For Veteran's Day, Some of the Best Movies of Our Lives, With Veterans Even

You'll see a lot of suggestions for films to watch on or around Veteran's Day and I'm here to provide stillve more. However, unlike other bloggers, critics or reviewers, the suggestions here are not just war pictures. Mine all feature a war veteran or two. It is, after all, veteran's who we honor on November 11 (nee Armistice Day). Brief digression: I can't be the only one who's excited about next year's Veteran's Day, specifically when the clock tolls 11:11 am. Yes, it'll be 11:11 on 11/11/11. How cool is that?

A second brief digression. It is a scandal that while the United States "honors its troops" at every possible occasion, veterans here practically have to go begging for the most basic services, especially those who are disabled as a consequence of combat.

Here are now are a few films for your Veteran's Day, all with veterans featured prominently.

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). This is the mother of all veteran's films. The multi Oscar winner is first and last about the fates of three veterans returning to their hometown at the end of World War II. It has the immediacy of having been made at the very time it depicts. Some of the best movies about an event or time period are ones that are made contemporarily. This is a case in point. While Hollywood has churned out umpteen films about WWII, this is one of a handful to deal specifically with the lot of those fighting men upon their return home. Dana Andrews, Fredric March and Harold Russell play the trio and along with co stars Myrna Loy and Teresa Wright form one of the greatest ensemble casts of all time. You'll not see a better depiction of the difficulties faced by ex servicemen in adjusting back to civilian life. The idea of picking up where one left off after facing the holocaust of war is laughable. Nothing is the same even when returning to a stable family. Imagine being without such a home or without one's hands. The Best Years of Our Lives is one of the better films of any kind ever made. On the topic of veterans, it's the gold standard.

Heroes For Sale (1933). Among the scars and hardships a solider can return from war with is an addiction to drugs, often painkillers that were administered to ease the suffering caused by battle injuries.  Meet Tom Holmes (Richard Barthelmess) the main character in this tale. His addiction costs him his job and after rehab, sends him on the road seeking better prospects. Add to that, the medal for bravery in the line of fire he deserved has gone to another, a coward at that. Holmes overcomes hardships only to be one of the many victims of the Great Depression. A terrific film from America's most under appreciated director, William Wellman.

The Roaring Twenties (1939). Another wonderful movie that follows the exploits of an American GI returning from the Great War. This time its Eddie Bartlett played by James Cagney in one of his many outstanding performances. Talk about not honoring vets, Bartlett can't get his old job back! One thing leads to another and the next thing you know Eddie is in the bootlegging game. And before you know it he's got his own gang and is raking in the dough. Sadly, this is a rise and fall story. It's not too much of a stretch to suggest that the failure of the country to take care of its vets led the previously honest Eddie to a life of crime, a life cut short at that.

Born on the 4th of July (1989). Strictly in terms of showing the lot of veteran, this Oliver Stone film is second only to Best Years. This is the true story of Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic who entered the army a gun ho "love it or leave it" patriot and returned from the war a paraplegic as the result of a gunshot wound. It was not long after coming home that Kovic made the radical transformation into a an outspoken opponent of the war. Born on the 4th follows Kovic's life from entering the war, fighting, hospitalization and through anti war activism. Tom Cruise gave the best performance of his career to date in the starring role.

The Manchurian Candidate (1962). It's bad enough to re-adjust to society after fighting in a war but when you've unknowingly been brainwashed into being a political assassin, well that just sucks. Such is the fate of returning Korean War POW Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) in this political thriller from director John Frankenheimer. Fellow POW Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra) was not similarly programmed but he's dealing with some serious post traumatic stress disorder in the form of cryptic dreams about their experiences. Not terribly realistic (or is it?) but still a helluva film and a powerful look at PTSD.

The Appeal of the Gangster Film, and My Ten Favorites

Who doesn't love a good gangster film?

From the beginnings of cinema until the present day some of the greatest films ever made have been about gangsters. In this totally pixilated place called "real life" we (unless absent any sense at all) hate criminal gangs. Yet on film we root 'em on like they were the dear old home team. Anyone knuckle-headed enough to cheer on the cops in a gangster film has no sense of fun or imagination.

