Bad Company is a 1931 gangster film directed and co-written by Tay Garnett

Tay Garnett

Tay Garnett was an American film director and writer.Born in Los Angeles, California, Garnett served as a naval aviator in World War I and entered films as a screenwriter in 1920. He was a gagwriter for Mack Sennett and Hal Roach, then joined Pathé and began to direct films in 1928...

 with Tom Buckingham

Tom Buckingham

Tom Buckingham was an American film director and screenwriter. He directed 48 films between 1920 and 1932.He was born in Chicago, Illinois, and died from surgical complications.-Selected filmography:...

 based on Jack Lait

Jack Lait

Jack Lait was an American journalist.-Life:Born Jacquin Leonard Lait in New York City, he became renowned during his fifty year career in journalism as one of the leading newspapermen of the first half of the 20th century...

's 1930 novel Put On the Spot. It stars Helen Twelvetrees

Helen Twelvetrees

Helen Twelvetrees was an American stage and screen performer, considered a top female star in the early days of sound films.- Early life and career :...

 and Ricardo Cortez

Ricardo Cortez

Jacob Krantz , known by his stage name Ricardo Cortez, was an American film actor who began his career during the silent era.-Life and career:...

. Told from the view of a woman, the working title

Working title

A working title, sometimes called a production title, is the temporary name of a product or project used during its development, usually used in filmmaking, television production, novel, video game, or music album.-Purpose:...

s of this film were The Gangster's Wife and The Mad Marriage.Unlike many static early sound films, Garnett includes several scenes using a moving camera climaxing in a gigantic assault on an office building with both sides using heavy machine gun

Heavy machine gun

The heavy machine gun or HMG is a larger class of machine gun generally recognized to refer to two separate stages of machine gun development. The term was originally used to refer to the early generation of machine guns which came into widespread use in World War I...

s.

Plot

Rich and beautiful Helen King is about to marry Steve Carlyle, a wealthy young professional. Unknown to Helen and her family, Steve is a legal advisor to a megalomaniac

Megalomania

Megalomania is a psycho-pathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of power, relevance, or omnipotence. 'Megalomania is characterized by an inflated sense of self-esteem and overestimation by persons of their powers and beliefs'...

 gangster Goldie Gorio. Steve wishes to leave the rackets but Goldie reintroduces him to his future father-in-law, a rival gangster where both parties see the marriage as a symbol of peace and an end of violence in their transactions. Steve remains with Goldie and fills in for him to a visit to a rival gangsters boat where he is ambushed and nearly killed by their machine gun. Helen vows revenge on Goldie.

Cast

Helen Twelvetrees

Helen Twelvetrees

Helen Twelvetrees was an American stage and screen performer, considered a top female star in the early days of sound films.- Early life and career :...

  ... Helen King Carlyle

Ricardo Cortez

Ricardo Cortez

Jacob Krantz , known by his stage name Ricardo Cortez, was an American film actor who began his career during the silent era.-Life and career:...

  ... Goldie Gorio

John Garrick  ... Steve Carlyle

Paul Hurst

Paul Hurst

Paul Michael Hurst is a former English footballer who played in Football League Two in England, for Rotherham, where he played for over 10 years. He is currently joint manager of Conference National side Grimsby Town with Rob Scott.-Playing career:Hurst figured regularly on the left side of the...

  ... Goldie's Butler

Frank Conroy

Frank Conroy

Frank Conroy was an American author, born in New York, New York to an American father and a Danish mother. He published five books, including the highly acclaimed memoir Stop-Time, published in 1967, which ultimately made Conroy a noted figure in the literary world...

  ... Markham King

Harry Carey  ... McBaine

Frank McHugh

Frank McHugh

Francis Curray "Frank" McHugh was an American film and television actor.Born in Homestead, Pennsylvania, McHugh came from a theatrical family. His parents ran a stock theatre company and as a young child he performed on stage...

  ... Doc

Kenneth Thomson  ... Barnes

Edgar Kennedy

Edgar Kennedy

Edgar Livingston Kennedy was an American comedic film actor, known as "the king of the slow burn". A slow burn is an exasperated facial expression, performed very deliberately; Kennedy embellished this by rubbing his hand over his bald head and across his face, in an attempt to hold his temper...

... Doorman