Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)

A priest tries to stop a gangster from corrupting a group of street kids.

Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, George Bancroft, The 'Dead End' Kids, Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, Gabriel Dell, Huntz Hall, Bernard Punsly, Joe Downing, Edward Pawley, Adrian Morris, Frankie Burke, William Tracy, Marilyn Knowlden, The Robert Mitchell Boy Choir, Harris Berger, Sidney Bracey, Ed Brian, Sonny Bupp, Brian Burke, Gary Carthew, Lane Chandler, Frank Coghlan Jr., Bill Cohee, William Crowell, Joe Cunningham

James Cagney first portrayed a gangster in "Public Enemy" and began to create an indelible screen image as a tough guy, which endured despite occasional forays into lighter fare like "Footlight Parade" and "Yankee Doodle Dandy." In the late 1940's, he took his gangster image into middle age and to the edge of madness in "White Heat." But his portrayal of Rocky Sullivan in "Angels with Dirty Faces" is the perfect embodiment of James Cagney, the screen's peerless tough guy. Cocky, arrogant, remorseless, Cagney's Rocky is an iconic portrayal of the 1930's gangster. Despite great support from Pat O'Brien, Anne Sheridan, and Humphrey Bogart, the film is Cagney's show, although he is off the screen much of the time. As the boy who did not run fast enough from a crime, was caught by the police, sent to reform school, and learned to be a criminal, Cagney dominates the film. He is the corrupt reflection of the O'Brien character, who was Rocky's boyhood friend, outran the police, and eventually became a priest. The film pits the two friends against each other in adulthood for the minds and souls of a group of young boys, who are amusingly played by Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, and the rest of the Dead End kids. The film builds to a powerful climax that is a classic scene in cinema history. The final powerful images and dialog will haunt the viewer and leave him or her to ponder whether or not Rocky had honored his lifelong friend's final request or not

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