So what's the appeal of the genre, I ask myself in order to continue with the essay.  There are several things at work. One is that gangsters are not bound by laws or any other strictures of society. While us law abiding types are confined by criminal codes, ethics, morals, rules and restrictions, gangsters do whatever the hell they want. That's the way to live! And we thus live vicariously through these gun toting mobsters. Yet a mobster does answer to certain set of codes, but principally within the gang itself and to his brother criminal. We can all get behind such latter day chivalry.

So there's that but there's also the violence.  If neither over done nor gratuitous (the two go hand in hand), cinematic violence is compelling theater, so to speak. Films in general make use of violence as a story telling tool because it is so vivid and visceral. (And I for one do not for a second cotton to the notion that on screen violence plays any role in creating "real life" violence. Violent criminal gang activity was rampant in urban America throughout the latter half of the 19th century and cinema was not yet part of popular culture.) In some respects, the enjoyment or at least acceptance of screen violence in gangster films relates to my previous point about living vicariously. Many of us, as peace loving as we may be, have had deep seated fantasies about socking someone in the jaw, opening fire on our enemies or intimidating foe and bystander alike with the threat of injury or death. Gangsters on film can satisfy these primal urges for us.

A third and often overlooked appeal of the gangster genre is its appeal to our natural instincts as tribal animals. Humans, like dogs and unlike cats, are pack animals. We like to be a part of. Be it athletic teams, clubs, families, religious groups, armies, unions, fraternal organizations, most people long to be among like minded fellow humans, usually with a unifying purpose. Gangster films are all about male bonding. Sometimes in organized gangs, sometimes in crime families and usually in a combination thereof. We enjoy watching people work cooperatively toward a common goal, sharing hopes fears and dreams. Never mind that these groups are sometimes comprised largely of psychopaths. Related to this is an aspect common to virtually every family, gang or other organization: the boss. Most of us like a good leader, be this the head of the family, the coach, the pastor, the general, the president or the chief. There's nothing more satisfying then being led by and feeling watched over by a good leader. Unless its perhaps actually being that leader.


I now offer to you a list of ten American gangster films. All of which meet the following criteria: they're great films; they feature a family, organized gang or both; include violence but are never gratuitous; and have a leader or leaders. On the one hand coming up with ten was easy, on the other, confining it to ten, not so easy. You may feel compelled to rant and rave about the glaring omission of a favorite gangster film, but remember that this list, like any such endeavor, is bound to reflect the biases and tastes of the author.

Family Affair The Godfather (1972). People love this film, nobody more than I do. Like all great films of the genre it's about much more than crimes and criminals. The Godfather is about family and the transformation of one young man. The violence, particularly at the end of the film, is mostly operatic and not meant to convey the reality of dying by the gun, but to represent the means by which individuals can sacrifice their own decency to achieve their ends. First Marlon Brando as Vito, then Al Pacino as Michael, serve as the head of the Corleone family, the titular Godfather of a criminal enterprise. We see one established in his role, beloved and feared, and watch how another grows into it. From director Francis Ford Coppola.

What Price Anarchy? Goodfellas (1990). This Martin Scorsese film is rich with energy and verve, simultaneously romanticizing and demystifying the life of gangsters. From the narration of Ray Liotta as the real life Henry Hill we hear of the allure of the gangster life, how the rest of us are suckers in our nine to five jobs while gangsters boldly take what they want. But we also see the terrible price paid for choosing such a path. We revel with gangsters in the close bonds they form with one another, while then watching the cost of a single misstep. There is violence aplenty as there needs to be in telling such a story.

