Although the movie trades heavily on gang-film staples, there's also ample comedy packed into the mix.
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
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Reviews Counted: 20
Fresh: 20
Rotten:0
Average Rating: 8.1/10
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Michael Curtiz (CASABLANCA) directs James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, and Pat O'Brien in one of the greatest gangster melodramas made during the Hollywood studio era. William "Rocky" Sullivan (Cagney)... Michael Curtiz (CASABLANCA) directs James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, and Pat O'Brien in one of the greatest gangster melodramas made during the Hollywood studio era. William "Rocky" Sullivan (Cagney) and Jerry Connolly (O'Brien), partners in mischief as boys, are separated when only Jerry is fast enough to get away from the cops after the duo steals fountain pens from a railroad car. Rocky, refusing to give the name of his friend, is sent off to a reform school where he falls under the influence of criminal elements. The grown-up Rocky's triumphant return to the neighborhood complicates the efforts of Jerry, now a parish priest, to keep a local group of boys (the Dead End Kids) out of trouble. When the gang begins to idolize Rocky, Connolly fears his good works may come to nothing. Meanwhile, Rocky vies for control of the criminal rackets in the neighborhood with mob boss Mac Keefer (George Bancroft) and a corrupt, double-crossing lawyer, James Frazier (Bogart). Curtiz's taut, suspenseful, yet suprisingly sensitive handling of the gritty urban morality play turned ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES into the first unqualified masterpiece of his stunningly prolific career. The archetypal gangster thriller, brimming with the magnetism and explosive dramatic energy supplied by the three male leads, was nominated for three Academy Award Nominations: Best Director, Best Actor (Cagney), and Best Original Story. [More]
Starring: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Dead End Kids
Starring: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Dead End Kids, Ann Sheridan, George Bancroft, Edward Pawley
Director: Michael Curtiz
Director: Michael Curtiz
Producer: Samuel Bischoff
Story: Roland Brown
Composer: Max Steiner
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Reviews for Angels with Dirty Faces
the way Angels With Dirty Faces balances hard-bitten gangster drama with warmly stage-managed religiosity gives us an entertaining period piece, one which shows that after more than sixty years you still can't go wrong with a Jimmy Cagney movie.
Envolvente do início ao fim (num desfecho, diga-se de passagem, poderosamente dramático), o filme traz Cagney em uma de suas atuações mais intensas e inspiradas.
...most of all, it's Cagney: At the top of his game, the bad guy we have to love. He makes it all happen.
An archetype of 1930s and ’40s gangster films. The plotting and melodramatic storytelling are stilted by today’s standards, but classic movie lovers enjoy that.
Angels With Dirty Faces benefits from the Production Code because it forces the gangster film to acknowledge its nihilism.
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