User reviews

There may not be a lot of depth in this movie, but it's completely enjoyable, for all the reasons other commentators here have listed - the dialogue and several of the main actors. To that list I'd add the pleasure of seeing life in the 1930s, the cars, the clothing, the buildings, the room decor, all stylish and of the period. I especially got a kick out of the scene near the end where a car revs its engines to make it backfire, the driver moving a tiny lever in the centre of the steering wheel. The elevator, the marble staircase - lots to keep you interested apart from the plot.

Warren William is centre stage throughout and is excellent, tough, smart, sophisticated and slimy. In the scenes in which he crowds the innocent young thing, stooping over her like a vulture, his evil intentions are brilliantly clear in his body language; he looks like a vulture, like Count Dracula.

"...why she wants to marry her simpering boyfriend rather than enjoy a life of luxury with Williams is a mystery." Well, maybe a mystery to some people, but most of us realize that women are not generally tramps willing to trade their affections for luxuries.

As a retired lawyer i would have loved to have the great art deco office in which Williams luxuriates.Also if only i could have had a secretary like Aline MacMahon!Obviously Williams doesn't realise what a gem he has in MacMahon and decides he would try the lounge lizard approach with innocent Fox.Now why she wants to marry her simpering boyfriend rather than enjoy a life of luxury with Williams is a mystery.After all going up to his flat to work in the middle of the evening seems a bit strange,and to find your boss in a smoking jacket even stranger.In my view this is a hugely entertaining film,which i had seen only once before at the NFT.I cannot understand why BBC and Channel 4 in particular are quite happy to show Randolph Scott and Audie Murphy westerns for the umpteenth time but cannot give air time to this film and other classic films of the era.

The Mouthpiece (1932)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Highly entertaining moral tale from Warner about D.A. Vincent Day (Warren William) who has a change in heart after sending an innocent man to the electric chair. He decides to switch sides and take the money in return for getting criminals off of crimes they've committed but he starts to have second thoughts after falling for a woman (Sidney Fox) who works for him. THE MOUTHPIECE is such a good film that after viewing it I was rather shocked to realize that not too many people know of it. Warner was the king at delivering these moral tales during this period so it's kind of shocking that this here has been swept under the rug and forgotten. It's certainly a prime candidate for being rediscovered because there's just so many great things going on here. We can start with the terrific cast being led by William in one of the greatest performances I've seen from him. Yes, he can play that ruthless character better than anyone else but this here shows the actor at his very best. The supporting cast is equally great with Fox really coming across good as the woman the lawyer falls for. Aline MacMahon is also very memorable as the secretary and we also get great work from John Wray, Ralph Ince, Morgan Wallace, J. Carrol Naish and J. Carrol Naish who plays one of the thugs. The film has several sequences taking place inside the courtroom and these are some of the most imaginative court scenes you're going to witness. It was wickedly fun watching William work his magic and especially during one scene involving some poison. If I had a problem with the film it was the love story aspect. I just never fully bought why this lawyer would fall so hard for this girl but this really doesn't take away much. THE MOUTHPIECE is a terrific little drama that has the studio and cast doing their best and it needs to be viewed by more people.

Amongst the plethora of good lawyer films made in 1932/33, all with very similar story arcs: 'good lawyer turns bad then turns good again' this is one of the most entertaining. Like its contemporaries, its strength relies on its main actor's appeal - who can you personally best relate to: Barrymore, Powell, William et el. Warren William has got to be high on your list as he's someone you instantly warm to although you know you shouldn't, perhaps that's the appeal.

The story is a little familiar (but this was the first so...), production is a bit penny-pinching Warner Brothers but the acting is above 1932 standards - especially Warren William and Aline MacMahon (playing a very similar character to what she did in FIVE STAR FINAL - that's a proper great movie) but it's the writing in this film which great. Writing emotionally challenging and intriguing and writing which pulls you back to 1932. You yourself are elbowing people out of your way as you push through those crowded city streets where your ears are bombarded with that 1930s backchat, with those cars and their horns and where your eyes are asking why is everyone wearing a hat.