Family Ties The Godfather Part II. This necessary follow up to the original, continues the story while also providing the amazing backstory. We see how Vito started his rise and the terrible consequences of such a life to Michael as even fratricide becomes a viable option. Like the first film, Part 2 is about much more than breaking the law. Relationships are part and parcel to most films and they're dealt with in all their complexity and in various forms in this epic. Brothers. Husbands and wives. Business associates. Rivals. All of these and more. Of course brutal violence is often what's used to settle differences. There's no sentimentalizing in Godfather Part 2, indeed there are no trite nor obvious solutions offered. Just cause they're gangsters doesn't mean they can't make you think.

Not Your Typical Mama's Boy White Heat (1949). This is a James Cagney show through and through. He's the not all together popular leader of a gang. There's one of the proverbial rubs of gang life. You may be sitting in the catbird seat as the leader but its always possible someone wants your spot. Cagney's Cody Jarrett has to deal with this, along with the law and those fiercesome headaches. This is one nuanced character, especially for gangster film, for Cody's gang includes his dear ole ma who he's quite attached to. Like all the other films on this list, and many other good gangster films, White Heat is wildly entertaining and features a grand performance by its star. In fact, Cagney as Jarrett is as good a cinematic portrayal as you'll see of gangster.

The Penitent Man Mean Streets (1973). Harvey Keitel's Charlie is a good Catholic, or at least as good as you can be when you're consorting with and abetting lawbreakers. Oh yes and participating too. The film's tagline is: "You don't make up for your sins in church, you do it in the streets." Clearly we have a man with a conscience. Yes, clearly some crooks have one. In addition to Charlie there is the goofy and dangerous Johnny Boy (Robert DeNiro) who errs badly in not playing by the rules. That is those rules by which gangs govern themselves. Want to break society's laws? Knock yourself out. But within the criminal family you better walk the line. Mean Streets does not romanticize violence or "the life." Even the drunkenness is reeling, staggering and dizzy. So here again we see the wages of sin, whether you've been going to church or not.

Like a Candle in a Hurricane The Public Enemy (1931). Cagney again, this time as Tom Powers a young man who rises from being a two bit crook to running his own show. You can guess how this is going end up for our protagonist. Hollywood tends to want its criminals to get what's coming to them. Powers is a force of nature, as were many a Cagney character. His physicality has never been more impressive than in this mannered and interesting young man. Whether plugging an old enemy or stuffing a grapefruit in a soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend's puss. This is the classic charismatic gang boss and a movie that greatly influenced the genre. It's use of off camera violence by director William Wellman is especially effective.


Very Radical Couples Therapy Bonnie and Clyde (1967). One of the most influential films ever made in part for the manner in which it introduced more realistic violence to cinema. Contrary to Public Enemy the violence was in your face. Different strokes for different movies. Here we have a totally compelling re-imagining of the true life escapades of the real life Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, who along with Clyde's brother and sister-in-law became bank robbing folk heroes during the Great Depression. It is virtuoso story telling of the first order from director Arthur Penn, effectively employing music, humor and an innovative camera.


The Classic Rise and Fall The Roaring Twenties (1939). It shouldn't be a surprise that Cagney appears on this list three times. He appeared in a lot of gangster films and was personally responsible for their success. This is a classic rags-to-riches gangster story with Cagney as Eddie Bartlett. He's the type of crook whose fallen into his line of work by circumstances, then makes the most of it. Humphrey Bogart is an associate who turns on our hero. Like many a gangster we feel for Eddie, certainly next to Bogie's character he's the lesser of two evils We ache as the girl of his dreams (Priscilla Lane) finds love in another's arms. Gangsters can buy a lot with their ill gotten gain, but even they are incapable of purchasing love.

I Smell a Rat Donnie Brasco (1997). Johnny Depp is the title character in the amazing story of a cop who goes under very deep cover and infiltrates the mob. He even gets to see a mob victim sliced up for easy disposal and difficult detection. But most of all this is a look at the totally unglamorous working class mobster who has to hustle for every dime with death an every present danger. Al Pacino gives one of the best performances of his remarkable career as a sort of middle class mobster. Michael Madsen is at once alluring and terrifying as the boss. But it is through Depp that we see the seamy underbelly of the underside of the underworld. We are not underwhelmed.


