Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)

I found this film listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, it had a good cast and it was rated highly by critics, so I was definitely looking forward to it, from Oscar nominated director Michael Curtiz (The Adventures of Robin Hood, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Casablanca, Mildred Pierce, White Christmas). Basically in 1923, in New York, William "Rocky" Sullivan (Frankie Burke) and Jerry Connolly (William Tracy) attempted a railroad car robbery, Jerry being the faster runner escaped the police, while Rocky was caught and sentenced to reform school. Thirteen years later, Rocky Sullivan (Oscar nominated James Cagney) is arrested for armed robbery, he agrees with his lawyer and co-conspirator, Jim Frazier (Humphrey Bogart), to take the blame, in exchange for the stolen $100,000 on the day he is released. After serving his three years sentence, Rocky returns to his old neighbourhood and visits Jerry (Pat O'Brien), who is now a Catholic priest. Rocky takes Jerry advise to get a place "in the old parish", he rents a room in a boarding house run by Laury Martin (Ann Sheridan), a girl he bullied in school. Rocky then pays a visit to Frazier's casino, Frazier claims he was unaware of his release, but promises to have the $100,000 ready by the end of the week, giving him $500 spending money. Rocky is pick pocketed after leaving the casino, he follows the culprits, a group of youths: Soapy (Billy Halop), Swing (Bobby Jordan), Bim (Leo Gorcey), Pasty (Gabriel Dell), Crab (Huntz Hall), and Hunky (Bernard Punsly). They admire Rocky's reputation and criminal lifestyle, so they retrieve his wallet and invite him to dinner. While they are eating, Jerry shows up and asks the gang why they have not been playing basketball, Rocku convinces to play in a match against another team, Jerry and Laury express are concerned over the negative influence Rocky may be having on the gang. Frazier's hit squad makes an attempt on Rocky's life, he survives and retaliates by kidnapping Frazier, raiding his house and stealing $2,000 and a ledger. Frazier's business partner, Mac Keefer (George Bancroft), gives Rocky his $100,000 in full, but informs the police of the kidnapping, he is arrested, but released for a "misunderstanding" discovering the ledger. Jerry finds out about the kidnapping and goes to the press to express corruption in the city, Rocky unsuccessfully tries to reason with him, on the radio Jerry denounces the corruption, as well as Rocky, Frazier and Keefer. Frazier and Keefer assure Rocky that Jerry will not be harmed, but he overhears their plans to kill them both, Rocky kills Frazier and Keefer, escapes the casino and flees to an abandoned warehouse, there he kills a police officer, and the rest of the force show up, a standoff ensues. Jerry arrives and tries to reason with Rocky, telling him the entire building is surrounded, but Rocky takes Jerry hostage, he tries to escape, but gets shot in the leg and is caught, he stands trial and is sentenced to death. On the night of his execution, Jerry pleads with Rocky to beg for mercy on his way to the death house, to show people he died a coward, citing negative influence on Soapy and his gang, he refuses. But heading to the electric chair, Rocky does beg and scream for mercy, though his motive is unclear to the viewer, Soapy and the gang read about Rocky "turning yellow" before execution, and they lose all respect for him. Also starring Joe Downing as Steve, Edward Pawley as Edwards and Adrian Morris as Blackie. Cagney in an image-defining role is fantastic as the wise-guy gangster, O'Brien does well as the man who went the opposite side of the law, and Bogart proves he can also play a bad guy. I can see many moments that would be copied and even parodied in future movies, but this is full of many gritty moments, most exciting being the shootout sequences, and the famous final "mile" sequence is fantastic, the melodramatic script really gripping, it is simply a brilliantly made and must see classic crime drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story. Very good!

I really like Micael Curtis movies. This one stars some of filmdom's heavyweights. Mainly, James Cagney and Pat O'Brien, with Humphrey Bogart thrown in. The two are childhood friends, growing up in a tough part of the city. Cagney becomes a gangster, going over to the bad side while O'Brien becomes a priest, also going over to the bad side (just kidding). We also have the Dead End Kids who later became the Bowery Boys. Of course, at some point, the twain shall meet because of their chosen lives. As different as their lives are, they are true to themselves and there is a real love between them. Bogart plays a lawyer in the early part of his career as well. O'Brien does what he can to make things turn out for Rocky (Cagney), but the die is cast and at some point there will be a lot to pay for. This is a really good crime movie which will make you cry. Nice work.

Rocky Sullivan (James Cagney) and Jerry Connolly (Pat O'Brien) are childhood friends. In 1920, the two boys are chased by the police. Jerry managed to escape but Rocky is detained leading to a life of crime. Jerry becomes a priest and Rocky becomes a notorious gangster. James Frazier (Humphrey Bogart) is Rocky's corrupt lawyer. After getting out of prison, Rocky moves into a boarding house run by former classmate Laury Martin (Ann Sheridan). He takes an interest in a crew of petty criminals, The 'Dead End' Kids. The kids see him as their hero while Jerry tries to reform the boys. Rocky wants his share from Frazier and Frazier is willing to kill Rocky to keep it.The 'Dead End' Kids was a concept back in the day and this may be the best movie with this idea. In this one, they try to out-Cagney Cagney, but there is only one. He does his usual act plus much, much, more. It's a nice pairing with O'Brien and Bogie is a heavy. It's a classic crime melodrama of the highest quality.

One of my top five movies of all time. I won't make any commentary on the movie itself(not sure if citing one line of a movie constitutes a 'spoiler' violation).I've seen a lot of movies from the silent Sennett comedies, Fairbanks athletics, Cheney's makeup transformations right up through today's films (thank you old first-generation UHF and now TCM), but this one is the one that by which every good gangster movie since must be judged.The story is as intense as Scarface (both Muni and Pachino), or most any Cagney role from Public Enemy on. If you like movies like Petrified Forest, Casablanca, High Sierra you're going to see Bogart do it to perfection in his role. Of course, the Dead End Kids present a version of young 1930's era street-wise kids that by today's standards are gentle souls.I find all of the older movies fascinating glimpses into the times from which the movies were created; the cinematography, dialogue, city scenes, day-to-day living, the roadways of the day all provide a spectacular look at the past, and this 75 year old movie delivers that by the bucket-load.The actors are all top-tier, the storyline takes off like an F-16 and doesn't stop.Cagney sets the bar in this 75 year old film, and I haven't yet seen anyone surpassing him.