Tip Off, The (RKO 1931, Ginger Rogers, Eddie Quillan)

In sweet, unassuming early talkie The Tip Off, naive Eddie Quillan is unaware of the danger he’s in by having an affair with a vicious gangster’s girlfriend. He gets bailed out by two friends, boxer Armstrong and his girl, Ginger Rogers.

The Tip-Off was Ginger Rogers’ first film at RKO; she had recently been released from her contract at Paramount, where she’d been little more than a bit player. Two years later she became a star, partnered with Fred Astaire.

production details
USA | RKO | 71 minutes | 1931

Director: Albert S. Rogell
Script: Earl Baldwin, Ralph Murphy, George Kibbe Turner,

cast
Harry Wilson as Hood at Scarno’s
Mike Donlin as Swanky Jones
Dorothy Granger as Hatcheck Girl
Robert Armstrong as Kayo McClure
Charles Sullivan as Chuck, Bouncer at Scarno’s
Ginger Rogers as Baby Face
Eddie Quillan as Thomas ‘Tommy’ Jordan
Joan Peers as Edna Moreno
Ralf Harolde as Nick Vatelli
Ernie Adams as Slug McGee
Charles Sellon as Pop Jackson
Helen Ainsworth as Miss Ethel Waddums
Luis Alberni as Scarno, Roadhouse Manager
Harry Bowen as Dude, Vatelli Henchman
James P. Burtis as Men’s Room Patron
Frank Darien as Edna’s Uncle
Pat Harmon as Vatelli Henchman (uncredited)
Jack Herrick as Jack, Kayo’s Sparring Partner
Ethan Laidlaw as Henchman
John Quillan as Scared Man at Scarno’s