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Corsair
Directed by	Roland West
Produced by	Roland West
Written by	Walton Green (novelCorsair)
Starring	See below
Music by	Alfred Newman
Cinematography	Ray June
Editing by	Hal C. Kern
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	28 November 1931
Running time	75 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Corsair is a 1931 American gangster film directed by Roland West. The film is based on the novel Corsair by Walton Green and takes place in the era of Prohibition in the United States.

[edit]Plot summary

A college football hero, Chester Morris as John Hawks, lets himself be goaded, by a wealthy socialite, Thelma Todd as Alison Corning, into forgetting about a job coaching the college team, to be "a real man, and make real money", in the big city, with her Father, Emmett Corrigan as Stephen Corning, on Wall Street. He soon has more than he can stomach, making money, by bilking the poor, out of their meagre savings, with junk bonds. Mr Corning tells John he doesn't have it what it takes to succeed in the brutal world of sharetrading. John replies he will seek a new line of work where he will not go after elderly widows' savings.

John decides to go after those who deserve to lose their money-bootleggers. He gets the inside dope on Big John's (Fred Kohler) rum running operation from Slim (Ned Sparks) through his Gun moll Sophie. Sophie taps out the information inMorse Code, with her typewriter to a confederate who informs John of alcohol shipments. Hawks is a modern pirate. With his friend, Frank McHugh as ‘Chub’, he captains the “Corsair”, a gunboat, which preys on bootleggers, and then resells the cargo, to their wealthy backers.

He only forgot two things: that in the cutthroat world of junk bonds and margin calls, they don’t use real knives, machine guns, and bombs, like the gangsters; and, the girl hiding, in the hold.

It’s a hard lesson to learn; but, one that will last them the rest of their lives; however, long, or short, that may be.

[edit]Cast

• Chester Morris as John Hawks


• Thelma Todd as Alison Corning


• Fred Kohler as Big John


• Ned Sparks as Slim


• Emmett Corrigan as Stephen Corning


• William Austin as Richard Bentinck


• Frank McHugh as 'Chub' Hopping


• Frank Rice as Fish Face


• Mayo Methot as Sophie


• Gay Seabrook as Susie Grenoble


• Addie McPhail as Jean Phillips


• Al Hill


• Pat Hartigan


• Sidney D'Albrook
  
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