Whilst LAWYER MAN might be just slightly more entertaining (and it's also cheating because that's got Joan Blondell), this one also stands the test of time, the characters are people you can believe in and the story captivates you instantly.

It's hard to believe this was Warren William's first starring role, within minutes, he is a star and completely commands the screen with that timeless composed tension and untrustworthy charm. It's even harder to believe that after the 30s, he was virtually forgotten - but would his 'counterpart' Basil Rathbone have been forgotten now were it not for Sherlock Holmes?

A disillusioned Assistant DA becomes THE MOUTHPIECE for a scurvy assortment of crooks & criminals. His new public persona is mirrored by his shady, lustful private life. Can the influence of two very different women save him before it's too late?

Warren William drives this very entertaining, albeit forgotten courtroom melodrama. With its rapid-fire plot & smart aleck dialogue, the film is a perfect representation of its era.

William was ideal at this kind of role; indeed, he played several others in the early 1930's which were almost mirror images of Vincent Day, the shyster lawyer he gives life to here. With his patrician bearing & interesting bass voice, William's characters were always worth watching. In this film, his courtroom scenes are especially engrossing as he engages in histrionics & sly subterfuge to sway the juries. It is to Hollywood's discredit that this very fine actor is virtually unknown today.

Aline MacMahon gives another of her splendid performances, here as William's world-weary, tough-as-nails secretary who secretly loves him. Sidney Fox is very good as the innocent Southern girl who's smart enough to recognize William's wicked ways.

Guy Kibbee has the small role of a sympathetic bartender. Movie mavens will spot an uncredited Charles Lane as a hotel clerk.

A little trivia is called for when discussing "The Mouthpiece" from 1932, or several other films, for that matter. Many films were based on the life of attorney William Fallon, whose biography was published in 1931 and whose story was told in an earlier book, In the Reign of Rothstein by Donald Henderson Clarke in 1929.

During an eight-month period, audiences saw characters based on Fallon appear in a variety of films: Lawyer Man (William Powell), Edmund Lowe for Columbia in Attorney for the Defense; and John Barrymore for RKO in State's Attorney; and For the Defense, again with William Powell.

The Mouthpiece itself was remade as The Man Who Talked Too Much with George Brent in 1940, and Illegal starring Edward G. Robinson in 1955.

The Mouthpiece was a huge hit and made Warren William a star at Warners. The story concerns an attorney, Vince Day, who prosecutes a man for murder. The man is condemned to death, but at the last minute someone confesses. However, the warden was not able to stop the execution in time.

Devastated, Day turns into a seedy defense attorney for low-lifes. He becomes enamored of an underage woman with no secretarial skills whom he hires to the disgust of his devoted secretary (Aline McMahan). Gradually he sees the errors of his ways, but it's hard to extricate oneself from the mob.

Warren William was always wonderful, and he's no different in this - he could bring charm and humor to any role as well as the drama. This film, as others have pointed out, was a real showcase for him.

Aline McMahon again proves what an underrated actress she was. She shines here in what might have been just an ordinary part.

Very dramatic film with good performances all around, and this is a real star turn for William.

For another take on this story, I recommend Illegal (1955) which I liked a little better.

THE MOUTHPIECE (Warner Brothers, 1932), directed by James Flood and Elliott Nugent, does not pertain to anything regarding to the inventions of a smoking pipe, a telephone handset nor a component of a brass instrument. In fact, the term "mouthpiece" is a slang term for lawyer, a highly regarded role enacted by Warren William. Taken from the play by Frank J. Collins, the story scripted by Joe Jackson, is reportedly based on the life of William J. Fallon, a New York City attorney, but fiction or not, THE MOUTHPIECE is a perfect example of what extremes that any attorney would do to win both case and fame.

