The Crusader (1932) On DVD

Crusading District Attorney Phillip Brandon is cleaning up the city and making enemies along the way. An unscrupulous reporter gets wind of a story that Brandon's wife, Tess, lived in another city years before and was the girlfriend of a notorious mobster. As the reporter threatens to blow the lid off that story, another scandal brews. A gangster is murdered in a private room of an exclusive nightclub and the woman who fled the scene is traced back to Brandon's home!

Gorgeous, tough as nails, Evelyn Brent was 32 years old when she made The Crusader for Majestic Pictures in one of her last starring roles. She would go on to a busy career in supporting roles, most notably in Holt of the Secret Service (1941), before retiring in 1950. The Crusader features a terrific supporting cast and fine performances by H.B. Warner, a ravishing Marceline Day and Ned Sparks as the loathsome reporter. Director Frank Strayer is known for many independent features including The Vampire Bat, Condemned To Live and The Ghost Walks, as well as at least twelve entries in the long-running "Blondie" series.

THE CRUSADER was one of the earliest efforts from Majestic Pictures, for many years the most ambitious of the independent production firms. H.B. Warner plays the title character, incorruptible district attorney Phillip Brandon. Hoping to silence Brandon, a gang of crooks uncover some unsavory information about his wife Tess's (Evelyn Brent) past. The villains further lure Brandon's daughter Marcia (Marceline Day) into a compromising situation, in which Joe Carson (Walter Byron) clearly intends to deflower the girl against her will. When all of this intrigue results in murder, it is Tess's former sweetheart, amiable bootlegger Jimmie Dale (Lew Cody), who comes to the rescue of the good guys. Modern audiences will likely be astounded by the liberal use of profanity in THE CRUSADER, notably the moment in which unscrupulous reporter Eddie Crane (Ned Sparks) shouts "Hot damn! What a story!"