Racket, The

Racket, The (1927), a play by Bartlett Cormack. [Ambassador Theatre, 119 perf.] When the reporters who cover an outlying Chicago police station taunt Captain McQuigg ( John Cromwell) about whether an honest, dedicated police officer would be exiled to a relatively unimportant post if he attempts to buck both political corruption and gangland boss Nick Scarsi, McQuigg evades their barbs. McQuigg knows full well that has been his own history and that Scarsi has now opened a brewery in his district. After he arrests Scarsi's younger brother, he also knows he has joined battle. Under an assumed name, Scarsi ( Edward G. Robinson) appears, demanding to see his brother's girl, Irene ( Marion Coakley), who he fears can cause trouble for his brother. A policeman refuses, so Scarsi shoots him and escapes, but he is caught and brought back to the station where McQuigg declines to release him despite a judge's order. In an argument in front of State Attorney Welsh ( Romaine Callender), Irene gets Scarsi inadvertently to admit the killing, but Scarsi threatens to destroy Welsh and the whole Chicago political machine if he is prosecuted. Pulling a gun, Scarsi attempts to shoot McQuigg, only to be shot instead. Burns Mantle hailed the play as one that “bears unmistakably the stamp of authenticity in character, scene and speech and reflects vividly a phase of civic life in America.” This was the first time Robinson played a gangster, and the only time on Broadway. Attempts were made by Chicago authorities to ban the play there, in the light of the success of Chicago and other similar plays and the bad image of Chicago that resulted.