The Ruling Voice

The Ruling Voice (1931)

Genres - Drama, Crime  |   Release Date - Oct 30, 1931 (USA - Unknown)  |   Run Time - 76 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

Originally titled Upper Underworld, The Ruling Voice stars Walter Huston as a powerful underworld chieftain who covers his crooked activities in a cloak of respectability. Cold-blooded in all business matters, Huston cares only for the welfare of his beloved daughter Loretta Young, whom he has been careful to shield from his criminal cohorts. When she learns the truth, Young angrily walks out of her father's life, a blow compounded when his "trusted" henchman Dudley Digges betrays him. In a last-ditch effort at redemption, Huston puts his own life on the line to rescue his daughter from her rival-gangster kidnappers. The final shot in The Ruling Voice is a gem, with the newspaper bearing the headline of Huston's downfall being used to wrap a dead fish.

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Keywords

bad-guy-turns-good, betrayal, criminal, daughter, extortion, gangster, going-straight, killing, kingpin, life-of-crime, merchant, mob-boss, power, rackets [corruption], school, thug, trust, underworld, ruler