Upton Sinclair for once wrote a novel with a balanced look at the social problem of chronic alcoholism and the discredited law meant to address it - Prohibition.
It deals with two families - a rural southern family, the Chilcotes, who live on a large plantation with the patriarch being a hopeless lifelong alcoholic (Lewis Stone). here not exactly Judge Hardy. In the north there is the Tarleton family, who run a New York City boarding house while dad is always tipsy.
The two families come together when Roger Chilcote Jr (Neil Hamilton) travels to New York to finish his book and takes a room in the Tarleton boarding house. But he gets involved in heavy drinking and he, too, becomes a hopeless drunk. His sister goes to New York to try and sober up her brother where country mouse (Persimmon Chilcote) meets city mouse (Kip Tarleton). They both think Prohibition will solve all of their familial problems, but in fact it just makes matters worse to the point of tragedy. And there have never been more speak easys in New York until the sale of alcohol was against the law.
So Kip marries Persimmon and joins up with the government forces meant to bring down all of speak easys. But the government is only half heartedly fighting, and Kip and his colleagues are underfunded. This is probably one of John Miljan's best roles as Kip's boss who does his job because it is the law, but he is extremely verbally cynical about how useless he thinks it all is. It was good to see Miljan, who had a problem with the bottle himself, playing a normal person rather than some kind of uber villain for a change.
The worst part of the film? L.B. Mayer really liked Jimmy Durante so he basically manufactures a role that is completely unsuited for him as Kip's partner in busting up saloons. Durante even gets an introduction and an "entrance" in the grand comedic style of vaudeville. I just don't think Durante's schtick worked in this picture. He was put to much better use in "Hollywood Party", one of the last precodes.
With Myrna Loy as a saloon keeper who doesn't exactly stand by her man in times of trouble, and with Wallace Ford in a supporting role as a rambling reporter, this one does a good job explaining the attitudes surrounding the lead up to prohibition and the complete failure that the law was after it was enacted with tons of unintended consequences.