The plot opens in a New York City courtroom where Vincent Day (Warren William), an assistant district attorney, through his testimony, convinces the jury to convict Robert Wilson (Emerson Treacy) for "taking the life of an innocent girl." On the very night of Wilson's execution in the electric chair, Day is notified by District Attorney Forbes (Walter Walker) that Wilson innocent with the real culprit caught and arrested. Because he sent an innocent man to his death, Day drowns his sorrows drinking heavily in a bar where he's served by Paddy, an Irish bartender (Guy Kibbee) who convinces him to put his legalistic knowledge to work, and making more money in the process, by becoming a defense lawyer. Day soon accepts his new challenge working as a "mouthpiece" for mobsters. His first case finds him proving Pondapolis (Stanley Fields), a boxer, guilty by catching him off guard with one punch. He later rises to fame after getting Tony Rollo (J. Carroll Naish), an Italian mobster, off for poisoning an administrator. Having opened his own law office, Day acquires a personal secretary in Miss Hickey (Aline MacMahon), and Celia Farraday (Sidney Fox), recently from Riverport, Kentucky, as his stenographer. While Hickey is secretly in love with Day, his sole interest is on Celia. Unlike the other women from his illicit past, Day comes to realize Celia's loyalty to Johnny Morris (William Janney), the boy she intends to marry. Learning how her salary has come from Day's "blood money," Celia quits her job, agreeing to resume her position (at no salary) until Day is able to obtain another secretary to replace her. Some time later, Johnny, working as a bank messenger, is arrested on the charge of a $2,000 bond theft. Believing him innocent, Celia comes to Day for help, even at the possible risk of he endangering himself for going against his gangster friends.

THE MOUTHPIECE is Warren William's showcase from start to finish. A dress rehearsal for his latter attorney role in the short-lived "Perry Mason" film series (1934-36), many rightfully label his role of Vincent Day to be one of William's top screen performances, and naturally so. Aside from his astounding courtroom cases, it's hard to forget his underhanded method by getting Barton (John Wray), a bank cashier, off for embezzling $90,00 from his employer, Mr. Smith (Morgan Wallace) of E.A. Smith & Associates, then "earning" the remaining $10,000 of the bank's own money for himself; and swallowing an entire bottle of poison to prove his case in the courtroom to give the jury a reasonable doubt his client is innocent.

Supported by a capable cast of Warners stock players, including Berton Churchill (The Judge); Murray Kinnel (Thompson, Day's Butler); Mae Madison (Elaine); Ralph Ince (J.B); the mean-looking Jack LaRue (Joe Garland) and Charles Lane (Hotel Desk Clerk), only the pert and dark-haired Sidney Fox makes her loan-out assignment to Warners from her home-base studio of Universal. Fox, an interesting screen personality with a brief movie career (1931-34), is quite believable as the honest but naive Celia Farraday, down to her Southern accent. Also giving a commendable performance is Aline MacMahon playing another loyal secretary no different from her debut screen performance in FIVE STAR FINAL (1931) opposite Edward G. Robinson. Her sincere performance is the sort of role that remains in memory long after the film is over.

Remade twice by Warners, first as THE MAN WHO TALKED TOO MUCH (1940) with George Brent and Virginia Bruce; and as ILLEGAL (1955) with Edward G. Robinson and Nina Foch, the 1932 original, though virtually forgotten until resurrected during the early years of Turner Network Television (1988) followed by occasional broadcasts on Turner Classic Movie, has never been surpassed. In the Hollywood sense, pace is fast, story contrived but interesting, and conclusion quite suspenseful.(***)

I love old movies. And, of these, perhaps the ones I like best are the so- called 'Pre-Code' pictures. This refers to a time period in the early 30s when there was a set of rules and standards for films but Hollywood routinely ignored them. While you might think these older films were sanitized and highly moral back in the day, the Pre-Code period was filled with films that had a lot of very adult content-- even by today's standards. Eventually, the public began avoiding theaters and groups like the Catholic Legion of Decency began demanding changes. Faced with lower revenues and too much bad publicity, the studios finally caved in to demands and created a tougher new code in mid-1934--one which practically banned everything! It's a shame in some ways, because the old Pre-Code films are pretty exciting--and sometimes better than the Post-Code pictures.

