Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

drjgardner If you're a fan of Paul Muni, as I am, you'll want to see this film as an example of one of his last films before he made it with "Louis Pasteur". Yet even though he went on to bigger and more successful films, his earlier work in "Fugitive from a Chain Gang" is my favorite Muni film.Ann Dvorak, Robert Barrat and Barton Maclane are along for the ride, but they all made better films. It's interesting to watch Mayo Methot (Humphrey Bogart's future wife who gave them the name "Battling Bogarts) playing the gangster's moll.Despite the low budget and the obvious production limitations, William Dieterle manages to keep it moving along. This is the first of the Muni/Dieterle films which included Pasteur, Zola, Juarez.Apart from the historical interest, the film doesn't stand the test of time. There are dozens of films from this period which are far better.

Michael_Elliott Dr. Socrates (1935) *** (out of 4) Fast moving and tense film from Warner features Paul Muni in the title role of Dr. Socrates, a doctor who becomes the outcast in a small town after he helps a woman (Ann Dvorak) who accidentally got caught up with a gangster (Barton MacLane). Soon the doc and the girl begin to have feelings for one another and he must figure a way to get her away from the gangster. In an interesting bit of trivia, Muni didn't want to have anything to do with this film but agreed to do it if Warner would allow him to make THE STORY OF LOUIS PASTEUR, which would eventually be released the same year and earn Muni the Oscar. There's also a funny joke here where Muni is talking about a book on the life of Pasteur. With that out of the way, the rest of the film is a pretty tense little gem that manages to feature some great performances and a pretty smart story. The movie might not be as respectable as some of Muni's bigger films but I thought there was enough here to easily recommend it. For starters we have Muni delivering an exceptional performance as he perfectly can play the kindness of the doctor but also show off his brains. The doctor being able to think fast on his feet plays an important part in the film and Muni makes us easily believe that he is smart enough to do what happens at the end. He also has a dry, sarcastic humor that comes off very well and he even delivers a few laughs. Dvorak isn't one of my favorites but she makes an interesting mix with Muni. MacLane isn't one you'd expect to see playing a gangster but he actually does a very good job and makes the character quite memorable with his humor and style of toughness. Fans of Humphrey Bogart will know that he and Kay Francis would remake this four years later in the bizarre KING OF THE UNDERWORLD. Bogart has another connection to this film as his first wife, Mayo Methot, plays the gangster's mole here. While this film is a lot smarter than many of the dramas from the studio, it also contain enough gunplay to please fans of their gangster pictures. The ending has one machine gun after another making for quite a big bang to go out on.

blanche-2 Paul Muni is called "Dr. Socrates" in this 1935 film, mainly because of his love of books. Here Muni is a struggling young doctor, Dr. Lee Cardwell, who becomes involved with gangsters after helping a hitchhiker (Ann Dvorak) who was in their getaway car when the thugs committed a robbery. However, many people think she's part of the gang, and Cardwell works to protect and defend her.This was Muni's first film with William Dieterle, who directed Muni is his great films to follow, including The Story of Louis Pasteur, Juarez, and The Life of Emile Zola. Muni is good as Dr. S, but he has formidable competition in Barton MacLane, who plays Red Bastian, the main criminal who is a sort of John Dillinger type. In the film, he's wounded and forces Dr. Cardwell to treat him.This film was rewritten and redone in 1939 as "King of the Underworld" with Kay Francis and Humphrey Bogart, before his big stardom.Good cast, nice ending.

Neil Doyle Muni was just biding his time between "important" roles when Warners made a deal with him to do this little crime melodrama, after which they would let him do one of his pet projects. So here he is as the man whose constant reading of books causes the townspeople to label him "Dr. Socrates," a name that seems to fit the soft-spoken, easy going doctor that Muni plays in a minor key.Instead of overwhelming the screen in his usual manner, he lets BARTON MacLANE give a vivid, scene-stealing performance as Big Red, a criminal wounded in a bank holdup who needs the doc's care and promises to send him more customers if he'll put a lid on treating him, instead of reporting him to the police. Fortunately, MacLane has some of the best lines in the script and ends up being the most interesting character in the whole story.ANN DVORAK is young and pretty as the hitch-hiking woman who accepts a ride from MacLane's gang and ends up being suspected of being a gang member when the gang pulls a bank robbery and she's seen fleeing from the scene. When she's hurt, she ends up in Muni's care and the rest of the story is rather predictable but entertaining.As the N.Y. Times said: "A pleasant enough melodrama" about a doctor who unwittingly gets mixed up with the mob. It's a trifle with a better than average script and some nice performances from the Warner contract players.