Bullets or Ballots

Bullets or Ballots
Warner Bros.
June 6, 1936
Crime Drama
DVD
B-

Not surprisingly, a fourth-billed-but-on-the-rise Bogie is the best thing about this movie, although it is interesting to see him set up as Robinson's rival onscreen.  The script is pretty sharp, although I felt like, despite the Warner Bros. fast pace, it could've actually been tighter, with too much time setting up phone calls and meetings and the like.  (The 1939 radio version, which is included on the DVD, eliminates much of this of course, although I prefer Blondell's version of Lee to Mary Astor's.)  Besides the proto-noirish feel of not knowing who to trust or believe, this movie is notable for actually managing to casually show four African-American performers onscreen together, including of course scene-stealer Louise Beavers.

William Keighley directed this movie a couple years before The Adventures of Robin Hood.