The Racket
The Racket is a 1928 American silent crime drama film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Thomas Meighan, Marie Prevost, Louis Wolheim, and George E. Stone. The film was produced by Howard Hughes, written by Bartlett Cormack and Tom Miranda, and was distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was adapted from Cormack's 1927 Broadway play The Racket.
Plot
Chicago Police Department officer James "Mac" McQuigg tries to keep the peace in Chicago during the Prohibition gang wars but is hampered by massive corruption. After a shootout McQuigg manages to arrest mob boss Nick Scarsi's henchman Spike Corcoran, the political boss "The Old Man" arranges to have all charges dropped. After a birthday party for Nick Scarsi's younger brother Joe Scarsi ends in a shootout in which Nick Scarsi kills Corcoran, McQuigg arrests Nick Scarsi for murder but is forced to release him after being unable to find the murder weapon.
More details
| author | Bartlett Cormack Tom Miranda |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | Chicago |
| director | Lewis Milestone |
| editor | Eddie Adams |
| events | organized crime |
| genre | crime drama mystery thriller |
| keywords | arrest birthday party chicago police department corruption corruption in the united states district attorney force gang war habeas corpus kill mob boss murder weapon old man police department political machine prohibition prohibition in the united states |
| musicBy | Robert Israel |
| nomination | Academy Award for Best Picture |
| producer | Howard Hughes |
| productionCompany | Howard Hughes |
| publisher | Paramount Pictures |
| theme | gangster silent |