Get That Man (1935) User Reviews (5)

If you can ignore the complexity of the plot, it's actually a very good B-movie.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 7 October 2013]

I've seen films with similar plots to "Get That Man". And, the film is occasionally a bit too complex and difficult to believe. However, it's also incredibly well made and engaging and I recommend you see it.

Wallace Ford plays Jack, a guy you have to feel sorry for as well as like. He's accused of a crime he didn't commit and a shyster lawyer (are there any other kind?) sees him in a police lineup and realizes he can make a killing. It seems the heir to a fortune looks exactly like Jack and the lawyers knows that Jack can pretend to be the heir, John Prescott, because Prescott is dead! Jack wants nothing to do with it, but the lawyer blackmails* him and tells him he will be sure he's convicted of the crime he's accused of unless he helps him with the swindle!

Once Jack arrives at the Prescott home, he finds that he really likes his supposed step-mother and step-sister (especially the comely step-sister) and he cannot allow himself to swindle them. At the same time, Jack's evil slut of a wife arrives. Earlier in the film, this adulterous woman and her boyfriend tried to murder Jack--and now they, too, want a piece of the pie! But the lawyer isn't about to cut them in on the estate. How can Jack possibly extricate himself from all this and do the right thing? See this film.

Okay...I'll admit that such a story is virtually impossible. Fine. But it's handled so well for a low-budget B that I really didn't care as I watched. And, I'll also admit that the ending worked out too perfectly--but it was immensely satisfying! One of Wallace Ford's best outings and an outstanding film in most every way. If you wish to see it, it's in the public domain and can see at either Amazon or archive.org. Enjoy.

*When I saw this, I thought this was a case of extortion. However, after I did a bit of research, apparently extortion involves a use of threat to steal property from a person--and Jack possessed no property or belongings the lawyer wanted. So, apparently this is blackmail unless I am mistaken.

Took a jump start to get this plot going.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 4 April 2018]

After an opening where victims of crime hidden behind a screen identify those who victimized them, this moves to its real plotline of con-man Wallace Ford being trained to claim that he is the stepson of wealthy Laura Treadwell and worm his way into her home. Kindly Treadwell (no relation to the mysterious Gene Tierney character in "Laura") doesn't question him about anything, simply welcoming him and William Humphrey (who knew the real person Ford is posing as) into her home. Treadwell's daughter (Finis Barton) seems to fall in love with her alleged half brother immediately in a rather icky twist, proclaiming that she would be instantly jealous had Ford been involved with somebody else. All of a sudden, two con-artists whom Ford knew (Leon Ames and Lillian Miles) show up, with Miles claiming to be Ford's wife, wanting a portion of Ford's take from the estate. This sets Humphrey up against Ames and Miles, not wanting to lose any of his own portion, and Ford must look into his conscience as to the unethical means of which he's going to con some basically decent people, no matter of their wealth or position.

Yes, the plot is that convoluted, but when it gets going, it becomes pretty interesting, and there are some thrilling moments, including a car chase at the end where Ford baits a motorcycle cop to stop them for speeding so he can expose Ames and Miles, hoping on the sideboard of the car as it takes off with the cop in pursuit. This has one of the most obvious of racist film stereotypes with the presence of the black Ray Turner in the opening sequence (as a con-artist character named Washington White) who is presented as so dim-witted that there is no way he could conceivably get away with a crime. It is obvious based upon this actor's looks that the writers used his presence for comical effect but showed how overtly racist they were in presenting him as a total buffoon. It's an embarrassing moment of Hollywood history that more than anything gives evidence to the old fashioned ideals of a pre-civil rights era and how certain aspects of racial characterizations needed to change if they didn't have any realistic relation to the story.

You need a readers guide to keep up with this one.

[horn-5 · 27 November 2005]

For beginners,with the aid of a fake moustache, Wallace Ford had a dual and also an AKA role. He played both Jack Kirkland and John Prescott the Second (II), and then posed as John Prescott (II)while playing Jack Kirkland. That led to even more complications when he (the Kirkland character) shows up posing as John the Second and Diane Prescott (Finis Barton), John's step-sister, gets all hot-and-bothered over her long-missing step-brother, which isn't really her step-brother but she doesn't know that. If he had been her half-brother, this might have constituted a dicey situation such as that in "Desert Guns", where the heroine gets all hot-and-bothered over the guy posing as her half-brother but she doesn't know he isn't her half-brother...and her half-brother hasn't even been missing up to that point. After several viewings, the situation that led to Jack posing as John gets more clouded each time. Something to do with John's cheating wife, Fay Prescott (Lillian Miles) and her boyfriend, Don Clayton (Leon Ames), planning to knock off John and then having Jack pose as John in a scheme to beat Diane and her mother, Mrs. John Prescott (I) (Laura Treadwell), out of whatever it is they have that they think John can make a claim on.

It might have been less confusing if the script supervisor hadn't mixed up some pages (or something) or had paid more attention to such details as to which Wallace Ford character had a moustache and which one didn't. In fact, it still isn't for certain that Jack Kirkland wasn't the real John Prescott all the time, and the John Prescott knocked off by his ever-lovin wife and Oil-Can Waycoff was also a fake, but Ever-Lovin' and Oil-Can didn't know that. Hey, I already said it wasn't a plot easy to keep up with. This could be to 1935 Indies what "Miller's Crossing" is to 1990 and "Pulp Fiction" is to 1994 Indies. Relative speaking, we hasten to add.

Only for Wallace Ford fans

[Paularoc · 4/10 · 7 September 2013]

Wallace Ford plays dual roles, that of private chauffeur driver Jack Kirkland and John Prescott, black sheep son from a wealthy family. A shady private investigator meets Jack and sees that he is the spitting image of Prescott. Knowing that Prescott hasn't seen his family for years, he coerces Jack into pretending to be Prescott. The side story is that Prescott has been murdered by his new wife's lover. It's a tangled story with uninteresting characters and no humor. I am a big Wallace Ford fan and found his performance disappointing - of course, he didn't have much to work with. But he showed none of the energy or charm that he usually brought to a role. It was interesting to see Leon Ames (when he was still billed as Leon Waycoff); he actually did a good job in his role. This is a low end poverty row production that I'm glad I saw but won't be watching again.

A Whole Lot Of Speeding, Except In The Editing

[boblipton · 4/10 · 14 April 2023]

Wallace Ford is in a police line-up. P. I. E. Alyn Warren identifies him as John Prescott, even though he isn't. We then see Prescott, also played by Ford, but with a mustache, as he, wife Lilian Miles, and her lover Leon Ames pull into a motel. Ford catches them at it, and the men get into a fight. Ford is killed. He can't be identified, and the motel keeper is vague on the details. Warren locates Ford (sans mustache) and explains that he's going to claim to be Prescott and claim the half million estate that would otherwise go to Prescott's widow, Laura Treadwell, and her daughter, Finis Barton. The ladies welcome Ford with open arms, which excites Ford's remorse. Then Ames and Miss Miles show up, expecting easy money.

It's a decent idea for a movie, barring the hoary identical-twin plot, but it isn't helped by the slow way in which director Spencer Gordon Bennett shoots things, with unnecessarily long takes and slow editing. Ford and Ames are good, except for the fight sequences, but the dialogue is slow, and we expect things will turn out well, with an appropriately high body count -- four in all.