The Racket

The Racket

1928: Lewis Milestone, director; starring Marie Prevost, Thomas Meighan, Louis Wolheim. This silent movie is based on the stage production of the same name. Meighan stars as an honest police captain battling a bootlegger protected by corrupt politicians, cops and judges. In 1929, The Racket was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. Producer Howard Hughes also produced the 1951 remake starring Robert Mitchum. Fun fact: Kenneth Anger, in his 1959 book Hollywood Babylon, would falsely claim that when police found a much-faded Marie Prevost dead in her Hollywood apartment in 1937, the former star had been partially consumed by her dachshund.