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Format: VHS
Not Rated
Recording Mode: (unknown)
97 min.
Colorized |
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Details
Movie Description
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.
Synopsis
A street criminal and small-time gangster is the hero of all the "dead-end-kids" from the neighborhood where he grew up. The criminal's boyhood best friend has become the local parish priest, and he wants to convince these kids to choose a different path with their lives. When the gangster is sentenced to death for his crimes, the priest persuades his friend to feign fear and cowardice as he is taken off to the electric chair in hopes that the boys will stop emulating the criminal and his life.
Film Notes
Film marks second pairing of James Cagney and Pat O'Brien since Cagney's leaving Warner Bros.
The actors playing the street children were known as "The Dead End Kids" and were featured in a number of studio productions.
Jo Graham is credited as the dialogue director.
Director Michael Curtiz received two Academy Award nominations for Best Director in 1938, one for "Angels with Dirty Faces," the other for "Four Daughters."
Industry Reviews
"...[Cagney is] lovably cocky....A life lesson..." -- Rating: A-
Everitt
"ANGELS was Cagney's gold-standard reference point."
USA Today - Mike Clark (01/28/2005)
"ANGELS finds Cagney absolutely riveting..."
Los Angeles Times - Susan King (01/23/2005)
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