Bad Company
Theatrical poster for film
Directed by	Tay Garnett
Written by	Jack Lait (novel) Tay Garnett Tom Buckingham
Produced by	Charles R. Rogers Harry Joe Brown
Starring	Helen Twelvetrees Ricardo Cortez
Cinematography	Arthur C. Miller
Edited by	Claude Berkeley
Music by	Arthur Lange
Distributed by	RKO Pathé
Release date	October 2, 1931 (1931-10-02) (U.S.)[1]
Running time	76 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Bad Company is a 1931 American pre-Code gangster film directed and co-written by Tay Garnett with Tom Buckingham based on Jack Lait's 1930 novel Put on the Spot. It stars Helen Twelvetrees and Ricardo Cortez. Told from the view of a woman, the working titles of this film were The Gangster's Wife and The Mad Marriage.^[2] Unlike many static early sound films, Garnett includes several scenes using a moving camera climaxing in a gigantic assault on an office building with both sides using heavy machine guns.

Plot

Rich and beautiful Helen King is about to marry Steve Carlyle, a wealthy young professional. Unknown to Helen and her family, Steve is a legal advisor to a megalomaniac gangster Goldie Gorio.

Steve wishes to leave the rackets but Goldie reintroduces him to his future father-in-law, a rival gangster where both parties see the marriage as a symbol of peace and an end of violence in their transactions. Steve remains with Goldie and fills in for him to a visit to a rival gangster's boat where he is ambushed and nearly killed by their machine gun. Helen vows revenge on Goldie.

Cast

• Helen Twelvetrees ... Helen King
• Ricardo Cortez ... Goldie Gorio
• John Garrick ... Steve Carlyle
• Paul Hurst ... Goldie's Butler
• Frank Conroy ... Markham King
• Harry Carey ... McBaine
• Frank McHugh ... Doc
• Kenneth Thomson ... Barnes
• Arthur Stone ... Dummy
• Emma Dunn ... Emma
• William V. Mong ... Henry
• Edgar Kennedy ... Buffington

(as per AFI database.)^[1]