''Mr. Ace'' is a 1946 American film noir starring George Raft and Sylvia Sidney involving a society woman who taps a gangster for his political support as she runs for Congress. The movie was written by Fred F. Finkelhoffe, directed by

Edwin L. Marin Edwin L. Marin (February 21, 1899 – May 2, 1951) was an American film director who directed 58 films between 1932 and 1951, working with Randolph Scott, Anna May Wong, John Wayne, Peter Lorre, George Raft, Bela Lugosi, Judy Garland, E ...

, and photographed by legendary cinematographer

Karl Struss Karl Struss, A.S.C. (November 30, 1886 – December 15, 1981) was an American photographer and a cinematographer of the 1900s through the 1950s. He was also one of the earliest pioneers of 3-D films. While he mostly worked on films, such as F. ...

. George Raft later appeared in a radio show ''

The Cases of Mr. Ace ''The Cases of Mr Ace'' is a 1947 ABC radio crime drama starring George Raft. It was an unofficial spinoff from his film '' Mr. Ace'' (1946) although it was very different from that film. Episodes were 30 minutes long. Raft played Eddie Ace, own ...

'', with Mr. Ace having become a private detective.

Plot

Wealthy Congresswoman Margaret Wyndham Chase wants to run for governor of an unnamed state and needs the help of a political boss named Eddie Ace to stand a chance of making it all the way. In an attempt to grease him, she invites him to a dinner where also her other powerful friends will be attending. Margaret has another problem. Her husband, Pembroke Chase III, wants a divorce, but she wants to keep up appearances until the governor's election is over. She refuses to sign the document he lays before her. Chase threatens her by saying he will try to ruin her campaign if she doesn't comply with his wish. She, in turn, threatens to reveal his many affairs to the public. Chase tries to ruin the dinner by bad-talking Margaret in front of the others. He gets support from Ace, who believes that beautiful women should stay away from politics. Even Margaret's friend, political science professor Joshua Adams, wants Ace to stop her from running for governor. Adams says he isn't opposed to women in politics but doesn't want Margaret to do it, and believes that she needs more "heart" to be a truly great governor. Ace introduces Margaret to his cronies, The Tomahawk Club, and she charms them all. Later they have a date and Ace begins to fall for Margaret. Adams asks Ace to prevent Margaret from being elected, even though he believes that she would make a good governor if she learned to use her heart. Margaret isn't discouraged by this, but decides to work harder on changing the men's views. She meets with Ace and Adams again to discuss politics, and afterwards she asks Ace to drive her to her house in the country. Ace complies and ends up kissing her goodnight, even though he refuses to change his mind about the governor issue. Margaret continues to scheme to persuade Ace to help her. She talks to one of Ace's employees, Toomey, and convinces him to help her. With his help, Margaret is finally nominated to run for governor. But Chase puts gravel in the machinery by forcing her to divorce him, claiming that she has had an extramarital affair with Ace. He also claims Ace will testify to what happened at the country house. This makes Margaret pull out of the race entirely and agree to the divorce. Adams and Ace decide to host an independent political party to support Margaret as a reform candidate. Adams asks Margaret to run on a special platform opposing machine politics, and she agrees. With this support behind her, Margaret wins the election. She is unaware that she got the support of Ace in the run. When Margaret meets Ace after the race, she promises to be the best governor possible, and they kiss to seal the deal.

Cast

* George Raft as Eddie Ace * Sylvia Sidney as Margaret Wyndham Chase *

Stanley Ridges Stanley Charles Ridges (17 July 1890 – 22 April 1951) was an English-born, American actor who made more than 100 appearances in theatre and movies from 1917 to 1951. After his American film debut in ''Success'' (1923), he appeared in films s ...

as Toomey *

Sid Silvers Sid Silvers (January 16, 1901 in Brooklyn, New York – August 20, 1976 in Brooklyn) was an American actor, comedian, lyricist, and writer. Silvers began his career in vaudeville in the early 1920s as a comedy partner of Phil Baker. As part of ...

as Pencil *

Jerome Cowan Jerome Palmer Cowan (October 6, 1897 – January 24, 1972) was an American stage, film, and television actor. Early years Cowan was born in New York City, the son of William Cowan, a confectioner of Scottish descent, and Julia Cowan, née Palm ...

