The Racket

Nov 1 1928 Passed 1h 24m
Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

A renegade police captain sets out to catch a sadistic mob boss. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2016.

Plot

An honest police captain named McQuigg becomes a tough rival to a powerful bootlegger named Scarsi, even though McQuigg's pinches never stick because Scarsi and his organization control the corrupt politicians and judges. When Scarsi can't scare McQuigg off, he gets him transferred to a quiet police precinct in the suburbs, but McQuigg continues their war of words via a pair of wisecracking newspaper reporters. Then McQuigg catches a huge break when Scarsi's younger brother gets picked up for a hit and run accident in his precinct, putting in motion a complex plan to bring down the mobster using the reporters, a nightclub singing gold digger, the upcoming elections and Scari's own organization.

Written by

Bartlett Cormack, Del Andrews, Tom Miranda

Directed by

Lewis Milestone

Production Countries

United States of America

Production Companies

Paramount, The Caddo Company

Languages

No Language

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 1 nomination total

Scores
# of Votes
1,706
Average Rating
6.6 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA