This is an absorbing early talker, given solid grand with an excellent performance by Walter Houston and the editor of a big city paper. He has had no time, as a single dad, to participate in his daughters life except via phonecalls. A good script keeps the viewers interest alive, but the real wow! in this film is Kay Francis. In her film debut she knocks Houstons socks off, appealing to him not to print a scandalous story about her. She's not the obvious vamp from the silent era -- but a very straightforward, no excuses made, girl about town. She invites Houston to her apt. smiling with innuendo with the line, "I'm sure you'll love my Pekingese!" Houston loves it several times before realizing the tantalizing Kay is also after his son-in-law! It's a shame these Paramountfilms aren't on video. If you get the chance, don't miss this one.
10 Reviews
I was expecting more from this film
AlsExGal10 March 2008
I'm a fan of the early talkies, so I know the limitations of the medium of film in 1929. Thus static cameras, long-winded dialogue, and some wild gesturing on the actors' part don't bother me when it comes to films of this era. Yet, I was expecting more from this film considering the other reviews and the high rating. The performances are good, that's not the problem. The problem is that this film can't figure out what it's really about. The overriding theme is how much Walter Huston's character has lost personally in order to achieve professionally as a newspaperman. The rest of the film is a bit of a muddle. The romance between Huston and Francis never really plays out, the scandal surrounding one of his employers never really plays out, and the relationship between he and his daughter never quite plays out, though that part of the film is the most complete in plot. The most annoying part of this film is Charles Ruggles' character who plays Huston's long time friend and associate. A little bit of his drunk routine is funny, but the joke tries to ride out the entire film and wears out its welcome.
The only reason to watch this film is Kay Francis and Walter Huston. They are terrific as always, and about ten years ahead of their time in acting technique. Watch it for that reason, but pretty much forget trying to find a coherent plot line. You'll just hit a bunch of dead ends.
The only reason to watch this film is Kay Francis and Walter Huston. They are terrific as always, and about ten years ahead of their time in acting technique. Watch it for that reason, but pretty much forget trying to find a coherent plot line. You'll just hit a bunch of dead ends.
Good, but a downer
marcslope17 June 2020
Fluent early talkie with a fairly mobile camera and some fine, restrained acting, especially from the always-amazing Walter Huston, as a star reporter who regrets how his all-consuming newspaper work has kept him away from his daughter (Betty Lawford, also very good). So he quits and takes a high-paying PR job for a mausoleum. executive, cueing some easy mausoleum jokes, and an I'm-drunk-aren't-I-hilarious turn from Charlie Ruggles, as a journalist pal. The plot takes some unpredictable turns, with a chic Kay Francis turning up as a real rotter of a femme fatale, who not only entraps Huston into an unwanted affair but makes a play for his son-in-law. But the finale, involving his daughter and a tragic turn of events, comes out of nowhere and is so sorrowful, it feels glued on. The writer, Bartlett Cormack, was a solid practitioner who also penned "The Racket" around the same time, and the welcome chorus of wisecracking, inebriated reporters might have wandered in from "The Front Page." It's a compelling little melodrama and a must for Kay Francis and Walter Huston fans, but the last seven minutes or so feel like they were dropped in from another movie.
Thoroughly modern Kay Francis seduces her way into screen stardom and steals the film!
mark.waltz5 April 2018
Warning: Spoilers
In her film debut and the first of four films she made with the magnificent Walter Huston, Kay Francis went from stage to screen like a pro, playing a new style of vamp for the early talkie era, and practically swipes the film away from her talented co-star. Storming her way into Huston's newspaper, she demands to see the editor and threatens a lawsuit for being revealed in the paper as the co-respondent in a scandalous divorce case. She manages to charm Huston with a line about just loving her dog (insinuating that she wants him to take a peak at her knees) and before long, Huston has his own office, and Francis is not only his secretary but much more too. Huston's daughter, Betty Lawford, doesn't care for Francis from the start, and with good reason: she makes a play for Lawford's husband (Norman Foster) which Huston sees, but Francis has blackmail on her mind when he tries to drop her. Scandal on the newspaper occurs when Huston's drunken pal Charlie Ruggles makes a phone call after eavesdropping on him, giving Huston much more to clean up than just his messy office after a lunch meeting with people he is discussing a story with.
