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His brother fries the prison bars with 10,000 volts. Family bonding, 1937 style.
TMDB
80
IMDb
57

Bad Guy (1937)

B-movie electricity fetishPre-Code hangover energyWrong-man chaos

Overview

DramaCrime

A power-company troubleshooter has his brother get him out of prison by running high voltage to the bars of his cell.

Flag of USUS
Content warning
prisonperjury

Standout Aspects

Practical Effects

Genuinely dangerous-looking high-voltage stunts with zero safety regulations.

Editing

Lean 69 minutes that doesn't waste a single frame of your life.

Best for:Solo: Late-night discovery of weirdo 30s programmers you've never heard of.·Background: Doing dishes while half-watching prewar criminal engineering solutions.
Heads up:Violence: Electrocution used as problem-solving tool, treated casually.
Edward L. Cahn

Director

Edward L. Cahn

ReleasedAug 27, 1937
Runtime1h 9m
StatusReleased

Vibe

Pacefast
Intensitymedium
Tonedark
Feelmedium
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Top Cast

Bruce Cabot

Bruce Cabot

John 'Lucky' Walden

Virginia Grey

Virginia Grey

Kitty Ryan

Edward Norris

Edward Norris

Steve Carroll

Cliff Edwards

Cliff Edwards

'Hi-Line'

Charley Grapewin

Charley Grapewin

Dan Gray

Warren Hymer

Warren Hymer

'Shorty'

John Hamilton

John Hamilton

Warden

Clay Clement

Clay Clement

Bronson

Charles Lane

Charles Lane

Attorney

Russell Hopton

Russell Hopton

Charlie Edwards

Ask about Bad Guy

Opens AI chat

Deep Dive

Trivia, insights & behind the scenes

Trivia

Edward L. Cahn directed 125+ features in 30 years, including I Was a Teenage Frakenstein. Dude worked.

Cultural

This is pure 'B' product from MGM's second-tier unit—made to fill double bills, not win Oscars. The prison-break-via-electrocution gimmick feels like studio execs shouting 'What if electricity, but CRIME?'

Gallery

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