There were the dozens of low-budget films featuring wise-cracking, crime-fighting reporters during the 1930s, but this one stands out from the rest on several counts. Notice that i did not say it is better, just that it stands out as different. Among its unique aspects there are three notable points: first, the ostensible hero, played by Roger Pryor, only appears partway through the storyline and is neither very heroic nor very cute, although he does have a certain weaselly charm; second, Ford Sterling, a former Keystone Kop, does a great turn as a police officer with a thick "Chermen" accent; and third, Franklin Pangborn does NOT play his usual funny, flustered, and officious role as a hotel clerk type -- instead, he is one of the pack of wise-cracking newspaper reporters -- and we get to see him laugh and cavort and generally act as if Ben Hecht or Preston Sturgis had written his part, instead of whoever did write it. In short, if you thought you knew the character actor Franklin Pangborn inside, outside, and upside down, you owe it to yourself to see the flick i call "Another Side of Franklin W. Pangborn."