Not the typical leading man, Walter Huston was perhaps one of the greatest actors Hollywood ever had, even giving sincerity and sympathy to characters who were rather shady or violent. He has an extremely commanding presence, as strong here as it would be in "The Furies", his last film 21 years later. The initial conversation with Francis reveals his charms that overshadow his character actor looks, and their first meeting is oozing with sexual tension. Even when he realizes that she's bad for him, it's too late. There is absolutely no music whatsoever in the film, with the credits only having the roar of various noises of the printing room going as the title, actors and creative team's names roll by. Based on a Broadway play, this may not have the bite of that old newspaper drama chestnut, "The Front Page", but it certainly will keep you fascinated with the combination of comedy and melodrama that fills out its 75 minutes. Francis's severe mannish haircut still doesn't hide her femininity, and as she would do over her next 17 years in films, is the epitome of Hollywood chic.
Not the typical leading man, Walter Huston was perhaps one of the greatest actors Hollywood ever had, even giving sincerity and sympathy to characters who were rather shady or violent. He has an extremely commanding presence, as strong here as it would be in "The Furies", his last film 21 years later. The initial conversation with Francis reveals his charms that overshadow his character actor looks, and their first meeting is oozing with sexual tension. Even when he realizes that she's bad for him, it's too late. There is absolutely no music whatsoever in the film, with the credits only having the roar of various noises of the printing room going as the title, actors and creative team's names roll by. Based on a Broadway play, this may not have the bite of that old newspaper drama chestnut, "The Front Page", but it certainly will keep you fascinated with the combination of comedy and melodrama that fills out its 75 minutes. Francis's severe mannish haircut still doesn't hide her femininity, and as she would do over her next 17 years in films, is the epitome of Hollywood chic.
"Anyone know how to make one of these talking pictures?"
1930s_Time_Machine4 November 2023
Watching a talking picture back in 1929 must have been as novel as watching a 1929 talking picture today. They're unique and so different to what followed just a year later. You feel like you're there with them learning by trial and error how the technology works.
There's a handful of talkies from '29 which were brilliant but most are like this - compared with what was produced just a couple of years later, they could be described as verging on terrible but they're nevertheless fascinating to see. Because technology, techniques and experience progressed so much in just a year films like this were probably unwatchable to a 1930 audience. For us however today it's a lovely snapshot of the evolution of modern filmmaking and indeed of 1929.
GENTLEMEN OF THE PRESS isn't a FRONT PAGE type comedy, it's more of a melodrama for men and it's actually not that bad and reasonably entertaining. Although based on a successful stage play this is not at all stagey or static. The story is about someone whose work-life balance is very much out of kilter, something still resonant today. Keep with it because the very last ten minutes are honestly one of the most genuinely emotionally shocking experiences you'll have. Nearly a hundred years later, that it feels like you've been punched in the stomach shows that despite its shortcomings, it's still worthy of watching.
And so to the shortcomings.....
1. Direction! If ever there was a good example of a making a talking picture for the first time without any experience whatsoever then this is it. Neither the director Millard Webb or his cast had made one of these before and it clearly didn't come naturally to Mr Webb. You can actually see some of the cast leaning over tables to slowly enunciate their lines into the hidden microphone; if you've seen BABYLON or SINGIN' IN THE RAIN you'll laugh when you hear the deafening sound of the doctor's shoes walking across the floor drowning out everything else. You have to view the one with a forgiving heart.
2. Kay Francis! She'd truly terrible. Kay had no film experience before this so you might wonder how she landed a leading role. She was infamous as being THE party girl and when spotted late one night at a club doing her thing by the writer he thought she'd be perfect as his vamp. When Millard Webb was assigned to make this film, she decided that she would sleep with him. She knew the system and played it brilliantly.....unlike her acting. When considering how good she was just a couple of years later, she must have looked back on this with utter embarrassment. Her acting style is a combination of abject fear and staring out into the audience to speak her lines. She looks like she's in one of those videos kidnap victims are forced to make by gunpoint. (And that's not to mention that awful haircut!)
