Only Howard Hughes could have pulled off something as subversive as the racket. It contains (as far as I can tell) the first reference of cocaine use in any American film. The casting is perfect. From the broken-nosed tough to the dangerously sexy gun-moll, you'd be hard pressed to find a better team of hard-boiled noir players. The film is filled with exotic images. The woman with a face on the top of her hat. The violin with a trumpet horn attached to it. The Hollywood establishment would have never made this film.<br /><br />Like Vampyr, which was made in Germany with independent money in 1932, the film is pregnant with the artistic audacity that only non-Hollywood money can bring into a production. The Racket is worth the search. If you like the gangster genre, you will not be disappointed.