The Big Shakedown

Jan 6, 1934

1h 1m

★ 5.6

A New Type of Racket Exposed! In This Thrilling Underworld Drama

Overview

Former bootlegger Dutch Barnes pressures neighborhood druggist Jimmy Morrell into making cut-rate knockoff toiletry, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical products.

Genres

Drama

Crime

Production Companies

First National Pictures

Warner Bros. Pictures

The Big Shakedown Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Jimmy Morrell

Charles Farrell

Norma Nelson

Bette Davis

Dutch Barnes

Ricardo Cortez

Lily 'Lil' Duran

Glenda Farrell

Lefty

Allen Jenkins

Mr. Sheffner

Henry O'Neill

Slim

Dewey Robinson

Higgins

John Wray

John

Philip Faversham

Regan

Robert Emmett O'Connor

Mae LaRue

Renee Whitney

Gyp

G. Pat Collins

Bootlegger/cafe owner, Johnny Franks recruits crude working man Scorpio to join his gang, masterminded by crooked criminal defense lawyer Newton. Scorpio eventually takes over Frank's operation, beats a rival gang, becomes wealthy, and dominates the city for several years until a secret group of six masked businessmen have him prosecuted and sent to the electric chair.

7.3

Baby Face

Jul 13, 1933

A young woman uses her body and her sexuality to help her climb the social ladder, but soon begins to wonder if her new status will ever bring her happiness.

5.8

Thunderbolt

Jun 20, 1929

A criminal known as Thunderbolt is imprisoned and facing execution. Into the next cell is placed Bob Moran, an innocent man who has been framed and who is in love with Thunderbolt's girl, without knowing of their relationship. Thunderbolt hopes to stave off the execution long enough to kill young Moran for romancing his girl.

5.6

The Unholy Three

Jul 12, 1930

A trio of former sideshow performers double as the "Unholy Three" in a scam to nab some shiny rocks.

5.3

Black Moon

Jun 15, 1934

A woman returning to her island birthplace finds herself drawn to a voodoo cult.

6.9

Little Caesar

Jan 25, 1931

A small-time hood shoots his way to the top, but how long can he stay there?

5.9

Trapped

Sep 27, 1949

Secret Service agents make a deal with a counterfeiting inmate to be released on early parole if he will help them recover some bogus moneymaking plates, but he plans to double-cross them.

5.3

Framed

Mar 16, 1930

Rose Manning swears revenge for the unjust slaying of her father by Inspector McArthur. Five years later, as a nightclub hostess, she is sought by Chuck Gaines, secretly a bootlegger, but she centers her attentions on young Jimmy Carter, who, she learns, is the son of McArthur.

7.8

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang

Nov 9, 1932

A World War I veteran’s dreams of becoming a master architect evaporate in the cold light of economic realities. Things get even worse when he’s falsely convicted of a crime and sent to work on a chain gang.

7.0

Blood Money

Nov 17, 1933

The title refers to the business of affable, ambitious bail bondsman (and politically-connected grifter) Bill Bailey, who, in the course of his work, crosses paths with every kind of offender there is, from first-time defendants to career criminals.

6.2

City Streets

Apr 18, 1931

A mobster's daughter leads her boyfriend from the circus into bootlegging.

6.6

Bullets or Ballots

Jun 6, 1936

After Police Captain Dan McLaren becomes police commissioner, former detective Johnny Blake publicly punches him, convincing rackets boss Al Kruger that Blake is sincere in his effort to join the mob. "Bugs" Fenner, meanwhile, is certain that Blake is a police agent.

5.5

The Sin of Nora Moran

Dec 13, 1933

Nora Moran, a young woman with a difficult and tragic past, is sentenced to die for a murder that she did not commit. She could easily reveal the truth and save her own life, if only it would not damage the lives, careers and reputations of those whom she loves.

6.5

The Story of Temple Drake

May 6, 1933

The coquettish granddaughter of a respected small-town judge is stranded at a bootleggers’ hide-out, subjected to an act of nightmarish sexual violence, and plunged into a criminal underworld that threatens to swallow her up completely.

5.1

I Cover the Waterfront

May 19, 1933

An investigative reporter romances a suspected smuggler's daughter.

6.8

The Little Giant

May 20, 1933

Prohibition is ending so bootlegger Bugs Ahearn decides to crack California society. He leases a house from down-on-her-luck Ruth and hires her as social secretary. He rescues Polly Cass from a horsefall and goes home to meet her dad who sells him some phony stock certificates. When he learns about this he sends to Chicago for mob help.

7.0

Manhattan Melodrama

May 4, 1934

The friendship between two orphans endures even though they grow up on opposite sides of the law and fall in love with the same woman.