The majority of us know the character of Roxie Hart from either the theatrical sensation Chicago, or the well-received film adaptation that immortalized Bob Fosse’s iconic staging and the unforgettable music by John Kander and Fred Ebb for future generations to experience for themselves. However, the character has existed much longer than many of us may imagine, having first made her appearance in a 1927 play (which went by the more commonly known title of Chicago, used in the majority of projects based on the play), which focused on Maurine Dallas Watkins’ story of a mild-mannered showgirl who shoots and kills her paramour and is forced to stand trial in what becomes an enormous media circus. It was adapted into Roxie Hart by William A. Wellman, who works closely with screenwriter Nunnally Johnson to explore the judicial system by way of a darkly comical voyage into the mind of a woman accused of cold-blooded murder, but whose charm and elegance helps her cast the shadow of doubt into all of those she meets. It’s a delightfully irreverent and charming film that may be relatively small in size, but makes up for it in sheer ambition, being one of the more entertaining crime comedies of its era, and a film that earns its time through the sheer willpower of finding the nuances in a story that would be otherwise inconsequential had it been handled with any less ferocity or attention to detail. One of the more endearing of the hidden gems made during the back-end of the studio system (which was slowly starting to head towards its decline), Roxie Hart is a delight and one of the more effective crime comedies of its time.

When it comes to a film like Roxie Hart, there isn’t any true authorial voice responsible for the creation of the story, since it feels like a true collaboration between people on both sides of the camera. Wellman certainly had his fair share of experience with such situations, with his entire career consisting of work in a diverse range of genres, very few of which are considered a success based on his vision, but rather his ability to adapt to each style and bring out the best in his actors. He was the definition of a journeyman director, helming countless astoundingly popular works, many of which are considered classics by even modern standards. Roxie Hart saw Wellman working with the screenplay by Nunnally Johnson (another incredibly versatile artist who wrote the screenplays to dozens of cherished classics) and a very strong cast to bring the story of the titular character to life. The film does take many liberties in adapting the original play (which includes changing the verdict in order to appease the stringent guidelines of what was supposedly moral enough to show in film), but it is most very strong, and the collaboration between the writer and director, both of whom were already seasoned veterans who knew how to string together a few disparate scenes and turn them into an unforgettable film, which is certainly one of the best ways to describe this one. It’s not a particularly complex work, but its one that functions extraordinarily well precisely because it understands and embraces its simplicity, which is undeniably part of the appeal, and one of the major reasons it has been so admired amongst the small but steady group of devotees that have found value in the film over time.

The main attraction in Roxie Hart is undeniably Ginger Rogers, who was undergoing a slight career re-evaluation. While still a very beloved performer, she was someone who seemed far more interested in expanding her horizons, with her steady rise from the partner of Fred Astaire (their work together being pure collaboration, with any sense of Astaire being the more gifted of the two being hopelessly outdated and ridiculous – we all know the famous adage about how Rogers had to do everything he did backwards and in heels), to a gifted dramatic actress being one of the most interesting developments of its time. Roxie Hart is far from her best work – if anything, she is purely a reactionary to the more off-the-wall characters – but it is one that shows a different side to this iconic actress, with her elegance and charm being undercut by a scathing sarcasm that is a lot more compelling than some many imagine in theory, making it quite a complex and well-composed performance. She’s supported by a terrific cast – Adolphe Manjou is the spirited lawyer and showman that does his best to help her avoid prison, while George Montgomery is effectively the de facto narrator, the audience surrogate who offers us a pathway into the world, and sets the tone of the film, which seems to be chasing the kind of sensationalist true crime narrative, and actually achieves it through these very strong performances by a cast that fully understood how to develop their characters to be meaningful but entertaining in equal measure.

Throughout the duration of Roxie Hart (which is not terribly long, running at a paltry 74 minutes), we find ourselves caught up in this story, watching the unravelling of this trial with an enormous amount of investment in a story that would be predictable had it not found ways to keep us interested. A lot of this manifests in the tone – the film was still produced under the rigorous Motion Picture Production Code, which dictated what could be shown in film – and while there was nothing particularly controversial about the film in theory (with the central murder taking place off-screen, and all of the characters being otherwise upstanding citizens whose only faults were being in the wrong place at the wrong time), the subject matter was still remarkably scintillating, enough to warrant some hesitation from the censors. However, rather than skirting around these issues (since there was no way to avoid discussing the concept of murder and infidelity, since this is the foundation of the entire film), the film takes a more interesting approach, actively searching for covert ways to draw our attention to the more controversial sides of the story, which are far more entertaining than whatever overtly moralistic approach the censors may have wanted – it was strange enough that the entire ending had to be changed (since the whole concept of this character paying for her misdeeds is part of the impact of Chicago), so it only makes sense that what we got instead was a creative attempt at pushing boundaries.

Roxie Hart is not a major film, but rather the kind of charming Golden Age of Hollywood comedy that hasn’t been able to reach the canon of great films, but is cherished by a small group of admirers who find value in this offbeat film. The blend of broad humour and darkly comical satire works well together, and has helped the film age a lot better than other attempts at exploring this subject matter through a more lighthearted lens. Obviously this is always going to pale in comparison to the cultural phenomenon that was the musical that would be produced a few decades later, but Roxie Hart is far from a slouch of a film – a darkly cynical and very entertaining crime comedy with a jagged edge and complex characterization, masquerading as a pleasant and endearing piece of entertainment. Perhaps it isn’t as subversive as it could have been, but it’s always important to assess something as a product of its time, and this film certainly has very little against experimenting, especially when it comes to the more detailed information that underpins the film and makes it such a deceptively charming, and endlessly entertaining, romp through the often brutal judicial system, which has never been more theatrical than in this little film.