3. Walter Huston! Yes, one of early Hollywood's best actors ever doesn't seem to have a clue how to act in his first talking picture. It's so surprising to see the great man being less than fabulous but I suppose we all have to start somewhere. His theatre experience does however shine through at the film's memorable climax.
There are much more professionally made or artistically innovative movies from 1929 but if you want to see one which they were figuring out how to do it as they went along whilst still being entertaining enough to hold your attention, give this a go.
There's a handful of talkies from '29 which were brilliant but most are like this - compared with what was produced just a couple of years later, they could be described as verging on terrible but they're nevertheless fascinating to see. Because technology, techniques and experience progressed so much in just a year films like this were probably unwatchable to a 1930 audience. For us however today it's a lovely snapshot of the evolution of modern filmmaking and indeed of 1929.
GENTLEMEN OF THE PRESS isn't a FRONT PAGE type comedy, it's more of a melodrama for men and it's actually not that bad and reasonably entertaining. Although based on a successful stage play this is not at all stagey or static. The story is about someone whose work-life balance is very much out of kilter, something still resonant today. Keep with it because the very last ten minutes are honestly one of the most genuinely emotionally shocking experiences you'll have. Nearly a hundred years later, that it feels like you've been punched in the stomach shows that despite its shortcomings, it's still worthy of watching.
And so to the shortcomings.....
1. Direction! If ever there was a good example of a making a talking picture for the first time without any experience whatsoever then this is it. Neither the director Millard Webb or his cast had made one of these before and it clearly didn't come naturally to Mr Webb. You can actually see some of the cast leaning over tables to slowly enunciate their lines into the hidden microphone; if you've seen BABYLON or SINGIN' IN THE RAIN you'll laugh when you hear the deafening sound of the doctor's shoes walking across the floor drowning out everything else. You have to view the one with a forgiving heart.
2. Kay Francis! She'd truly terrible. Kay had no film experience before this so you might wonder how she landed a leading role. She was infamous as being THE party girl and when spotted late one night at a club doing her thing by the writer he thought she'd be perfect as his vamp. When Millard Webb was assigned to make this film, she decided that she would sleep with him. She knew the system and played it brilliantly.....unlike her acting. When considering how good she was just a couple of years later, she must have looked back on this with utter embarrassment. Her acting style is a combination of abject fear and staring out into the audience to speak her lines. She looks like she's in one of those videos kidnap victims are forced to make by gunpoint. (And that's not to mention that awful haircut!)
3. Walter Huston! Yes, one of early Hollywood's best actors ever doesn't seem to have a clue how to act in his first talking picture. It's so surprising to see the great man being less than fabulous but I suppose we all have to start somewhere. His theatre experience does however shine through at the film's memorable climax.
There are much more professionally made or artistically innovative movies from 1929 but if you want to see one which they were figuring out how to do it as they went along whilst still being entertaining enough to hold your attention, give this a go.
Amazing Kay Francis performance will rivet you!
arthursward21 November 2002
The face value of Gentlemen Of The Press is the undertow of breaking news in journalists' lives. Walter Huston as featured reporter Wickland Snell finds himself repeatedly pulled from his life by current events and looming deadlines. On the home front, wife grows old and daughter grows up. Cleverly put across with photo albums, the story is illuminated in the films' first reel. Mr. Huston delivers a fine restrained performance under Millard Webb's direction. A lack of overt histrionics immediately set this May 1929 release apart from other talkies. And this would be a more than adequate entertainment were the film confined to this plot development.
