The fast-talking, deeply dishonest trickster gets the girl. What kind of a plot is that? The point seems to be to showcase Warren William, as Hal Blake, the promo man who can elect a radish. The radish is Zachary Hicks (Guy Kibbee), a moon-faced Progressive Party delegate who gets the nomination in a failed trick to break the convention deadlock. The party officials are aghast, when in steps secretary Kay Russell (Bette Davis) telling them to hire Blake, once they've bailed him out. In jail for missing alimony payments, Blake has organized the inmates into singing Hicks supporters. So he's hired, helps Hicks, prevents a frame-up, has to remarry his mean wife (Vivienne Osborne), and almost loses Kay, but his next job is in Nevada, so he can get a Reno divorce. William is tall, with a noble profile and shifty eyes. He plays the smooth-talking, poised, elegant lady's man a lot. Kibbee is utterly wasted here, playing a genial simpleton who grins and grins, like the great bobblehead of the 30s. Davis is pretty smashing in her small role, tough, fast-talking, smart, and terrifically pretty.
Review of The Dark Horse
