Biography
Foghorn-voiced stage actor David Landau was brought to Hollywood in 1931 to re-create his Broadway role of the homicidal Maurrant in
Elmer Rice's
Street Scene. Landau went on to appear in 32 films over a four-year period. Seldom permitted to play a sympathetic role, Landau thrived in parts calling for drunkenness (1932's
Taxi), brutality (1932's
I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang) and all-around skullduggery (
Mae West's 1933 vehicle
She Done Him Wrong). Modern filmgoers will recall David Landau as high-rolling gambler Jennings in the
Marx Brothers'
Horse Feathers (1932) and as the mysterious, tattered transient Bob Gillis in
Will Rogers'
Judge Priest (1934). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide