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DVD Angels With Dirty Faces
Gangster Rocky Sullivan (James Cagney) returns from prison to make a name for himself in the crime world. He's soon discovered by the Dead End Kids, who idolize him, and childhood pal Father Jerry Connolly (Pat O'Brien). The good Father has taken a different turn from Rocky and is struggling to bring the Kids around; while still friends with Rocky, he tries to persuade him to steer clear of the gang of urchins. Rocky runs afoul of the law, however, when he guns down his former partners Frazier (Humphrey Bogart) and Keefer (George Bancroft) after they betray him over a cut of crime-related profits. Seen as a whole, Angels with Dirty Faces may seem dated to many viewers, but its ending is still enough to bring chills. Director Michael Curtiz infused this gritty 1938 effort with an amazing amount of energy and pacing; the Dead End Kids, in their screen debut, supply a fair amount of comic relief along with their dramatic roles. It's also worth noting that at the time, the notion of a criminal being a product of his environment was a controversial one. The swaggering bantam-rooster role played by Cagney, one of the screen's greats, helped define how he would be perceived (and parodied) for years to come. This movie easily stands along with The Roaring Twenties and Little Caesar as one of the most important, archetypal gangster films of the '30s. --Jerry Renshaw
my dad made me watch this when i was young and now 20 years later i pass watch this movie with my son and it was as good as it was 20 years ago
Angels With Dirty Faces
It's no coincidence that both "Angels" and "Casablanca" were directed by Michael Curtiz, since there's very little wrong with either picture. Cagney is the quintessential gangster with a heart of gold, and his real-life friend Pat O'Brien is equally strong as Father Connolly. Beautifully realized in every respect-- one of the all-time champs.
"Rocky Sullivan Toined Yella!"
James Cagney once said that his approach to acting was pretty simple: learn your lines, walk up to the person you're supposed to speak them to, look `em in the eye, and deliver the lines! Pretty simple, but it worked for nearly sixty years. Here he plays gangster Rocky Sullivan, who competes for the loyalty of the Bowery Boys with his boyhood friend Father Jerry Connelly, played by Pat O'Brien. As kids, Jerry and Rocky were running from the police when Jerry made it over the fence and Rocky got caught. The movie is about the different paths their lives take after that incident. Rocky gets caught and sent to the electric chair. Before he goes, Fr. Jerry begs him to play the coward so the kids wont' follow him into a life of crime. We see him walking through the door with the prototypical Cagney tough guy look. Then we see his silhouette as he begs for mercy, crying "No, please I don't want to die!" Then we switch to the Bowery Boys in their hangout reading the newspaper account in disbelief when Fr. Jerry walks in. "Come on, fellas, let's go pray for a boy who couldn't run as fast as I could." In many ways a conventional thirties gangster movie, but the end of the movie raises it above the rest. (Sorry if I gave too much away!)
James Cagney plays gangster Cody Jarrett, a killer with a mother fixation. After he and his gang rob a train of $350,000, he gives himself up for a lesser crime he didn't commit, knowing he'll only have to serve a year or two in the slammer before going free. (That he gets away with this is a bit far-fetched, but it finally doesn't matter.)
While in prison an undercover cop (Edmond O'Brien) is placed in his cell, hopefully to find out where the money is hidden. Also while in prison his mother dies, and Cagney performs a mad scene (apparently made up by Cagney on the spot) in the cafeteria that is a brilliant acting performance (and often parodied).
Cagney eventually breaks out of prison, plans another big heist, but it's foiled. In the final, most famous scene,... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): James Cagney - Virginia Mayo - Edmond O'Brien Director(s): Raoul Walsh DVD Release Date: Released the 25 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Director William Wellman (Wings), a World War I veteran who turned his experiences in battle into an insistence on unpretentious violence in his films, made Public Enemy a particularly brutal account of the rise and fall of a monstrous gangster (James Cagney). Cagney delivers one of the most famous performances in film history as the snarling crook who--in one of the film's most famous scenes--smashes a grapefruit into the face of Mae Clarke. The film's a bit dated, but its action scenes still pack an unusual wallop. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): James Cagney - Jean Harlow Director(s): William A. Wellman DVD Release Date: Released the 25 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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DEAD END is director William Wyler's 1937 gangster melodrama masterpiece starring Joel McCrea, Sylvia Sidney, and Humphrey Bogart. Written by Lillian Hellman (THE LITTLE FOXES), the film incorporates several intertwining stories centered around a small neighborhood on the Lower East Side where the crowded and filthy tenements of the poor abut the newer walled luxury high-rises of the wealthy. Unemployed architect Dave Connell (McCrea) is torn between the working girl Drina (Sidney) and rich man's girlfriend Kay Burton (Wendy Barrie). Gangster "Baby Face" Martin (Humphrey Bogart) has also returned to his old neighborhood only to find out nobody is glad to see him including his boyhood friend Connell, his resentful mother (Marjorie Main) and his fallen former girlfriend Francey (Claire... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Sylvia Sidney - Joel McCrea - Humphrey Bogart Director(s): William Wyler DVD Release Date: Released the 08 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Edward G. Robinson had a star-making vehicle in this 1930 film by Mervyn LeRoy (Random Harvest), about a small-time gangster who becomes a top boss in the underworld. As Rico Bandello, Robinson's portrayal is that of a certain kind of American success, when a successful rise to the top somehow throws open the doors on every neurotic element in one's personality and magnifies them. The film is creaky as early sound films were wont to be, but the actor's multidimensional role and ugly charisma keep everything interesting. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Edward G. Robinson - Douglas Fairbanks Jr. - Glenda Farrell Director(s): Mervyn LeRoy DVD Release Date: Released the 25 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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