blanche-2 "The Finger Points," from 1931, is an early Clark Gable film. In fact, that's why I earmarked it for my DV-R.There are very, very few actors from the early Hollywood years I don't like. I can probably count them on one hand. Richard Barthelmess is at the top. I'm being honest, I can't understand his appeal, I can't understand how anyone thinks he can act, I don't know how he decided to go into acting as a career.So I go into this with a prejudice. The story concerns a young reporter named Breckenridge Lee (Barthelmess) who comes highly recommended from Savannah and gets a job on The Press in a big city. Since there are so many gangsters around, it's probably Chicago.As a crusading reporter, Breck doesn't know how far to go, so he goes pretty far in upsetting the gangster population - and he is beaten for it. Loaded down with huge medical bills, such as $12 for anesthesia, that the paper refuses to pay, Breck decides to move over to the dark side. He takes money from the crime lord's payroll to keep stories from being reported, and the money is doled out by one Blanco (Gable). Breck becomes greedy and ups his price to the criminals.A woman interested in him at the paper (Fay Wray) becomes disillusioned when she realizes that Breck has a lot of money he definitely didn't earn at the paper. Other than Barthelmess, the acting is lively from Regis Toomey as another reporter on the paper, the lovely Wray, Robert Elliot as the city editor, and especially Clark Gable as Blanco. As was the style in those days, some of the acting is a little overdone by today's standards.Dimpled and virile, Gable does a great job as a tough guy. He could always play a good meanie, though he was cast less and less that way as his star ascended.The film seemed overly long at 1:25 - I attribute that to poor directing. This type of film needs to move.

atlasmb Most of the lines delivered in this film convey no emotional content. As a result, the entire film has little impact.The story is not believable, mostly due to the performance of Richard Barthlemess, who plays the main character, Breckinridge Lee. Lee is a small-town reporter who moves to the big city and becomes a crime reporter. The love interest is played by Fay Wray, who has her moments. But only Clark Gable really shines through the dullness of this production.It's a shame, really, because the storyline has real potential. If only it had been fleshed out and given to an actor who could portray the important emotions: the uncertainty of the fish-out-of-water, the man in love with the woman, the fear of the reporter involved in something dangerous, the distress of a man torn between love and shame.

kitchent This is another film I had to see in my unhealthy quest to see all of the available Fay Wray films out there. However, this film surprised me, as it was a pretty good story. It also has a young Clark Gable as a gangster in a scene stealing role that demonstrates his star power very early in his career. The plot has been covered in other reviews, so I'll keep my review short.The pluses: Fay looks great, Clark Gable is good, and the story is solid and interesting.The minuses: Richard Barthelmess is fine, but being from the south, he shouldn't have even tried the accent.Overall a fine film and definitely worth a viewing.

sideways8 I love movies which give you a sense of what it was like to be living & working in the time. (It's the sociologist in me. ) This movie is one of these. The plot is very interesting and the acting is first rate all round. Fay Wray is very good, but Richard Barthelmess steals the show and not just in the "silent" parts. Never seen him better.