This Is My Affair (1937)
This Is My Affair (1937)
„This Is My Affair“ is a 1937 period crime film directed by William A. Seiter from a screenplay by Allen Rivkin und Lamar Trotti.
In 1901, US President William McKinley is put under great pressure by everyone, even U.S. Bank Examiner Henry Maxwell, to do something about a gang of bank robbers nobody has been able to bring to justice. He sends U.S. Navy Lieutenant Richard L. Perry undercover without notifying anyone, not even the Secret Service.
Richard, using the alias Joe Patrick, makes a pass at singer Lil Duryea. Her stepbrother, Batiste Duryea, not only owns the casino in Saint Paul, Minnesota where she performs, but is also one of the ringleaders of the gang. Lil takes a liking to Joe, but since Batiste’s hulking right-hand man, Jock Ramsay, considers her his girl, she tries to brush Joe off. Joe is undeterred and soon persuades her to go out with him whenever Batiste and Jock leave town on one of their robberies.
When Batiste learns that Lil loves Joe and is convinced that he is a bank robber himself, Batiste invites Joe to join the gang. Later, though, Lil tries to talk Joe into running away with her. He agrees, even writing a letter of resignation addressed to McKinley, but changes his mind. He has yet to learn the identity of the mastermind behind the whole thing. As a result, however, Lil breaks up with him.
Joe notifies the President about the next robbery, hoping that when they are caught, he can find out the boss’s name. Batiste is killed and Jock wounded when they put up a fight.
In prison, Joe works on Jock, finally getting him to reveal that the Bank Examiner is the mastermind. However, McKinley is shot before getting Joe’s letter. Nobody believes Joe’s story, and both he and Jock are sentenced to death.
When Lil visits him, he confesses everything and begs her to go to see Admiral George Dewey. Embittered that he lied to her and got her stepbrother killed, Lil refuses, but as the executions near, she rushes to George. Together, they go to see the new President, Theodore Roosevelt. He does not believe her until an official finally remembers McKinley instructing him to read a secret paper in the event of a letter being received with a certain symbol on it and him being unavailable. Convinced, Roosevelt telephones just after Jock’s execution and before Joe’s. Afterward, Joe and Lil are reunited.
Cast:
- Robert Taylor – Lieutenant Richard L. Perry
- Barbara Stanwyck – Lil Duryea
- Victor McLaglen – Jock Ramsay
- Brian Donlevy – Batiste Duryea
- John Carradine – Ed
- Douglas Fowley – Alec
- Alan Dinehart – Doc Keller
- Sig Ruman – Gus
- Robert McWade – Admiral Dewey
- Sidney Blackmer – President Theodore Roosevelt
- Frank Conroy – President William McKinley
- Marjorie Weaver – Miss Blackburn
- J.C. Nugent – Ernie
- Tyler Brooke – Specialty
- Willard Robertson – George Andrews
- Paul Hurst – Bowler
- Douglas Wood – Henry Maxwell
- Jonathan Hale – Judge
- John Hamilton – Warden
- Joseph Crehan – Priest
- Mary Young – Dowager
- Maurice Cass – Jeweler
- Paul McVey – Roosevelt’s Secretary
- Jayne Regan – Girl with Roosevelt
- Ruth Gillette – Blonde
- James Donlan – Reporter
- Davison Clark – Tim
- Fred Santley – Boy
- Helen Brown – Girl
- DeWitt Jennings – Bradley Wallace
„Unter vier Augen“ (This Is My Affair) ist ein Kriminalfilm aus dem Jahr 1937 unter der Regie von William A. Seiter nach einem Drehbuch von Allen Rivkin und Lamar Trotti.
Im Jahr 1901 wird US-Präsident William McKinley von allen, auch vom US-Bankenprüfer Henry Maxwell, unter großen Druck gesetzt, etwas gegen eine Bande von Bankräubern zu unternehmen, die niemand zur Rechenschaft ziehen konnte. Er schickt den US-Marineleutnant Richard L. Perry als verdeckten Ermittler los, ohne jemanden zu informieren, nicht einmal den Geheimdienst.
Richard macht sich unter dem Decknamen Joe Patrick an die Sängerin Lil Duryea heran. Ihr Stiefbruder Batiste Duryea besitzt nicht nur das Casino in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in dem sie auftritt, sondern ist auch einer der Anführer der Bande. Lil findet Gefallen an Joe, aber da Batistes stämmige rechte Hand, Jock Ramsay, sie als sein Mädchen betrachtet, versucht sie, Joe abzustoßen. Joe lässt sich nicht abschrecken und überredet sie bald, mit ihm auszugehen, wenn Batiste und Jock die Stadt zu einem ihrer Raubzüge verlassen.