''Mr. Ace'' is a 1946 American

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

starring

George Raft George Raft (né Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembe ...

and

Sylvia Sidney Sylvia Sidney (born Sophia Kosow; August 8, 1910 – July 1, 1999) was an American stage, screen, and film actress whose career spanned 70 years. She rose to prominence in dozens of leading roles in the 1930s. She was nominated for the Academy ...

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, and photographed by legendary cinematographer Karl Struss. George Raft later appeared in a radio show '' The Cases of Mr. Ace'', 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

as Eddie Ace *

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 su ...

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 Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertain ...

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 Pal ...

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 of the ...

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 film), Of Mice and Men'' (1939), ''The Song of Bernadette (film), The Song of Be ...

as Professor Joshua Adams * Joyce Bryant as

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 films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lifeboat (194 ...

was named as a possible co-star. Later

Clare Boothe Luce Clare Boothe Luce (; March 10, 1903 – October 9, 1987) was an American writer, politician, diplomat, and public conservative figure. A versatile author, she is best known for her 1936 hit play '' The Women'', which had an all-female cast. He ...

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 (Pulmonary pleurae, pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant d ...

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

Production credits

* Director - Edwin L. Marin * Producer - Benedict Bogeaus * Writing -

Fred F. Finklehoffe Fred Franklin Finklehoffe (February 16, 1910, Springfield, Massachusetts – October 5, 1977, Springtown, Pennsylvania) was an American film writer and producer. He was educated at Virginia Military Institute (V.M.I.) where he met his writing part ...

(original story and screenplay) * Cinematographer - Karl Struss * 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

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'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' called it "an entertaining picture".

Legacy

The film inspired a radio show, '' The Cases of Mr. Ace'' (1947) starring Raft as private eye Eddie Ace. This later became '' The Cases of Eddie Drake''. The film inspired a painting, ''Mr Ace'' by Yasuo Kuniyoshi.

References

External links

* *
Review of film
at

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

{{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 English-language crime drama films