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Cult Review
Senior Film Conservator
You should watch this if you have a soft spot for movies where the actors sound like they’re trying to finish their lines before the building catches fire. If you’re looking for a deep story with a lot of emotional layers, you are going to hate this one.
It is worth it just to see Pert Kelton. She has this way of looking at every man in the room like he’s a piece of gum she just stepped on.
The movie starts out feeling like it might be a drama about the struggles of the working class. But then it pivots into this weird, fast-paced comedy-drama thing that doesn't quite know where to land.
It’s very short. Like, blink and you’ll miss the character development short.
Pert Kelton plays the lead and she’s just... electric. Her voice sounds like it was dragged over a gravel pit and then dipped in honey.
She has this one scene where she’s leaning against a doorframe. She isn’t even saying anything, but you can tell exactly what she thinks of the guy talking to her.
The plot is about an ex-bartender, obviously. But the stakes feel weirdly low even when they should be high.
There’s a moment where a character gets bad news and they just sort of nod. One reaction shot lingers so long it becomes funny.
The sets look like they were borrowed from another movie that had a slightly bigger budget. You can almost see the walls shaking when someone closes a door too hard.
It reminds me a bit of the vibe in Romance of the Underworld, but without the polish. It feels more raw, or maybe just cheaper.
Scott Darling wrote the script and you can tell he was probably getting paid by the word. The dialogue is snappy, but half of it doesn't really lead anywhere.
It’s just people talking at each other. Not to each other.
The guys in the cast, like Robert Ellis and Franklyn Farnum, are fine. They do the 'serious man in a suit' thing that was required in 1934.
But they’re honestly just background noise whenever Kelton is on screen. She’s the only one who feels like a real person who might actually exist outside of a film set.
There is a sequence in a crowded room where the extras look incredibly bored. Like, one guy in the back is just staring at the ceiling for a good three seconds.
The crowd scenes have this oddly empty feeling, like half the extras wandered off to find a sandwich.
It’s not as visually interesting as something like The Black Pirate. It’s mostly just people in rooms talking about money and mistakes.
But there’s a certain charm to how unbalanced it is. The pacing is all over the place.
One scene goes on about 20 seconds too long, and the silence starts to feel awkward rather than emotional. You can feel the director waiting to yell 'cut'.
I actually liked that part. It felt more human than the perfectly edited movies we get now.
If you’ve seen The Fire Patrol, you know how these B-movies usually go. They have a job to do and they do it fast.
Ex-Bartender doesn't try to be art. It’s just a slice of a very specific time in history.
I noticed that the sound quality dips whenever someone moves away from the center of the room. It’s like the microphone was taped to a stick and the guy holding it was falling asleep.
It adds to the feeling that this was made on a shoestring. Which I kind of love.
There’s a strange bit of dialogue about a hat that goes on for way too long. I think they were trying to fill time.
The ending comes out of nowhere. It just sort of stops.
It’s not a masterpiece. It’s not even 'good' in a traditional sense.
But its got personality. And in a world of boring, perfect movies, I'll take a messy one with Pert Kelton any day.
Overall, its a weird little time capsule. Just don't expect it to change your life.
It's just a movie. A fast, loud, slightly confusing movie from 1934.
IMDb —
1926
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