Editing The Racket (1928 film)

{{Short description|1928 film}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox film 
| name           = The Racket
| image          = The Racket film poster.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Lewis Milestone]]
| producer       = [[Howard Hughes]]
| based_on       = {{based on|''[[The Racket (play)|The Racket]]''<br>1927 play|[[Bartlett Cormack]]}}
| writer         = {{Plainlist|
* [[Bartlett Cormack]]
* Tom Miranda
* '''Uncredited:'''
* [[Harry Behn]]
}}
| starring       = {{ubl|[[Thomas Meighan]]|[[Marie Prevost]]|[[Louis Wolheim]]}}
| cinematography = [[Tony Gaudio]]
| editing        = Eddie Adams
| studio         = [[Howard Hughes|The Caddo Company]]
| distributor    = [[Paramount Pictures]]
| released       = {{Film date|1928|11|1}}
| runtime        = 84 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = [[Silent film|Silent]] (English [[intertitle]]s)
}}
'''''The Racket''''' is a 1928 American [[silent film|silent]] [[Crime film|crime]] [[Drama (film and television)|drama film]] directed by [[Lewis Milestone]] and starring [[Thomas Meighan]], [[Marie Prevost]], [[Louis Wolheim]], and [[George E. Stone]]. The film was produced by [[Howard Hughes]], written by [[Bartlett Cormack]] and Tom Miranda, and was distributed by [[Paramount Pictures]].<ref name=":0">[http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=11516 The AFI Catalog of Feature Films:''The Racket'']</ref> It was adapted from Cormack's 1927 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] play ''[[The Racket (play)|The Racket]]''.<ref>[http://www.ibdb.com/show.php?id=7342 ''The Racket'' play produced on Broadway at the Ambassador Theatre, November 1927 – March 1928; IBDb.com]</ref>
[[File:The Racket (1928).webm|thumb|thumbtime=1|Full film]]

== Plot ==
[[Chicago Police Department]] officer James "Mac" McQuigg tries to keep the peace in Chicago during the [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]] gang wars but is hampered by massive [[Corruption in the United States|corruption]]. After a shootout McQuigg manages to arrest mob boss Nick Scarsi's henchman Spike Corcoran, the political boss "The Old Man" arranges to have all charges dropped. After a birthday party for Nick Scarsi's younger brother Joe Scarsi ends in a shootout in which Nick Scarsi kills Corcoran, McQuigg arrests Nick Scarsi for murder but is forced to release him after being unable to find the murder weapon.

Although McQuigg vows to bring down Nick Scarsi, he gets transferred to "the sticks" of the 28th precinct. After Joe Scarsi is arrested for a hit-and-run accident, McQuigg convinces his girlfriend Helen Hayes to implicate him. Nick Scarsi arrives and shoots the witness Patrolman Johnson, and McQuigg arrests him again for murder. When Nick Scarsi's attorney arrives with a writ of ''[[habeas corpus]]'' to free him, McQuigg rips it up and imprisons him as well. Hayes falls in love with cub reporter Dave Ames, and tricks Nick Scarsi into confessing to keep him from killing Ames. With Nick Scarsi implicated in a crime, "The Old Man" and District Attorney Welch's [[political machine]] turn on Nick Scarsi in order to remain in power at the upcoming municipal election. They trick him into attempting to escape and trying to shoot McQuigg with an empty gun before killing him themselves.

==Cast==
* [[Thomas Meighan]] as Captain James McQuigg
* [[Louis Wolheim]] as Nick Scarsi
* [[Lucien Prival]] as Chick
* [[Marie Prevost]] as Helen Hayes
* [[G. Pat Collins]] as Patrolman Johnson (credited as Pat Collins)
* [[Henry Sedley (actor)|Henry Sedley]] as Spike Corcoran
* [[George E. Stone]] as Joe Scarsi (credited as George Stone)
* [[Sam De Grasse]] as District Attorney Welch (credited as Sam DeGrasse)
* [[Richard "Skeets" Gallagher]] as Miller (credited as Skeets Gallagher)
* [[Lee Moran]] as Pratt
* [[John Darrow]] as Dave Ames – Cub Reporter

