This early, seminal gangster film, that opened in New York near the end of 1930, arrived around the same time as a few other prison-crime films, such as MGM""s quintessentialThe Big House (1930)with Wallace Beery, LeRoy""s ownNumbered Men (1930)andI Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932), Howard Hawks""The Criminal Code (1931), andThe Last Mile (1932).In a quasi-Romeo and Julietscript, Warren Beatty marked his screen debut (after starring in the Broadway playA Loss of Roses), and co-star Natalie Wood received a Best Actress nomination (her second of three career nominations) for one of her finest (if notthebest) screen roles.The only way o learn Cobalt""s real identity was to infiltrate he secret Moscow Kremlin archives and locate files identifying him.He vicariously envies her zest for life and simultaneously cools her off, expressing his fear of marrying her:How could I help loving you - you who have all the passion for life that I lack? But that kind of love isn""t enough o make a successful marriage for two people who are as different as we are.Needing only a brain, Dr.Frankenstein sends his dwarfish assistant to his old, nearby medical school (Goldstadt Medical College) o steal one.