A gangster turned war hero walks into a funeral and steals the dead man's life.
In this melodrama set during WWI, a gangster joins the army and is promoted to major. He then returns from war torn Europe to tell a family that their beloved son had died in his arms during a battle. The major then falls in love with the late soldier's sister and decides to accept a position in town as the new police commissioner.
Acting
George Bancroft's gangster swagger meets military uniform.
Direction
Cromwell crams a miniseries of twists into 72 minutes.
Director
John Cromwell
George Bancroft
Blake Greeson
Esther Ralston
Louise Patterson
Warner Oland
Sterky
Raymond Hatton
Dogey Franks
Dorothy Revier
Mayme
Morgan Farley
Jerry Patterson
O. P. Heggie
J.K. Patterson
Charles Sellon
The Mayor
E.H. Calvert
Major General
John Cromwell
Mr. Jamieson
Ernie Adams
Hood
Mischa Auer
Hood
Edgar Dearing
Doughboy
Jack Pennick
Doughboy
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was George Bancroft's follow-up to Underworld (1927), cementing his type as the sensitive brute Paramount kept casting.
Made just before the Hays Code clamped down, The Mighty gets away with a protagonist whose criminal past is barely punished—unthinkable just five years later.
US