A great example of the differences between the styles in these films can be seen in the old Pre-Code movie, "The Mouthpiece". Like many movies of the time, it was remade several times--and these Post-Code versions were rather weak in comparison. All three versions are shown regularly here in the States on Turner Classic Movies and I'm compulsive enough to have seen them all so you don't have to!

"The Mouthpiece" stars Warren William--an actor who was very popular back in the day but who is sadly forgotten today. Some of this is because he died rather young but most is that after the Code was finally enforced, the rakish jerk he played so convincingly in so many films was now forbidden--and the characters he played in the Post-Code films were awfully bland by comparison.

When the film begins, Vince Day(William) is a prosecuting attorney-- and a very successful one. However, his confidence and swagger are knocked out from under him when a man he convicted and got sentenced to death is executed...and it's now known that the man was innocent. Not surprisingly, he quits this job and becomes a defense attorney instead. What is surprising, though, is that he quickly begins to feel right at home with the other side of the law and soon begins defending the scum of the earth. He is no champion of justice or the oppressed! To make it worse, he uses a variety of tricks and theatrics to gain acquittals--even though some of these tricks are clearly the sort of things that could get him disbarred. But, the tricks do work--and jury after jury is swayed by his courtroom antics. And, the gangsters in town love him.

When not working, Vince spends most of his time chasing women. Married or single...it makes no difference to Vince and the film strongly implies that he sleeps around...a lot. Additionally, he frequents speakeasies (this IS during Prohibition) and hangs out with underworld types. All this comes to a head when one of his secretaries, Celia (Sidney Fox) confronts him for his antics when he makes the moves on her. For some odd reason, he actually respects her and cares what she thinks of him. Could he have a conscience after all?! Where all this goes next, you'll just have to see it for yourself but it certainly won't disappoint.

So how does "The Mouthpiece" differ from the remakes? Well, most of the difference is due to the actor playing Vince. You could believe that Warren William is a dirty old lecher and crooked lawyer in "The Mouthpiece". However, in the later remakes, George Brent and Edward G. Robinson play the same guy. Brent is smooth but safe in his characterization and Robinson is much older and seems to have even less libido than Brent! They're tricky but not much more. And, as a result, these excellent actors come off as dull--whereas William NEVER is ever dull! In fact, during much of the film William's character chases after Celia even when she is described as 'jailbait'--a woman who is underage! Additionally, there is a hard cynical edge and originality that make it hard not to be captivated by "The Mouthpiece" and it's simply a much better film. Sure, it's sleazy...but you can't stop watching!

There is a sad epilogue to this film. The diminutive Sidney Fox is terrific in this film, particularly when she confronts Vince for being the blackguard that he really is. However, only a decade later, at age 34, she died--and her death appears to have been a suicide. As for William, his career clearly took a turn for the worse after 1934 and he began appearing more and more in B-movies as opposed to the prestige pictures from earlier in his career. He died from cancer at age 53. Reportedly, however, in real life he had been nothing like the rogue he played so well in the 1930s.

The Mouthpiece is a great showcase for the thespian talents of Warren William playing a great criminal defense attorney. This was the golden age of them with Clarence Darrow, Earl Rogers and James Fallon on whom William's character was loosely based. They and the notorious clients they represented provided much colorful copy for the tabloids of the day.

At one time William was a prosecutor and a good one. But when he sends an innocent young man to the electric chair something snaps inside him. Better to be saving the innocent than killing them. Soon he realizes that a lawyer with his skills can make a lot more money on that side of the courtroom.

One priceless scene is William negotiating an out of court deal over an embezzlement charge that John Wray is really quite guilty of. William really handles it beautifully.

Young tiny Sidney Fox goes to work for William in his law office and William falls for her. But she likes William Janney who's good looking enough, but has no dynamic personality. When Janney is accused of stealing bonds, she goes to William for help and it's the beginning of his downfall.

