He was unique in the precode era because you could never tell whether he was really the hero or the villain. In fact he was both, combining both halves of the coin neatly together in such a way as to strip bare the truth behind whatever issue was being addressed in these films. He could and would do the most bare faced things, utterly uncaring of the consequences for anyone else, and yet we can't help loving him for it. No other villain has been so heroic and no other hero has been so villainous as one played by Warren William during the precode era.
After enforcement of the code began he was relegated to detective series and roles that seriously restricted his range. Nonetheless he was still watchable, even though he was inherently a shadow of his former self. He was the first screen Perry Mason, playing the role four times; he was also Philo Vance twice and Michael Lanyard, the Lone Wolf, in no less than nine films. Yet he also played opposite May Robson in Frank Capra's Lady for a Day, Claudette Colbert in Imitation of Life and Cleopatra and Bette Davis in the second film version of The Maltese Falcon, Satan Met a Lady.
Here are links to reviews here at Apocalypse Later, with some older reviews from my far less substantial 2006 blog at Hal and Dee at the Movies and links to the IMDb pages for each film. Ratings are for films watched since 2004, reviews since 2006. H is me, D is my better half.
Rating System
1 - Abysmal | 2 - Bad | 3 - Poor | 4 - OK | 5 - Good | 6 - Excellent | 7 - Classic
Reviews at Apocalypse Later | |||||
Title | Year | H | D | Director(s) | IMDb |
The Match King | 1932 | 6 | 6 | Howard Bretherton & William Keighley | IMDB |
Employees' Entrance | 1933 | 6 | 6 | Roy Del Ruth | IMDB |
The Mind Reader | 1933 | 5 | 5 | Roy Del Ruth | IMDB |
Gold Diggers of 1933 | 1933 | 6 | 6 | Mervyn LeRoy | IMDB |
Smarty | 1934 | 4 | 4 | Robert Florey | IMDB |
Dr Monica | 1934 | 4 | 4 | William Keighley | IMDB |
The Secret Bride | 1934 | 4 | 4 | William Dieterle | IMDB |
Living on Velvet | 1935 | 4 | 4 | Frank Borzage | IMDB |
The Firefly | 1937 | 4 | 4 | Robert Z Leonard | IMDB |
Madame X | 1937 | 6 | 6 | Sam Wood | IMDB |
Arsène Lupin Returns | 1938 | 6 | 5 | George Fitzmaurice | IMDB |
The First Hundred Years | 1938 | 3 | 3 | Richard Thorpe | IMDB |
The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt | 1939 | 5 | 5 | Peter Godfrey | IMDB |
The Man in the Iron Mask | 1939 | 5 | 5 | James Whale | IMDB |
The Lone Wolf Strikes | 1940 | 4 | 5 | Sidney Salkow | IMDB |
Lillian Russell | 1940 | 4 | 4 | Irving Cummings | IMDB |
The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady | 1940 | 5 | 5 | Sidney Salkow | IMDB |
Arizona | 1940 | 4 | 4 | Wesley Ruggles | IMDB |
The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date | 1941 | 3 | 3 | Sidney Salkow | IMDB |
The Lone Wolf Takes a Chance | 1941 | 5 | 5 | Sidney Salkow | IMDB |
Passport to Suez | 1943 | 4 | 4 | André De Toth | IMDB |
Old Reviews at Hal and Dee at the Movies | |||||
Title | Year | H | D | Director(s) | IMDb |
Under Eighteen | 1932 | 6 | 6 | Archie Mayo | IMDB |
Beauty and the Boss | 1932 | 6 | Roy Del Ruth | IMDB | |
The Dark Horse | 1932 | 5 | Alfred E Green | IMDB | |
Skyscraper Souls | 1932 | 6 | 6 | Edgar Selwyn | IMDB |
Bedside | 1934 | 5 | Robert Florey | IMDB | |
Times Square Playboy | 1936 | 4 | 4 | William McGann | IMDB |
Satan Met a Lady | 1936 | 5 | 6 | William Dieterle | IMDB |
Rated Not Reviewed | |||||
Title | Year | H | D | Director(s) | IMDb |
The Mouthpiece | 1932 | 6 | James Flood & Elliott Nugent | IMDB | |
Three on a Match | 1932 | 5 | 6 | Mervyn LeRoy | IMDB |
Lady for a Day | 1933 | 7 | Frank Capra | IMDB | |
Upperworld | 1934 | 5 | Roy Del Ruth | IMDB | |
The Dragon Murder Case | 1934 | 6 | 6 | H Bruce Humberstone | IMDB |
The Case of the Howling Dog | 1934 | 6 | 6 | Alan Crosland | IMDB |
Cleopatra | 1934 | 4 | Cecil B De Mille | IMDB | |
Imitation of Life | 1934 | 6 | John M Stahl | IMDB | |
The Case of the Curious Bride | 1935 | 6 | 6 | Michael Curtiz | IMDB |
The Case of the Lucky Legs | 1935 | 6 | 6 | Archie L Mayo | IMDB |
The Case of the Velvet Claws | 1936 | 5 | 5 | William Clemens | IMDB |
Day-Time Wife | 1939 | 4 | 4 | Gregory Ratoff | IMDB |
The Wolf Man | 1941 | 6 | 7 | George Waggner | IMDB |
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