The Hole in the Wall is a 1929 pre-Code mystery drama film directed by Robert Florey, and starring Claudette Colbert and Edward G. Robinson. This early talking picture was the first appearance of Edward G. Robinson in the role of a gangster, and "can be viewed as a dry run for his eventual success (in 1931 in Little Caesar)". It was also one of Colbert's first film appearances.[1][2][3]
The Hole in the Wall | |
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Directed by | Robert Florey |
Written by | Pierre Collings |
Based on | The Hole in the Wall by Frederick J. Jackson |
Starring | Claudette Colbert Edward G. Robinson David Newell |
Cinematography | George J. Folsey |
Edited by | Mort Blumenstock |
Music by | Gerard Carbonara W. Franke Harling |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 63 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
It was shot at the Astoria Studios in New York. The film is a remake of an earlier 1921 silent The Hole in the Wall.
A con man called The Fox teams up with a fake fortune teller named Madame Mystera to bilk naive people out of their money. When Madame Mystera dies in a car accident, The Fox hires a woman named Jean Oliver to replace her. But as time goes on, he comes to believe that Jean actually does have real supernatural powers.
According to critic Troy Howarth, the film "is an interesting amalgam of gangster melodrama and horror, one in which Edward G. Robinson steals the show." Colbert's "character becomes more complex as the picture unfolds, and the actress keeps up just fine."[1] He commented that Florey's bizarre set designs for the medium's den looked as if they were inspired by the German film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.[1]
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