The Big Shakedown (1934)

When a gangster (Ricardo Cortez) learns a druggist (Charles Farrell) can whip up headache powders as good as the real McCoy, he convinces the druggist to join him in a counterfeit drug making scheme. Based on the short story CUT RATE by Niven Bush and Samuel G. Engel and directed by John Francis Dillon (CALL HER SAVAGE) in his final film. A far fetched but absorbing programmer with a few dark twists and turns. It's an economical (just over an hour) and tight pre code crime drama that manages to bring a bit of novelty to an old plot. Since prohibition was over, instead of bootlegging, selling rip offs of brand name toothpaste, cosmetics, disinfectant is the name of the game. It's not as prosaic as it sounds. With Bette Davis (wasted as the love interest), Glenda Farrell, Allen Jenkins and Henry O'Neill.