Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Grade: 85
The great success of "Dead End", the 1937 film that starred Joel McCrae, Humphrey Bogart, and the 'Dead End' kids, inevitably led to a sequel. "Angels with Dirty Faces" reunited Bogart and six of the 'Dead End' gang. Because the producing studio had been changed from United Artists to Warner Brothers, the character names were also changed. McCrae was both romantic lead and good guy in "Dead End". In the sequel, James Cagney takes over as leading man, while the good guy is the priest played by Pat O'Brien.
The plot tells the familiar story of childhood pals going separate ways, become rivals as adults. Rocky Sullivan (Cagney) grows up to be a career criminal and racketeer, while Jerry Connelly (O'Brien) becomes a priest. They both vie for the souls of the 'Dead End' kids, who seem destined to become the next generation of Rocky Sullivans. Other story lines have Sullivan double-crossed by his lawyer/partner Frazier (Bogart), and Sullivan romancing a reluctant Ann Sheridan.
Cagney is excellent. He is perfectly cast as a gangster, the little tough guy with a deeply hidden heart of gold. During shootouts with the police or rival gangsters, one can't help but root for him, all the while aware that the 1930s code requires him to come to a bad end. Bogart's character is cowardly and two-faced when compared to his aggressive character from "Dead End", while the hoodlum kids have been softened and placed in more secondary roles. "Angels with Dirty Faces" is Cagney's film, and he dominates every scene he is in. This was the film that made him famous, and rescued him from the bit roles he had been playing.
"Angels with Dirty Faces" received three Oscar nominations; Best Actor (Cagney), Best Director (Michael Curtz, who would go on to direct 'Casablanca') and Best Original Story (Rowland Brown).
kollers@mpsi.net http://members.tripod.com/~Brian_Koller/movies.html
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