Aline McMahon as William's super efficient above and beyond the call of duty secretary gives one of her most memorable screen performances. Ditto for J. Carrol Naish in one of his early screen roles as a hood that William gets off with one spectacular gesture in court.

The Mouthpiece really belongs to Warren William. It's certainly easy to see why they chose him for Perry Mason in movie series.

An ambitious Ass't DA switches his talents to defending the mob. But is it permanent.

Watching the imperious Warren William (Day) as a legal shark is really impressive. He's got all the tricks of a Houdini, along with the ethics of a cobra. Drinking the poison in court is a real grabber. This part of the movie is riveting and dynamic playing to William's commanding strength. And that's so, even if the diminutive ingenue Fox (Cecilia) is a foot shorter and a lot younger, so there seems something illegal going on when they passion kiss. I can understand the peculiar casting here since Fox projects just the kind of sweet innocence that might turn the head of even the most jaded scalawag. Still, the big turnaround doesn't really jibe with Day's power-grabbing character, and in my book, undercuts the initial setup of its powerful promise.

Speaking of characters, Aline MacMahon (Hickey) darn near steals the film as Day's wisecracking secretary. What a shrewd piece of casting since few actresses can actively compete with the forceful William. Yet, she does, and makes you believe it. Good to see her cast as someone besides a maiden aunt or the family wallflower. Despite the story's central difficulty, this is a smooth production, fluidly paced, that demonstrates the expert professionalism of the old studios, in this case Warner Bros. Anyway, here's to Warren William, a great screen personality deserving of rediscovery.

ADA Vincent Day (Warren William) successfully prosecutes a man for murder through only circumstantial evidence, and when his innocence is discovered Day tries to contact the prison before the man is executed, only to be too late. He is torn up about this, resigns, and then oddly tries to right his wrong by becoming a criminal defense lawyer and getting acquittals for people who are very guilty. He does this sometimes just through his great talent, but he also does some dishonest and very risky things.

Day also likes the ladies, and he hires naive country mouse Celia Farraday (Sidney Fox) for his office staff planning to seduce her. But when her reaction to his advances is not what he expects he has a rebirth of conscience. This conscience comes in handy when Celia's fiance is arrested and accused of stealing his employer's bonds though he claims that he was robbed, and he doesn't seem to have a consistent believable story at all. Complications ensue.

This was the part that got Warren William noticed. He had been playing the cad for about a year, but his performances, though enchanting, didn't have the depth and empathy of his role in The Mouthpiece. The success of this film caused him to be placed in similar roles in a string of precode movies to the point he was typecast and had a hard time continuing his career at the leading man level once the precode era ended. Sidney Fox, largely a Universal star, really does well here. It may even be the best thing she ever did, in spite of that rather distracting southern accent. With Aline MacMahon as Day's Girl Friday with her usual witticisms and wise girl attitude, this one is well worth watching 90 years later.

I enjoyed watching this film recently on the Turner Classic Movies channel, and I think the other reviews here describe it pretty well. I would just like to add that a few weeks earlier I had seen another movie on TCM called "Lawyer Man", starring William Powell and Joan Blondell. It was more breezy (and with more sex), but "Lawyer Man" and "The Mouthpiece" were both released in 1932 from the Warner Brothers studio, with the irony being that the plots are so extremely similar, and even some of the plot devices are the same. I've known competing studios to release films with the same theme at the same time, but to have two such similar movies from the same studio in the same year is rare to my experience. It would be interesting to know the story behind that. Anyway, I heartily recommend both of these films for your viewing pleasure.

One of the better movies of 1932, "The Mouthpiece" features a tour de force performance by Warren William as a brilliant but corrupt prosecutor with a weakness for dames, drink and dollars but who is redeemed by a stubborn moral sense that sometimes overcomes his vices. The screenplay, by the prolific but tragically short-lived Joseph Jackson (whose other work includes such gems as "Safe in Hell" and "One Way Passage"), is both hard-edged and witty, with many of the funniest wisecracks delivered memorably by the incomparable Aline MacMahon as William's loyal secretary, the type of role that might have been played by Joan Blondell or Glenda Farrell had the studio casting dice landed another way. The familiar Warners-First National stock company appears in full force including Guy Kibbee as a speakeasy bartender; Noel Francis as a golddigger; J Carrol Naish as a gangster; Walter Walker as a district attorney. The diminutive Sidney Fox persuasively plays a secretary in William's firm who helps to set him on the right path.