Then in walks Kay Francis (billed as Katherine Francis). You can almost hear the writers sharpening their pencils. As Myra May, she protests Snell's paper defaming her character. Smooth Snell puts her at ease, promising to take personal charge of the matter. Myra melts, and Snell will need her phone number in case he needs to get the details. Myra smolders. You won't be able to take your eyes off Myra. I couldn't wait to see what she would do next. Kay Francis gives her Myra a cool fire, confident and direct. Her lines are the mother load of innuendo.
A witty, frank script populated with broad characters keep every scene interesting. Here's a film BEGGING for RESTORATION. The only print I'm aware of is the TV syndication transfer, again done with 1:16 Movietone matte which clips off the left side of the picture. But don't let that stop you from enjoying Kay Francis' landmark performance. See this film!
Then in walks Kay Francis (billed as Katherine Francis). You can almost hear the writers sharpening their pencils. As Myra May, she protests Snell's paper defaming her character. Smooth Snell puts her at ease, promising to take personal charge of the matter. Myra melts, and Snell will need her phone number in case he needs to get the details. Myra smolders. You won't be able to take your eyes off Myra. I couldn't wait to see what she would do next. Kay Francis gives her Myra a cool fire, confident and direct. Her lines are the mother load of innuendo.
A witty, frank script populated with broad characters keep every scene interesting. Here's a film BEGGING for RESTORATION. The only print I'm aware of is the TV syndication transfer, again done with 1:16 Movietone matte which clips off the left side of the picture. But don't let that stop you from enjoying Kay Francis' landmark performance. See this film!
Their first movie, and it shows
HotToastyRag22 June 2021
Gentlemen of the Press is a very early talkie, and boy, does it show. There are long pauses in between dialogue, as though the actors are waiting for the director to talk to them or for the title card to cut them off. Director Millard Webb continually cuts off the actors' heads while framing his long shots. But, if you want to see Walter Huston and Kay Francis in their film debuts, there's only one movie you can rent.
Walter plays a newspaper man who values his career above all else. He's been completely absent from his daughter's life, with only snapshots to remind him of her appearance. After an eight-year period of no contact, he finds out about her marriage while writing about it in the paper. She comes to his office to introduce her new husband, and after a few minutes, he gets distracted by a hot tip and waves them off as he returns to his typewriter.
In the meantime, he has a lukewarm affair with society dame Kay Francis. She turns heads every time she enters a room, and Walter's perpetually drunk pal, Charles Ruggles, paws her. "Come up to my apartment sometime and fight for your honor," he slurs. If you've ever wondered why Charlie got typecast as the comic drunk in his early movies, you can trace it back to this one. This is the first movie I've seen where he actually has brown hair, and it's also his first talkie. Oh, and don't blink, otherwise you'll miss seeing Brian Donlevy for five minutes.
I couldn't bring myself to turn this movie off, even though I desperately wanted to. Nothing about it showed good quality, not even the actors who later turned out to be great professionals in every film. I couldn't believe my eyes, seeing Kay Francis and Walter Huston awkwardly swinging their arms at their sides as they try to avoid looking in the camera. Walter Huston was green, once? Where was the incomparable actor we all came to love by the time 1932 came around? It turns out, he makes an appearance in Gentlemen of the Press after all. In the very last scene makes the movie, he brings out the big guns and shows audiences his mesmerizing acting chops.
Walter plays a newspaper man who values his career above all else. He's been completely absent from his daughter's life, with only snapshots to remind him of her appearance. After an eight-year period of no contact, he finds out about her marriage while writing about it in the paper. She comes to his office to introduce her new husband, and after a few minutes, he gets distracted by a hot tip and waves them off as he returns to his typewriter.
In the meantime, he has a lukewarm affair with society dame Kay Francis. She turns heads every time she enters a room, and Walter's perpetually drunk pal, Charles Ruggles, paws her. "Come up to my apartment sometime and fight for your honor," he slurs. If you've ever wondered why Charlie got typecast as the comic drunk in his early movies, you can trace it back to this one. This is the first movie I've seen where he actually has brown hair, and it's also his first talkie. Oh, and don't blink, otherwise you'll miss seeing Brian Donlevy for five minutes.
