The Warren Case (1934) Review: Fleet Street's Worst Employee

If you have ever felt like your boss is asking too much of you, The Warren Case might make you feel a bit better about your life choices. This weird little 1934 British thriller is absolutely worth a watch if you have a soft spot for dusty, fast-paced melodrama.

But if you can't stand scratchy sound and actors who yell their lines like they are performing for the back row of a massive theatre, you will probably want to skip this one. 🎬

The setup is beautifully unhinged. Lewis Bevan (played with fantastic twitchiness by Richard Bird) is a crime reporter who is just completely stressed out.

His editor is constantly screaming at him for some hot scoops. Instead of just quitting and finding a nice quiet desk job, Lewis decides to start creating the crimes himself.

Yes, he literally becomes a murderer just to have something to write about. It is the ultimate "I could do that" moment taken to a terrifying, slightly hilarious extreme.

Richard Bird plays Bevan with this sweaty energy that feels very modern. He looks like a guy who has drank twelve cups of coffee and hasn't slept since 1931.

There is a scene early on where he's staring at a telephone, and his left eye does this little flutter thing. I had to rewind it twice because it was so strangely hypnotic.

The movie is incredibly short—barely over an hour—and it moves like a runaway train. It doesn't waste time on silly things like "character development" or "explaining how he got away with it so easily."

Some of the sets look like they were made of cardboard and painted about five minutes before the cameras started rolling. In one office scene, a calendar on the wall is noticeably crooked, and it drove me crazy the whole time.

The supporting cast does their best, but they mostly just stand around looking confused while Bird chews the scenery. Nancy Burne is there too, looking lovely but not having much to do besides react to the madness.

It reminds me a bit of the frantic, desperate energy in New Adventures of Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford, though obviously that one was a comedy and this is meant to be a dark thriller. Actually, it also shares some of that bleak outlook you see in The Cold Homestead, where everyone is just kind of miserable.

There is a moment near the end where a police inspector is explaining the case, and he keeps pointing his pipe at people like it's a loaded gun. He literally pokes a guy in the chest with the stem of his pipe to make a point.

Ultimately, The Warren Case doesn't quite stick the landing. The ending feels incredibly rushed, like the director suddenly realized they were running out of physical film.

One minute he's writing a story, the next... well, no spoilers, but it just sort of stops. But for a quick, weird 1930s ride about a guy who took "fake it 'til you make it" way too seriously, it is a total blast.