Exclusive (1937): When the front page was a weapon

If you have any patience for those old B-movies where everyone talks like they’ve got a mouthful of marbles and a burning desire to sell newspapers, Exclusive is probably your speed. You’ll like this if you enjoy snappy, aggressive dialogue that doesn't care about being subtle. If you want a slow, thoughtful drama about the ethics of journalism, go watch something else. You will probably hate this if you get annoyed by characters who make consistently terrible life choices for the sake of a plot point.

The whole thing feels like a punchy, two-fisted argument. You’ve got Lloyd Nolan playing a gangster who decides that owning a newspaper is the best way to keep his secrets buried. It’s a classic setup, really. Then you have Fred MacMurray, who is just doing his thing, looking charming while everything around him goes sideways.

There is this one moment in the press room where the lighting hits the stacks of paper, and it looks like a prison. It’s a nice touch that the director probably didn't even mean to be that deep. The pacing is frantic, which is good because it doesn't give you time to ask why the police seem to be on vacation for half the movie.

The dialogue moves so fast you might miss the part where they explain the actual motive for the murder. Honestly, I stopped trying to follow the logic halfway through and just enjoyed the hats. Everyone in this movie wears a hat like it’s the most important piece of their identity.

Notes from the screen:

• Fred MacMurray looks like he’s trying to stay awake in about three different scenes.
• The mobster's office has an oddly specific rotary phone that looks like it weighs thirty pounds.
• The editing in the final act is... well, it’s a choice. It feels like they ran out of film and just cut to the credits.
• I kept thinking about The Santa Fe Trail and wondering if any of these guys knew how to play a role without shouting.

Is it a masterpiece? No. It’s barely a functioning story. But it has this weird, frantic energy that modern movies just don't have anymore. It doesn't try to be a meditation on anything. It just wants to get the headline out before the next guy does.

There is a scene near the end that lingers on a printing press. It’s loud, messy, and smells like ink through the screen. It was the only part that felt truly real. The rest is just a fun, slightly broken relic of a time when the news was just another street brawl. 📰