By Richard Harland Smith
We're Only Human
Brief Synopsis
A cop, who plays by his own rules, brings down a notorious gangster.
Cast & Crew
Read More
James Flood
Director
Preston Foster
Detective Sergeant Pete McCaffrey
Jane Wyatt
Sally Rogers
James Gleason
Danny Walsh
Arthur Hohl
Martin
John Arledge
O'Brien
Film Details
Also Known As
Husk
Genre
Crime
Release Date
Dec
27,
1935
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the short story "Husk" by Thomas Walsh in The Saturday Evening Post (23 Feb 1935).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 9m
Sound
Mono (RCA Victor System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7 reels
Synopsis
As reporter Sally Rogers watches, Detective Sergeant Pete McCaffrey single-handedly apprehends escaped convict William "Lefty" Berger outside his New York City hideout. Although Sally is impressed with Pete's bravery, his superior, Inspector R. J. Curran, rebukes him for ruining an opportunity to arrest Berger's entire gang, and Sally's editor forces her to write a scathing article about the incident. Criticized on all sides, Pete vents his fury at Sally but, undeniably attracted to her, meets her later for dinner. The next day, while Pete and Casey, another detective, are transporting Berger on a train, the gangster fires a planted gun at Casey, then makes his escape. During his subsequent suspension, an unarmed Pete accompanies his partner, Danny Walsh, to a bank robbery and, after delivering a lecture on the evils of fear and caution, helps him to overwhelm the thieves. Although Pete is unhurt, Danny receives a fatal shot during the confrontation, which causes Pete to rail against Danny's fears in front of his widow and Sally. After Sally berates Pete for his insensitivity, Pete is given several notes from Berger, who teases him about a statement he had made to the press about catching the fugitive within thirty days. Eventually Berger emerges from hiding long enough to kill Martin, the lawyer who had informed on him, and is seen by passersby William Anderson and his son Tommy. Before Anderson identifies Berger as the killer, he receives a telephone call threatening his family and refuses to identify Berger. Determined to catch Berger, Pete forces Tommy to the police station, while Berger orders Anderson's mother to be kidnapped. During Pete's struggle to save the old woman, he is shot by Berger's gunmen. Temporarily blinded, Pete suddenly loses his nerve and, in spite of Sally's support, is filled with self-loathing. Soon after, Berger shoots another of his betrayers, who just before dying, tells Sally where Mrs. Anderson is being held. Sally then takes Anderson and Pete to Mrs. Anderson on condition that no other policemen be involved. After Anderson is almost killed trying to save his mother, Pete overcomes his fear, storms the hideout, kills Berger and his men and rescues Mrs. Anderson.
Director
James Flood
Director
Cast
Preston Foster
Detective Sergeant Pete McCaffrey
Jane Wyatt
Sally Rogers
James Gleason
Danny Walsh
Arthur Hohl
Martin
John Arledge
O'Brien
Jane Darwell
Mrs. Walsh
Moroni Olsen
Inspector R. J. Curran
Christian Rub
William Anderson
Mischa Auer
William "Lefty" Berger
Harold Huber
Tony Ricci
Rafaela Ottiano
Mrs. Anderson
Hattie Mcdaniel
Molly
Delmar Watson
Tommy Anderson
Effie Ellsler
Grandma Anderson
Charles Wilson
Morgan
James Donlan
Casey
Crew
Film Details
Also Known As
Husk
Genre
Crime
Release Date
Dec
27,
1935
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the short story "Husk" by Thomas Walsh in The Saturday Evening Post (23 Feb 1935).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 9m
Sound
Mono (RCA Victor System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7 reels
Articles
We're Only Human
Nearly forty years before Dirty Harry (1971) stamped the terra, Preston Foster played a rogue cop following by his own rules in RKO Radio Pictures' We're Only Human (1935). Foster stars as Pete McCaffrey, a maverick city detective under fire from both the Underworld (in the person of slimy Mischa Auer) and his own superior officer (Moroni Olsen) for his unorthodox practices. Rian James' screenplay opens up Thomas Walsh's short story "Husk," published in The Saturday Evening Post in February 1935. A former Baltimore reporter, Walsh was a frequent contributor to the pulp fiction concordance Black Mask and his later novels served as the basis for Union Station (1950) and Pushover (1954). The film's supporting cast includes Jane Wyatt (as a heroic girl reporter), James Gleason (as Foster's doomed partner), and Arthur Hohl (as an underworld mouthpiece), as well as Jane Darwell, Ward Bond, and Hattie McDaniel (as, what else, a maid). We're Only Human was shot by in-house cameraman J. Roy Hunt, who later photographed I Walked with a Zombie (1942) and Mighty Joe Young (1949). Invisible in the credits but a contributor to the film's adaptation was Bartlett Cormack, a former newspaperman who found work in Hollywood bringing a level of verité to such films as The Front Page (1931) and Fury (1936). Cormack's 1927 play The Racket has long been considered the model for the Hollywood gangster pictures that followed.
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
We're Only Human
Nearly forty years before Dirty Harry (1971) stamped the terra, Preston Foster played a rogue cop following by his own rules in RKO Radio Pictures' We're Only Human (1935). Foster stars as Pete McCaffrey, a maverick city detective under fire from both the Underworld (in the person of slimy Mischa Auer) and his own superior officer (Moroni Olsen) for his unorthodox practices. Rian James' screenplay opens up Thomas Walsh's short story "Husk," published in The Saturday Evening Post in February 1935. A former Baltimore reporter, Walsh was a frequent contributor to the pulp fiction concordance Black Mask and his later novels served as the basis for Union Station (1950) and Pushover (1954). The film's supporting cast includes Jane Wyatt (as a heroic girl reporter), James Gleason (as Foster's doomed partner), and Arthur Hohl (as an underworld mouthpiece), as well as Jane Darwell, Ward Bond, and Hattie McDaniel (as, what else, a maid). We're Only Human was shot by in-house cameraman J. Roy Hunt, who later photographed I Walked with a Zombie (1942) and Mighty Joe Young (1949). Invisible in the credits but a contributor to the film's adaptation was Bartlett Cormack, a former newspaperman who found work in Hollywood bringing a level of verité to such films as The Front Page (1931) and Fury (1936). Cormack's 1927 play The Racket has long been considered the model for the Hollywood gangster pictures that followed.
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
The preview running time was 80 minutes, indicating considerable editing occurred before the movie was released.
Notes
The working title of this film was Husk. RKO borrowed Jane Wyatt from Universal for the production. Hollywood Reporter production charts add Joe Reilly, Pat O'Malley, Landers Stevens, Maxine Jennings, Guy Usher, Ward Bond, Marie Osborne, William Burress and Monte Vandegrift to the cast, but their participation in the final film has not been confirmed. The preview running time was 80 minutes, suggesting that film was edited significantly before its general release.
