Big Shakedown, The

"5 brilliant stars to thrill you! Charles Farrell! Bette Davis! Ricardo Cortez! Glenda Farrell! And Allen Jenkins!" This pre-code crime picture's original trailer promised -- and it delivers. One of Warner Bros.' patented 'ripped from the headlines' social dramas, the tabloid tale promised (in the aforementioned trailer) to "take you behind the counters of America's drug stores where love, hope and fear rub shoulders in an endless parade of real-life drama." Druggist Jimmy Morell's (Charles Farrell) business is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy when racketeer Dutch Barnes (Ricardo Cortez) offers a proposal to Morell: concoct and sell counterfeit copies of brand name drugs. But when a jealous moll and an angry chemist get thrown into the mix, the drug deal endangers the life of Morell's pregnant bride, Norma (Davis).

• crime
• drama