I couldn't bring myself to turn this movie off, even though I desperately wanted to. Nothing about it showed good quality, not even the actors who later turned out to be great professionals in every film. I couldn't believe my eyes, seeing Kay Francis and Walter Huston awkwardly swinging their arms at their sides as they try to avoid looking in the camera. Walter Huston was green, once? Where was the incomparable actor we all came to love by the time 1932 came around? It turns out, he makes an appearance in Gentlemen of the Press after all. In the very last scene makes the movie, he brings out the big guns and shows audiences his mesmerizing acting chops.
An absolute must-have for Kay Francis fans!
JohnHowardReid5 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Another Broadway play that Paramount brought to the screen in 1929, "Gentlemen of the Press" marked the sensational movie debut of super-attractive Kay Francis.
In this one, Kay Francis makes the most of a secondary role as the love interest of Walter Huston.
A typical newspaper yarn, featuring jaundiced, callous, and drunken reporters, the realistic drama focused on the Huston character (he figures in almost every scene), but it is dull stuff compared to a similar and far more well-known yarn, "The Front Page" (which opened on Broadway just two weeks earlier — on 14 August 1928, to be precise).
Nonetheless, Kay Francis, who so expertly imparts double meanings to even the most innocuous lines, makes the VintageFilmBuff DVD worth its weight in gold, even though the DVD is often badly framed (at least in many of Huston's shots anyway).
P.S. Vintage Film Buff is no longer active, but as the film is now out of copyright, you should have no trouble finding a copy.
In this one, Kay Francis makes the most of a secondary role as the love interest of Walter Huston.
A typical newspaper yarn, featuring jaundiced, callous, and drunken reporters, the realistic drama focused on the Huston character (he figures in almost every scene), but it is dull stuff compared to a similar and far more well-known yarn, "The Front Page" (which opened on Broadway just two weeks earlier — on 14 August 1928, to be precise).
Nonetheless, Kay Francis, who so expertly imparts double meanings to even the most innocuous lines, makes the VintageFilmBuff DVD worth its weight in gold, even though the DVD is often badly framed (at least in many of Huston's shots anyway).
P.S. Vintage Film Buff is no longer active, but as the film is now out of copyright, you should have no trouble finding a copy.
Knock Out Kay in Sensational Debut!!!
kidboots30 June 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Walter Huston and Kay Francis had both been in the cast of "Elmer the Great" on Broadway. After it folded Huston popped over to Paramount's Astoria studios to film "Gentlemen of the Press". It was one of the many newspaper films designed to cash in on the acclaimed "The Front Page" but they didn't have their female menace cast yet, so Huston told Kay she may have a chance - even though the part called for a blonde!!! Writer Ward Morehouse told the story of going to Tony's Club and there, in a haze of smoke, finding Kay Francis sitting with a Tom Collins. She was "tall and dark and very interesting and had made far more appearances at Tony's than she had on the Broadway stage. Her movie career began that day".
For too many years Wickland Snell (Huston) had neglected his daughter, Dorothy (Betty Lawford, who was the original Crystal Allen on Broadway in "The Women"), missing out on all her milestones including birth, first steps, graduation etc and he is determined to make it up to her. Enter drop dead gorgeous Myra May (could it be anyone other than Kay Francis) who is suing the paper for printing lies about her in an upcoming divorce case. "I'm more than just a secretary" - when Kay says this , she makes it sound like the most alluring phrase ever uttered. Snell takes her up on that when he moves into private enterprise, along with Ted Hanley (Norman Foster), Dorothy's husband - another milestone he missed, her wedding!!