Johnny Rocco's a Skunk Key Largo (1948). Edward G Robinson played some pretty rotten eggs but perhaps none were worse than Johnny Rocco. What awful things is he whispering into his lovely hostage's (Lauren Bacall) ear? Makes your skin crawl to think of it. I included Key Largo because in addition to being such a wonderful film, Robinson plays Rocco like the dirty stinking rat that arguably all gangsters should be shown to be.  He's also the classic gangster in that he's fully in charge and rightly feared, unwavering in his commitment to do whatever is needed for his own survival and success. Bogie shows up here too, this time as a good guy out to foil Rocco's evil doings.

Others to consider: Little Caesar (1931), Scarface (1932), Brother Orchid (1940), Reservoir Dogs (1992), Johnny Eager (1941), Gangs of New York (2002).

He Didn't Steal Scenes, He WAS Scenes, James Cagney in White Heat

He kicks a guy that he just shot down the stairs and yells "catch!" Someone he's locked in a trunk complains about lack of air. So he shoots holes into the truck and perforce it's occupant. He's a riot! (Assuming you don't object to homicidal maniacs.)

He's also prone to sudden and devastating headaches that render him immobile and panting in pain. Oh yes, he's a momma's boy. He's Cody Jarrett. A real sunavabitch.

"You wouldn't kill me in cold blood, wouldja?" He's asked.
"Not, I'll let ya warm up a little," Jarrett replies. Beautiful.

White Heat (1949) is not a movie starring James Cagney. It's a James Cagney performance with a movie surrounding it. Virginia Mayo as his cheating wife is just about perfect for the part and Margaret Wycherly as Ma couldn't be better. Edmond O'Brien is along to play an undercover cop and he's about what you'd want. The rest of the cast read their lines as guys playing cops or gangsters are supposed to do and then get the hell out of the way. This is a Cagney production all the way. Director Raoul Walsh probably realized from the get go.

Yes, Cagney has boffo lines and action scenes aplenty and lots of chances to emote, but that's not what makes him and thus the film so wonderful. Cagney plays Jarrett as a living breathing human being with a face that conveys the life inside.

He purses his lips. Squints. Arches an eyebrow. Winks. Furrows his brow. And then there's that voice....Your typical cops and robbers in this film speak in flat, uninteresting tones. Serviceable is all. Jarrett has a voice you can hang your coat on. It's rich, expressive and like the character, compelling.

When he confronts his wayward wife after busting out of the can, Jarret gets a hold of her head (just as he's had a hold of ours the whole film) and seems to be on the verge of biting hers, speaking rapid fire with his teeth flaring. Goodness he's frightening and utterly captivating at the same time. That's a sociopath all right.

Watch Jarrett's reaction to finding out that O'Brien, who in his own words, he's "treated like a kid brother" is "a copper." How about a nice stew of anger, amazement, surprise and yes, humor. Doesn't sound like it all works together? This is Cagney doing the cooking brudder, it works!

In White Heat James Cagney demonstrates what you get when a performer combines the charisma of a star with the talent of an accomplished thespian. There are but a precious few who have ever boasted the combination. The list is short and includes people like Brando, Pacino, Bette Davis and Elizabeth Taylor. And Cagney, of course

As Cody Jarrett, Cagney didn't act. He created a person and inhabited him. Yes he played broad scenes magnificently as when he discovers that Ma is dead. But more than that he's just damn interesting to watch in the simplest of moments. And I doubt very much of it was conscious. That's the thing, it comes off so natural. Just telling the truth, as Cagney himself said of acting. It means knowing and being true to the person that is your character.

This is quite a character. The murderous head of a gang who by virtue of loving Ma so much and being subject to spells, is also extremely vulnerable. It's a rich role for any actor but to keep it from slipping into cliche or burlesque and then giving real depth can only be accomplished by the likes of Cagney.

How would White Heat be without Cagney. Gee, I don't know. How would baseball be without the ball?

Part Two of Movies For Your Inner Leftist, That Are Suitable For All Political Persuasions

Without further ado I present the second of my two part look at movies that appeal to the leftist in me but that can be enjoyed by people of all political leanings. The premise was explained in part one which appeared on this blog Monday and is linked to this sentence.

