Bordertown

An ambitious Mexican-American gets mixed up with his boss's neurotic wife in this fast-paced and entertaining drama.
2.1K ratings
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Format:  DVD-R
item number:  FF7F
Made-on-Demand

DVD-R Details

  • Rated: Not Rated
  • Run Time: 1 hours, 20 minutes
  • Video: Black & White
  • Encoding: Region 0 (Worldwide)
  • Released: August 4, 2009
  • Originally Released: 1935
  • Label: Warner Archive Collection (MOD)

Performers, Cast and Crew:

Starring , , , &
Directed by
Screenwriting by &
Composition by
Director of Photography:

Entertainment Reviews:

Fresh100%

TOMATOMETER
Total Count: 8

Spilled39%

AUDIENCE SCORE
User Ratings: 90
[Muni's] performance, on the whole, is a typical Muni performance -- being vigorous, simple, unaffected and believable. He is one of those rare actors whose talents don't seem to be thrown pell-mell into the very teeth of the camera. Full Review
Washington Star
Sep 20, 2019
If you can forget some of the details (like Soledad Jiménez being the only authentic Hispanic person in the film), you will leave this film satisfied. [Full Review in Spanish] Full Review
Cine-Mundial
Sep 20, 2019
Finish is phoney, but it can't hurt the previous good work. Casting throughout the film, which is also well written [from a novel by Carrol Graham] and paced, is exceptionally good. Full Review
Variety
Sep 16, 2019
"Bordertown" otherwise manages to impale the spectator's attention before the picturesque and somewhat hysterical materials of the story. Full Review
New York Times
Sep 16, 2019
The role of Johnny is one of those tense, slightly overwrought characterizations in which Paul Muni excels. Full Review
Maclean's Magazine
Aug 6, 2019
Noteworthy for another of Bette Davis' portrayals of a pathological hussy. She steals the picture away from Paul Muni. Full Review
Vanity Fair
Jun 7, 2019
Rating: 3/5 -- Bordertown packs a stinging punch, chiefly because of Muni's frantic portrayal and Davis' extraordinary theatrics. Full Review
TV Guide
Apr 5, 2011

Description by OLDIES.com:

An ambitious Mexican-American gets mixed up with his boss's neurotic wife in this fast-paced and entertaining drama. Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy-winner Bette Davis ("All About Eve"), Margaret Lindsay ("Please Don't Eat the Daises") and Oscar-winner Paul Muni ("Scarface") do an excellent job in bringing their complex characters to life.

Product Description:

Paul Muni stars in this drama about a romantic triangle that leads to madness and murder. Overly enthusiastic Mexican attorney Johnny Ramirez (Muni) is disbarred after his first trial for his flagrant disregard of courtroom etiquette. In desperate need of work, he takes a job as a bouncer in a sleazy bordertown night club owned by Charlie Roark (Eugene Pallette). Charlie's wife Marie (Bette Davis) is immediately attracted to Johnny and makes a none-too-subtle play for him. But Johnny has his eye on Dale Elwell (Margaret Lindsay), a socialite who enjoys slumming in low-class dives and admiringly refers to Johnny as a "savage." Johnny tells Marie that it's against his principles to get involved with a married woman, so she decides to do something about that: she traps drunken Charlie in his car while it's locked in a garage, allowing the carbon monoxide to take Charlie out of the picture. When Marie explains that she killed her husband and is now available to him, Johnny wants no part of her; bitter that Johnny has snubbed her, Marie implicates him in Charlie's murder, leading to a dramatic and surprising trial. Paul Muni reportedly moved in with his Mexican chauffeur in order to study his accent and reproduce it accurately for this film.

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This product is made-on-demand by the manufacturer using DVD-R recordable media. Almost all DVD players can play DVD-Rs (except for some older models made before 2000) - please consult your owner's manual for formats compatible with your player. These DVD-Rs may not play on all computers or DVD player/recorders. To address this, the manufacturer recommends viewing this product on a DVD player that does not have recording capability.
Studio Vaults
Warner Archive Collection

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Product Info

  • Sales Rank: 16,357
  • UPC: 883316119020
  • Shipping Weight: 0.25/lbs (approx)
  • International Shipping: 1 item

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