academy Award Nomination:

Outstanding Picture: The Caddo Company

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Release Date: November 1, 1928

Running Time: 84 Minutes

Not Rated

Starring: Thomas Meighan, Marie Prevost, and Louis Wolheim

Directed By: Lewis Milestone