The business they are involved in are mausoleums!!! Snell is exasperated "Another six months of Higginbottam and Heaven and I'll be in the nut house"!!! He is fed up with boardroom boredom and hypocrisy and desperately wants to get back to the newsroom. He also wants to sever all ties with Myra, who, he finds, is trying her best to vamp Ted away from Dorothy. This movie is no "Front Page" - Huston and Francis are totally dynamic but when they are not in the scene the film becomes static and talkie. There is an interesting scene midway, that supposedly depicts a group of newsmen bantering in a natural, leisurely setting. Brian Donlevy, in one of his first roles, has an extended uncredited bit as Kelly. Charlie Ruggles does his usual drunken act, this was before he was an often irritating fixture in some of Paramount's more interesting horror movies. The underlying theme was how a newsman's life is often ruled by events and headlines, often at the expense of home and family. Snell wants to do better by his family but the last chilling scene in which his dying daughter is whispering "daddy, daddy" into the phone with her last breath and Snell, who is dictating a story, misses his daughter's last words, is heartbreaking.
Highly Recommended.
For too many years Wickland Snell (Huston) had neglected his daughter, Dorothy (Betty Lawford, who was the original Crystal Allen on Broadway in "The Women"), missing out on all her milestones including birth, first steps, graduation etc and he is determined to make it up to her. Enter drop dead gorgeous Myra May (could it be anyone other than Kay Francis) who is suing the paper for printing lies about her in an upcoming divorce case. "I'm more than just a secretary" - when Kay says this , she makes it sound like the most alluring phrase ever uttered. Snell takes her up on that when he moves into private enterprise, along with Ted Hanley (Norman Foster), Dorothy's husband - another milestone he missed, her wedding!!
The business they are involved in are mausoleums!!! Snell is exasperated "Another six months of Higginbottam and Heaven and I'll be in the nut house"!!! He is fed up with boardroom boredom and hypocrisy and desperately wants to get back to the newsroom. He also wants to sever all ties with Myra, who, he finds, is trying her best to vamp Ted away from Dorothy. This movie is no "Front Page" - Huston and Francis are totally dynamic but when they are not in the scene the film becomes static and talkie. There is an interesting scene midway, that supposedly depicts a group of newsmen bantering in a natural, leisurely setting. Brian Donlevy, in one of his first roles, has an extended uncredited bit as Kelly. Charlie Ruggles does his usual drunken act, this was before he was an often irritating fixture in some of Paramount's more interesting horror movies. The underlying theme was how a newsman's life is often ruled by events and headlines, often at the expense of home and family. Snell wants to do better by his family but the last chilling scene in which his dying daughter is whispering "daddy, daddy" into the phone with her last breath and Snell, who is dictating a story, misses his daughter's last words, is heartbreaking.
Highly Recommended.
It couldn't be bleaker
andynarce14 November 2022
'Gentlemen of the Press' is one of the darkest counterculture experiences an spectator can undergo.
Wickland Snell is a righteous and workaholic star reporter of a newspaper of New York, and step by step he plunges into the obscenity of the mediocre society -he actually moves in-.
The title refers to the 'gentleness' of Wickland, about his daughter Dorothy, with him losing his mind to protect her and her husband.
During the first two acts, the movie can't really take off from being only an adaptation of a Broadway play, but near the end, the story progressively gains all kinds of shades of gray -REALLY dark tones-, to so become really absorbing.
It's a tricky movie, because its author (Ward Morehouse) was also one of those 'bloody' reporters.
Walter Houston (Snell) takes on a tough and rightful role a-la Kevin Costner, while Kay Francis (as the so lascivious Myra May) is such a femme-fatale, taking him to 'Little Hades', there in New York.
Wickland Snell is a righteous and workaholic star reporter of a newspaper of New York, and step by step he plunges into the obscenity of the mediocre society -he actually moves in-.
The title refers to the 'gentleness' of Wickland, about his daughter Dorothy, with him losing his mind to protect her and her husband.
During the first two acts, the movie can't really take off from being only an adaptation of a Broadway play, but near the end, the story progressively gains all kinds of shades of gray -REALLY dark tones-, to so become really absorbing.
It's a tricky movie, because its author (Ward Morehouse) was also one of those 'bloody' reporters.
Walter Houston (Snell) takes on a tough and rightful role a-la Kevin Costner, while Kay Francis (as the so lascivious Myra May) is such a femme-fatale, taking him to 'Little Hades', there in New York.
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