THE HOLE IN THE WALL (1929)

Madame Mystera is a medium with a number of gullible rich folks who come to her to hear messages from the dearly departed. Actually, she is part of a crime ring that uses information from the rich to steal jewels. A man known as The Fox (Edward G. Robinson) is the leader of the group. Jim, a pickpocket, and Goofy, a bootlegger, are his associates, and a former circus wildman called Dogface is a hanger-on; he has a mental disability of some sort that leads him occasionally to howl like a dog, and mostly he's kept in a bed in a room to make creepy noises during their seances. One night, Madame Mystera is killed in a train wreck. The Fox puts Goofy in a dress and veil and tries to pass him off as the medium, but that is clearly nor a long-term solution. Meanwhile, Jean Oliver (Claudette Colbert) is a jailbird looking for a job who heard about the Fox's set-up in the slammer. The Fox sets her up as Madame Mystera. Her long game is to get revenge against the rich Mrs. Ramsey, who set Jean up to get sent to prison because she didn't want her son to marry her. After the gang identifies the Madame's body as that of Jean Oliver, Jean's plan is to kidnap Mrs. Ramsey's granddaughter, raise her as a criminal, then years later, show Mrs. Ramsey what has become of the girl. Jean is good at the medium swindle, but the gang has perhaps been a little sloppy in their thievery, and soon the cops have made a tenuous connection between the Madame and the rash of jewel thefts. A reporter, Gordon Grant, once a beau of Jean's, comes calling to get some details. The little girl is kidnapped (and treated very nicely by the whole gang), the Fox falls for Jean, and Jean has warm feelings for Gordon even though she can't reveal herself to him. In the end, an actual paranormal event leads to the busy climax.

I suspect that viewers with little experience watching very early talkies would not stick with this. The whole thing feels rather creaky, with a plodding pace, flubs left in, and times when actors seem to be waiting for a signal to start speaking. It's also quite stagy, with most of the action taking place in the gang's lair (it's got a nice creepy atmosphere, somewhere between art deco and German expressionism). This was the first talkie for both Robinson and Colbert and they're fine. He plays the kind of gangster role for which he became famous, though this part isn't as showy as his breakout role in Little Caesar a couple of years later. Colbert goes a bit against her later persona as a high-class romantic heroine. Donald Meek (Goofy), one of my favorite character actors, is good, as is David Newell as Gordon Grant, who despite being second-billed doesn't have a lot to do. Directed blandly by Robert Florey who forged a long career directing in television. There are plot problems: Why don't we ever see the little girl's parents? Why is Dogface even around? Why aren't people more freaked out by the supernatural intervention at the end? For all its weaknesses, it did keep me watching and involved. Pictured are Colbert and Newell. [YouTube]