Robert Montgomery Again in Criminal Role

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21193, 16 August 1940, Page 8

Robert Montgomery Again in Criminal Role

Starring Robert Montgomery for the second time in his screen career in a picture selected by himself and with a role he wanted to portray (the first was the psychopathic murderer in "Night Must Fall ) "Earl of Chicago” was recently released in New Zealand. One of the most unusual characterisations ever brought to the screen, it marks an abrupt departure from Montgomery’s comedy wise-cracking play-boy roles, with the star as Silky Kilmount, Chicago gangster. With the repeal of prohibition, Silky has engaged in a legitimate business, the Kilmount Distillery. He does business honestly, pays his taxes to the Government, but retains his gang methods of salesmanship. Silky is discovered to be the heir to vast titled estates in England. Bewildered by this situation but greedy for his inheritance, he puts his faith in the only honest man he knows, Doc Ramsey, played by Edwand Arnold, a lawyer he once doublecrossed, and sent to prison. Doc takes advantage of the situatiqsi to ruin Silky. Silky kills him and then discovers that he cannot avoid the penalty in England. Much of the action takes place against such colourful and historic settings as the House of Lords and the Tower of London. A production highlight is a murder trial sequence in the House of Lords, never before filmed.

Victor Saville, producer of “Goodbye, Mr Chips” and “The Citadel," brings the film to the screen, with a supporting cast of 159 players, featuring Reginald Owen, Edmund Gwenn, E. E. Clive and Ronald Sinclair.