Fog Over Frisco (1934)

A spoiled and devious heiress (Bette Davis) gets mixed up with gangsters and a plot to steal securities. Based on the short story THE FIVE FRAGMENTS by George Dyer and directed by William Dieterle (the 1939 HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME). It starts off promisingly enough but alas, Davis is killed off way too early and the movie dies with her. At this point in her career, Warners didn’t know what a firecracker it had in Davis and was putting her in minor programmers like these. Dieterle directs at a galloping gait and it moves along quickly enough at a quick 68 minute running time but to no avail though the newspaper profession doesn‘t come off very well. Without Davis we’re stuck with the likes of the bland Donald Woods as a newsman and Margaret Lindsay as Davis’ sister. Co-starring Douglass Dumbrille, Lyle Talbot, William Demarest, Hugh Herbert and as a mobster, Irving Pichel who was a director in his own right (MOST DANGEROUS GAME, DESTINATION MOON).