==Background==
Due to the controversial portrayal of a corrupt police force and [[Government of Chicago|city government]], both the film and the play were banned at the time in [[Chicago]].<ref>[https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/85281 ''The Racket'' at Turner Classic Movies, by Brian Cady]</ref> The main antagonist Nick Scarsi was modeled after [[Al Capone]] while "The Old Man" was modeled after Chicago Mayor [[William Hale Thompson|William Hale "Big Bill" Thompson]].<ref name=":0" />

==Reception==
[[File:The Racket (1928) film poster.jpg|thumb|''The Racket'' poster]]
''The Racket'' is one of the films nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]] (then called Outstanding Picture) in the [[1st Academy Awards|1929 Academy Awards]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1929|title=The 1st Academy Awards (1929) Nominees and Winners|date=October 8, 2014 |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences]]|accessdate=October 14, 2021}}</ref>

On [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has an approval rating of [[List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes|100 percent]] based on 6 critics, with an average rating of 7.50 out of 10.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_racket_1928|title=The Racket (1928)|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher=[[Fandango Media]]|accessdate=October 14, 2021}}</ref>

''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' wrote "A good story, plus good direction, plus a great cast and minus dumb supervision, is responsible for another great underworld film".<ref>{{cite magazine|date=December 31, 1927|url=https://variety.com/1927/film/reviews/the-racket-1200410035/|title=The Racket|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref>

==Preservation==
Only one copy of the film was known to exist.<ref>[http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/R/Racket1928.html ''The Racket'' at silentera.com] Retrieved October 14, 2021.</ref> It was long thought lost before being located in [[Howard Hughes]]' film collection after his death.<ref>[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.3258/default.html The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:''The Racket''] Retrieved October 14, 2021.</ref> ''The Racket'' was preserved by the [[Academy Film Archive]] in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|title=Preserved Projects|url=https://www.oscars.org/academy-film-archive/preserved-projects?title=racket&filmmaker=&category=All&collection=All|website=Academy Film Archive|accessdate=October 14, 2021}}</ref> It airs occasionally on [[Turner Classic Movies]].

==Remake==
The Howard Hughes-owned RKO studios remade ''[[The Racket (1951 film)|The Racket]]'' in 1951 with Robert Mitchum and Robert Ryan in the lead roles.

==See also==
* [[List of rediscovered films]]
* ''[[The Big City (1928 film)|The Big City]]'' (1928)
* ''[[Dressed to Kill (1928 film)|Dressed to Kill]]'' (1928)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{IMDb title|0019304}}
* {{Internet Archive film|the-racket_1928|title = The Racket}}
* [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-racket-vm1731327 allmovie.com]
* {{TCMDb title|id=499953}}
* {{AFI film|11516}}
* [http://www.carters.com.au/index.cfm/item/243351-richardson-studio-three-long-australian-daybill-posters-artwork/ Australian daybill long poster]

{{Lewis Milestone}}
{{Howard Hughes}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Racket (1928 film), The}}
[[Category:1928 films]]
[[Category:1928 crime drama films]]
[[Category:1920s American films]]
[[Category:1920s English-language films]]
[[Category:1920s rediscovered films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American crime drama films]]
[[Category:American gangster films]]
[[Category:American police detective films]]
[[Category:American silent feature films]]
[[Category:Films about corruption in the United States]]
[[Category:Films about organized crime in the United States]]
[[Category:Films about prohibition in the United States]]
[[Category:Films directed by Lewis Milestone]]
[[Category:Films produced by Howard Hughes]]
[[Category:Films set in Chicago]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Harry Behn]]
[[Category:Paramount Pictures films]]
[[Category:Rediscovered American films]]
[[Category:Silent American crime drama films]]
[[Category:Silent American mystery films]]
[[Category:Silent American thriller films]]
[[Category:Surviving American silent films]]
[[Category:English-language crime drama films]]