as Peter Craig *

Sara Haden Sara Haden (born Catherine Haden, November 17, 1898 – September 15, 1981) was an American actress of the 1930s through the 1950s and in television into the mid-1960s. She may be best remembered for appearing as Aunt Milly Forrest in 14 entrie ...

as Alma Rhodes *Alan Edwards as Pembroke Chase III *

Roman Bohnen Roman Aloys Bohnen (November 24, 1901 – February 24, 1949) was an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the films ''Of Mice and Men'' (1939), '' The Song of Bernadette'' (1943), and ''The Best Years of Our Lives'' (194 ...

as Professor Joshua Adams *

Joyce Bryant Joyce Bryant (October 14, 1927 – November 20, 2022) was an American singer, dancer, and civil rights activist who achieved fame in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a theater and nightclub performer. With her signature silver hair and tight me ...

nightclub singer A nightclub act is a production, usually of nightclub music or comedy, designed for performance at a nightclub, a type of drinking establishment, by a nightclub performer such as a nightclub singer or nightclub dancer, whose performance may ...

Production

Producer Benedict Bogeaus had a deal making movies for United Artists. The film was originally going to be called ''The Congress Woman'', and George Raft signed to star in October 1945. It was then retitled ''Mr Ace and the Queen'' and

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's '' L ...

was named as a possible co-star. Later

Clare Boothe Luce Clare Boothe Luce ( Ann Clare Boothe; March 10, 1903 – October 9, 1987) was an American writer, politician, U.S. ambassador, and public conservative figure. A versatile author, she is best known for her 1936 hit play '' The Women'', which ha ...

said she had been approached to play the lead and was considering it. Eventually the female lead went to Sylvia Sidney, who originally starred with Raft thirteen years previously in '' Pick-Up''. Filming started January 30, 1946. Raft was struck with

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity ( pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

during filming, causing the production to shut down for three weeks.

Production credits

* Director -

* Producer -

Benedict Bogeaus Benedict Bogeaus (May 4, 1904, in Chicago – August 23, 1968, in Hollywood), was an independent film producer and former owner of General Service Studios. Biography and filmography Bogeaus' business career started when he was seventeen, workin ...

* Writing - Fred F. Finklehoffe (original story and screenplay) * Cinematographer -

* Art direction - Ernst Fegté (production design), Fred Widdowson (set decorations) * Costumes - Michael Woulfe (Miss Sidney's costumes) * Sound - William Lynch (sound technician) * Makeup artist - Otis Malcolm * Music - David Chudnow (musical supervisor), Heinz Roemheld (musical score) * Editing - James Smith (supervising editor) * Assistant editor -

Joseph Depew Joseph Depew (July 11, 1912 – October 30, 1988) was an American television director and producer and actor. Career Born in Harrison, New Jersey, Depew began his career as a child stage actor at the age of three. He was influenced by his moth ...

Reception

Box office

The film was a box office flop, George Raft's first in years,Everett Aaker, ''The Films of George Raft'', McFarland & Company, 2013. p. 121 and the beginning of a legendarily steep decline in the wake of Raft having been a huge star.

Critical

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' called it "an entertaining picture".

Legacy

The film inspired a radio show, ''

'' (1947) starring Raft as private eye Eddie Ace. This later became ''

The Cases of Eddie Drake ''The Cases of Eddie Drake'' is an American crime drama series which initially was shown in syndication in 1951, before airing on the DuMont Television Network during 1952. It was a crime drama originally filmed for CBS Television by Imppro, a s ...

''. The film inspired a painting, ''Mr Ace'' by

Yasuo Kuniyoshi was a Japanese-American painter, photographer and printmaker. Biography Kuniyoshi was born on September 1, 1889 in Okayama, Japan. He immigrated to the United States in 1906, choosing not to attend military school in Japan. Kuniyoshi original ...

References

External links

* *
Review of film
at

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mister Ace 1946 films 1946 crime drama films American black-and-white films American political drama films Films directed by Edwin L. Marin Films scored by Heinz Roemheld 1940s English-language films 1940s American films