An unexpected masterpiece

A lot of fun.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Blistering performances.

William Poster (Ricardo Cortez) is a tabloid news reporter. He's willing to go to practically any length to dig up the dirt on people and that would include dressing up in costumes or using his girlfriend, Peggy (Helen Twelvetrees). She's a chorus dancer and hears a lot of gossip on her job...and he uses this to help make a name for himself. While he's a real egotistical cad, just how much of one is evident when he meets a rich heiress, Mildred (Jill Esmond). He impulsively gives her the ring he intended to give Peggy and when both find out about this, he's sure in trouble with them. And what about the ring...was he seriously thinking of marrying Mildred or was this just a ruse in order to get her to open up and talk about her society friends...something Poster takes full advantage when he hears about them. While treating these two women like dirt is reprehensible, Poster also is an idiot. When he witnesses the evil bootlegger, Tony (Sidney Toler), murder someone he decides to publish this story AND take no apparent precautions to protect himself. So, by the end of the film, practically EVERYONE wants to see the guy dead!!The main problem with this film is that they took the unlikability of the main character too far. He's such an egotistical jerk that you want him to get killed...and that greatly harms the picture. Watchable but not much more.

With a title like Is My Face Red? I was expecting a comedy – a romantic comedy – but this is actually a newspaper yarn and the emphasis is on crime rather than comedy, thrills rather than romance. This is not to say that the feminine side of the equation is inadequately represented in Red. In fact, there are no less than three young women tied up with the movie's central character, William Poster (played by Ricardo Cortez), including the lovely Jill Esmond and Arline Judge as well as Helen Twelvetrees. (I always though "Twelvetrees" was a weird name to choose for a screen career, but it was in fact her real, married name). Ricardo Cortez is perfect as the stop-at-nothing newspaper columnist, although it's Sidney Toler whom most viewers will focus upon simply because both scriptwriters Casey Robinson and Ben Markson and most especially director William A. Seiter go out of their way to draw him to our attention. He even merits a very extended (and very effective) close-up – rare for an actor who doesn't even figure in the main credit titles. Incidentally, I always thought Seiter was a journeyman director at best, but in point of fact he seems to have gone out of his way to direct at least one really outstanding movie a year. Like John Ford, Seiter is one of the very few really top-of- the class silent movie directors who not only successfully made the transition to sound, but actually did better! Is My Face Red? with its actionful long take in Poster's office and a startlingly effective if brief use of a first-person camera on the steamer is obviously his 1932 choice. Available on an excellent Warner Archive DVD.

Even though he had only made his radio debut 2 years before, in 1932 Walter Winchell was one of the most powerful newspaper and radio gossip columnists in America. He had already been caricatured by Lee Tracy in "Blessed Event", mentioned in a popular song "Shuffle Off to Buffalo" - "it's a cinch Winch'll know"!! Now it was time for a nitty gritty portrayal of a lovable heel as only Ricardo Cortez could do. He had been bought to Hollywood in the 1920s to bring Rudolph Valentino into line - Paramount thought Cortez may have had some of the Valentino magic. No one did but Cortez proved he was a capable leading man. In talkies he went from strength to strength and while his villains are indelibly etched in memory (who could forget his psychotic mobster in "Bad Company") it is nice that he could "lighten up" as well.Sprinkled with some terrific supporting players - Robert Armstrong as Poster's rival columnist who finally scoops him and perky Arline Judge as Poster's world weary secretary ("Remind me to give you a break baby", "I've had a break, big boy"), Cortez plays William Poster who invites the public to look through his "Keyhole" column in the Morning Gazette and uses and abuses friends in his eagerness to spill the dirt on high society.His girl, Peggy (beautiful Helen Twelvetrees), a showgirl, also helps him out with hot tips and overheard bits of gossip but she is soon forgotten as Will gets on the track of a genuine British Blue Blood, Mildred Huntington (unattractive Jill Esmond - why she was always cast as the sultry upper crust other woman, I'll never know - maybe because she talked posh!!)When Will accidentally witnesses a murder in a bar he feels no fear in telephoning the story to his paper - even though the killer (Sidney Toler) is crazy and desperate and even though Helen has her best piece of emoting in the movie as she desperately pleads with the unbending Will in the phone booth to think of his safety!! Things start unravelling for Will (they always do!). Peggy dumps him after seeing his ring on Mildred's finger (can't Helen remember how he was in "Bad Company" - it was only the year before!!) Then Mildred gives him the air claiming she has just been using him as her "rough diamond" and seeing what it was like to walk on the wild side. Crazed killer finally confronts him in his office but fortunately Peggy is waiting in the wings to see he gets to the hospital on time - what a girl!!Gorgeous Helen Twelvetrees was one of Radio's first discoveries and in "Millie" all stops were pulled out to make her "Sin Pictures No. 1 Star". But by the next year Radio and Pathe merged, Katharine Hepburn became the studio's big hope and established stars such as Irene Dunne, Ginger Rogers and Constance Bennett were far out distancing Helen in public popularity. Unfortunately after "Is My Face Red?" Helen's contract was terminated but seeing her luminosity in this movie, I think RKO were crazy!!!Spot Rochelle Hudson as a surprised young bride through a porthole!!

And he is mad when another reporter scoops him over the "almost" obituary! Ricardo Cortes is the aggressively friendly reporter who goes for scandal wherever he can get it. Like Warner Brothers' brilliant "Five Star Final", this is a gossip rag (movies with newspaper surroundings of this time usually were, with the possible exception of "The Front Page" were all National Inquirer type papers), and all of the reporters go for the jugular. Yes, Cortez can be sentimental (the pitch for support for a beloved elderly musical comedy star is quite touching), but for the most part, he's a betrayer, dropping his long-time mistress (Helen Twelvetrees) for a society girl (Jill Esmond) who simply uses him for her own amusement before dropping him. When Cortez gets wind of a mob-style hit, he risks his own life for the story. Future Charlie Chan Sidney Toler is the Italian mobster he goes after which leads into a dramatic conclusion.This is basically a plethora of little stories under one big tent, and the dialog is fast, furious and filled with wonderful pre-code conversation. There are some great exchanged between Cortez and his world-weary secretary, and a great punishment for the smug Cortez by socialite Esmond. Zasu Pitts gets some great moments as a switchboard operator, but she only talks to her machine rather than interacting with the other characters. The title is uses effectively throughout to describe the anger and embarrassment of Cortez's victims, showing how they feel when they are mentioned in his column, and in the wonderful denouncement, tables are turned.