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The Roaring Twenties (1939)

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Movie Info

Based upon an idea by Broadway columnist Mark Hellinger, The Roaring Twenties opens during World War I as doughboys Eddie Bartlett (James Cagney), Lloyd Hart (Jeffrey Lynn), and George Hally (Humphrey Bogart) discuss what they will do when the war is over. Bartlett wants to go back to repairing cabs, and Hart yearns to be a lawyer, but it becomes clear that Hally has less reputable plans in mind for himself. Come the end of the war, things are not as easy for veterans like Bartlett as they

Unrated, 1 hr. 46 min.

Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Classics

Jan 25, 2005

Cast

All Critics (15) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (12) | Rotten (0) | DVD (8)

A powerful story of wartime bonds and their staying power through the most adverse of circumstances.

April 8, 2011 Full Review Source: Film and Felt | Comment
Film and Felt

Dynamic, quintessential gangster film, wonderfully stylized by director Raoul Walsh,

July 17, 2009 Full Review Source: Classic Film and Television | Comment
Classic Film and Television

It has a good cast and the production values were first-class, allowing it to rise slightly above its hackneyed script.

June 28, 2008 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

One of the last great gangster films of the 1930s. Cagney brings a touch of poignancy to the hood who time has passed by, and Gladys George is splendid as Panama.

June 2, 2006 Comment
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

Walsh's fast-paced film makes its own case.

February 3, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

An epochal rise-and-fall epic of the gangster cycle.

February 3, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

The Roaring Twenties (1939) is action director Raoul Walsh's first gangster film. This newsreel-like, semi-documentary film,

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Tim Dirks' The Greatest Films | Comment
Tim Dirks' The Greatest Films
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Roaring Twenties

Not my favorite Cagney, Bogart or Walsh, but still a solid gangster flick.Worth seeing for the historical narrative montages.

May 5, 2007
kenstachnik

Super Reviewer

This is a good movie about the 1920s, and a good gangster movie, with a good cast. I liked this movie.

September 5, 2010
ajv2688

Super Reviewer

    1. Policeman: What did he do?
    2. Panama Smith: He used to be a big shot.
    – Submitted by Peter P (30 days ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • The Roaring Twenties (1939) (DE)
  • The Roaring Twenties (1939) (UK)
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