MGM hits the streets with this Pre-Code gangster flick starring Wallace Beery as Slaughterhouse Scorpio, a thuggish stockyard worker turned racketeer. After rising from the bottom to the top, he eventually meets his match when the ever-dreaded "concerned citizens" form a vigilante group called The Secret Six. Despite the title, the Six figure into the plot very little and look positively ridiculous with their little silly masks on. Aside from being a nifty (and non-Warner Bros) gangster picture, it's interesting today for its supporting cast which includes Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, and Johnny Mack Brown, as well as the screen debut of Ralph Bellamy. Gable shines in his role. Lewis Stone is great as a gentlemanly attorney/crime boss (what would Judge Hardy say?!?). Wallace Beery is good fun as Scorpio, bringing a bit of humor to an otherwise serious film. It doesn't hurt that he was a bit of a bruiser in real life, so it's easy to buy him as a gangster. He has most of the movie's quotable lines. It's a good watch, especially if you love the old gangster pictures of the 1930s. This one isn't as gritty as many of the WB classics of the era (the vigilantes here only want to bring the criminals to trial, not kill them), but it is entertaining thanks to George Hill's nice direction and a terrific cast.
Review of The Secret 6