Talk of the Town (1942). Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Ronald Coleman star in this comedy from director George Stevens...Not so fast. Grant plays Leopold Dilg, a union agitator framed for arson and murder by the boss man. Coleman is supreme court nominee, Michael Lightcap who is intrigued by Dilg's passionate, if common sense view of the law and business. Lightcap is also stunned by the cavalier attitude towards the law held by a local judge. Jean Arthur provides most of the romance and comedy. It is in my mind the most underrated film of all time. It also has a very clear message about the abuses of big business, their often all to cozy relationship with the powers that be and the exploitation of workers. And as Dilg says: "What is the law? It's a gun pointed at somebody's head. All depends upon which end of the gun you stand, whether the law is just or not."

Grapes of Worth (1940). You must be familiar with the story. The people versus the cold hard establishment, usually represented by the police but most deadly in the form of greedy banks and exploitative farm owners. Wait a second...banks greedy? Land owners taking advantage of people? Henry Fonda as Tom Joad symbolizes the worker who's essentially mad as hell and unwilling to take it anymore. He's emboldened by this radical notion: "A fellow ain't got a soul of his own, just little piece of a big soul, the one big soul that belongs to everybody, then..." That sound downright socialist! Yes, Tom is a symbol as he himself says: "I'll be all around in the dark - I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look - wherever there's a fight, so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build - I'll be there, too."

Bullworth (1998). An already liberal politician, Senator Bullworth (Warren Beatty) veers far left and adopts hip hop music and culture to convey his message. Why not? Having put a contract out on himself there's nothing to lose in telling the truth. That's right, the truth as he sees it. The rich are getting richer, the middle class poorer and the poor increasingly irrelevant to the rich and powerful. His screed is the progressive's manifesto of rapacious rich entrenching their power while marginalizing and exploiting the working class. Through characters portrayed by Halle Berry and Don Cheadle, we see the reality of life in the hood (anyone remember when America cared about the depressing cycle of poverty in African American inner city communities?). Sothe senator doesn't just tell, he shows.

The Mayor of Hell (1933). James Cagney is a former gangster who decides to reform a reformatory school. This is a no hold barred look at juvenile delinquents and the twin evils of corruption and cruelty to young men. With the help of an idealistic nurse, Cageny, supposedly a political appointment just around for show, puts the kids in charge. He correctly reasons that sparing the rod is a good thing if you replace it by vesting the young uns with responsibility. The Mayor of Hell, directed by Archie Mayo, is a cry for education reform and against old school discipline.

The Americanization of Emily (1964). To say it's an anti-war movie would be trivializing it's powerful message. Set during World War II and starring James Garner, James Coburn and Julie Andrews, on the surface TAOE is a romantic comedy. But a few listens to screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky's dialogue will fix that notion. To wit: "War isn't hell at all. It's man at his best; the highest morality he's capable of. It's not war that's insane, you see. It's the morality of it. It's not greed or ambition that makes war: it's goodness. Wars are always fought for the best of reasons: for liberation or manifest destiny. Always against tyranny and always in the interest of humanity. So far this war, we've managed to butcher some ten million humans in the interest of humanity. Next war it seems we'll have to destroy all of man in order to preserve his damn dignity. It's not war that's unnatural to us, it's virtue. As long as valor remains a virtue, we shall have soldiers. So, I preach cowardice. Through cowardice, we shall all be saved." See what I mean?

The Front (1976). Woody Allen plays a cashier at a deli who "fronts" for blacklisted writers during the height of McCarythyism. Allen is an apolitical nebbish always looking to make a buck, fronting for writers is as good a way as any. But as Allen sees first hand what the writers and a comic played by Zero Mostel are going through, he becomes politically aware and damn angry. Eventually he's called before the witch hunters at HUAC and a radical is born. Any ambiguity about the film's message will be cleared up the very last frame. Directed by Martin Ritt.