I never heard of this film, but here is another unknown (to me) hidden gem! The story flows very well. You never look at the clock wondering "how much longer?" The film is a full and well presented narrative.

Warren William borders on a "John Barrymore" portrayal, and I am sure they competed for some of the same parts in film, but Warren William is so good. He gives his character warmth and depth and likability. John Barrymore only gives a caricature. Thank goodness Barrymore is NOT in this film, but Warren William is and does an amazing job.

There are so many good performances in this film. Sidney Fox plays the sweet ingenue that is a lot deeper and wiser than expected. But, of all the female leads, Aline MacMahon is the true stand out. She was in "The Five Star Final" with Edward G. Robinson as her first film part and she was amazing in that too. MacMahon has a real talent for playing it real and hard. Every scene she is in is played perfectly and she steals focus without even trying. She has an Eve Arden toughness and tenderness that works so well for her part.

The story is quite good too. Warren William plays a prosecuting attorney. But when he sends a boy to the electric chair and then finds out the boy is innocent, William is devastated and can't continue practicing law. When he finally comes around, he is bitter and decides to switch to a defending attorney and defends gangsters and mobsters, doing anything to get them off. He is quite successful and finds out that the money is gained by doing such sleazy jobs and getting the bad guys off from serving justice.

But when a sweet innocent girl played by Sidney Fox starts to work for him, he sees himself, corrupt and jaded, compared to her trust and faith in good and William begins to wonder if he is happy and doing the right thing.

But you can't take my word for it. You MUST see this classic for the story, the acting, for Warren Willam, Aline MacMahon, and Sidney Fox. And for me!!

Pre-Code Enthusiasts who Check In to this One will Only Find a "Jailbait" Element, and Even that is Handled with Kid Gloves. This is the Movie that Made William Wellman a Star and He is Almost Upstaged by His Secretary, Aline MacMachon as Hickey, with a Natural and Essential Character that is the Adhesive to this Advocates Philandering and Courtroom Shenanigans.

Sidney Fox as the "Young and Dumb" Hick Temp who can't Type but is as Cute as a Button is the Teenage Lust Interest. Hickey, the Ever Watchful Assistant and Real Friend to the Attorney, Reminds Him that "The Law says that anyone under twenty-one can't say yes to anything." But that doesn't Deter William from Trying to Make Time with this Charming Girl.

The Scenes with the Petite Actress are a bit Uncomfortable because the Tall Lawyer is about a Foot and a Half Bigger and the Framing Reflects A Red-Riding Hood or Dracula Image of the Mismatch and the Danger Lurking.

The Movie has Some Surprises in the Courtroom as Well as Concerns with His Criminal Clients that are Abandon in the Third Act as William Reforms. So in the Movie He Goes from Hither to Yon and Back Again as His Attempted Affair Learns the Learned Mouthpiece a Thing of Two.

Overall, a Charming Moralistic Movie that was Well Received at the Time and was a Big Hit. But not with a Notorious Real-Life Lawyer to the Mob, William Fallon, whose Family Sued for Defamation.

Warren William and Aline MacMahon star in "The Mouthpiece," a wonderful pre-code film from 1932, Sidney Fox lends excellent support as William's secretary. Perhaps forgotten by many today, this film holds up remarkably well today.

Some reviewers seem determined to get their facts wrong. One calls this a "so- called 'Pre-Code'" picture when in fact Wikipedia has an entire entry on "Pre-Code Hollywood" which covers the years 1927 - 1934. It ended on July 1, 1934. In a review the statement is made that Sidney Fox's death "appears to have been a suicide." This is not true; she did die from an overdose of sleeping pills that authorities ruled "an accident."