Search - The Medicine Man/The Racketeer on DVD

Jack the snake oil peddler / 'Carol' the ex-socialite card

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 05/31/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I own several of these MIRACLE PICTURES two-fers. None of their transfers of old films show any indication of digital restoration. Video clarity is typical budget brand quality. Most I would rate no better than "good." A few have that indistinct blurriness of slow speed VHS and are simply poor, but they're the exceptions.

Cover art on this double-feature is a bit misleading. Jack Benny's comical frozen stare is nowhere to be found in THE MEDICINE MAN. It's obvious from this unfunny programmer that Jack hasn't yet perfected his beloved radio and TV persona; self-assured smugness he displays here may be more bravura than anything. Look closely and you'll see a man not quite comfortable with a camera staring at him.

Jack's co-star is Betty Bronson. Before her 1933 retirement, Bronson was a sensation as PETER PAN (1924-VHS) and followed that success by playing Mary in the early epic, BEN HUR: A TALE OF THE CHRIST (1925).


THE RACKETEER is notable for its pairing of Robert Armstrong, a famous leading man of early talkies who in 1933 starred in KING KONG, and Carole Lombard. At this point, Miss Lombard was still being billed as "Carol." She'd already participated in three dozen silent films and two talkies when cast for "Racketeer." Even in this ancient crime drama her talent and charm are unmistakable.

Also here is Bobby Dunn. From 1912 to '37, Bobby was in over 200 movies and shorts. He got his start as a Keystone Cop. That skewed stare of his was the result of a comic stunt gone terribly wrong. Dunn lost an eye at Keystone after an awkward fall and wore a glass replacement for most of his career.

The newsboy cameo is by 13-year old Robert Parrish. In later career this distinguished film editor directed Rita Hayworth, Bob Mitchum, Jack Lemmon and Herbert Lom in FIRE DOWN BELOW (1957), also scenes featuring Peter Sellers and Orson Welles in the 007 amalgam, CASINO ROYALE (1967).


Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll ratings.

(5.0) The Medicine Man (1930) - Jack Benny/Betty Bronson/E. Alyn Warren/Eva Novak/Billy Butts/Tom Dugan

(5.7) The Racketeer - Robert Armstrong/Carole Lombard/Roland Drew/Bobby Dunn/Hedda Hopper (uncredited: Robert Parrish)"