Other recommended titles of movies for progressives that the whole political spectrum can enjoy: Spartacus (1960), All the President's Men (1976), Heroes for Sale (1933), Missing (1982), The China Syndrome (1979), Holiday (1938), Malcolm X (1992), The Strawberry Statement (1970), M*A*S*H (1970), Born on the 4th of July (1989), Boyz n' the Hood (1991), Modern Times (1936), The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) and 12 Angry Men (1957).

Movies Yesterday and Today: The Good, The Bad The Racist

One of the principle reasons I cannot, like some of my film blogging brethren, limit myself to seeing movies from Hollywood's Golden Age, is that I like to allow my imagination to spend time with people of color who are afforded equal citizenship.

My 200 favorite all time English language films boasts more movies from the 1930's and 1940's than any other decades. Not even close, actually. But I do tire of seeing African Americans only being allowed to play porters, maids and buffoons and never being granted a lead role. Similarly Asians, Hispanics and to a certain extent even Jews were given very short shrift in films of yore. Openly gay characters did not exist at all, though it's hinted that some men are "sissies" and thus subjects of derision if not contempt. So here was the great deficit of films in the first half of the 20th century: it was a white man's world.

In social situations women could attain equal status (particularly in the pre code era) but politically and economically they were in the back of the bus. Truth be told women enjoyed better treatment in film than they did in the "real world." And there's the rub. It was not that the film industry that was keeping women, people of color and gays in secondary roles, no they were merely reflecting society. Of course one can counter the argument and say that films were perforce colluding in repression. Films continued perpetuating the negative, hurtful stereotypes of the Jim Crow Era and it can be argued, re-enforced them. Those images, as seen in the video montage from Spike Lee's Bamboozled (2000) (above) are powerful reminders of the role film played in oppression.

It gets complicated.

I've had students say of a film from the 1930's that it was "racist" due to the manner in which it depicted a Black character. Far worse, many adults say and believe the same thing. However when Preston Sturges cast a bug eyed, stammering, African-American cook it was not because the great writer/director was a bigot. (Was it?) This was merely a cinematic convention of the time (So?). In fact Sturges was lauded by the NAACP for his depiction of a black church in Sullivan's Travels (1941). We like to label, classify and file away. One false step by a politician, entertainer or co worker and they're out. Makes life easy. Easy and limiting.

Part of the problem is that we cannot apply standards of today to movies of yesterday. Ultimately they just ARE. We need be sensitive to and aware of how various peoples are represented in films of the past but to then condemn them is pointless. We can, with a great degree of accuracy look back at southern politicians of the time who opposed federal lynching laws and label them racist. Far more important we can examine whether odious creatures like Fox TV's Glenn Beck is racist. In dealing with the past making judgments is a false dichotomy and a fool's errand. Meanwhile understanding how the past influenced today is one of the most important exercises we can engage in. We can trace societal norms and attitudes of yesteryear to twits of today like Beck.

The past is what it is. Films from bygone days needs to be looked at, examined, interpreted and understood. Calling them names is just plain silly. I read a lot about Nazi Germany and have to restrain myself from getting angry at those beasts. Better to reserve one's anger for the dangers of today and better still to channel that anger into productive ways to counter those threats.

One night not long ago, as a diversion from our cares, my wife and I were enjoying one of those silly Mickey Rooney Judy Garland "hey-let's-put-on-show" films. It was all pleasant puffery until the two stars began applying black face for a big minstrel number. We could have stopped the film right there and shook our fists at the screen screaming epithets, but being veterans of such moments we soldiered on. Instead, for the next few minutes we realized that we weren't enjoying a musical but getting a history lesson. That's what those moments do. You heave a sigh and remember for a bit the way our society used to be and are thankful for recent advances. (I've often fantasized about traveling back in time to visit the 1930's. But live there? In an openly racist society where gays were locked deeply into closets? No thanks.)

Of course films prior to about 1967 also suffered from rigid censorship via the enforcement of the production code. There is a glimpse at what might have been for Hollywood had the code been done away with, or continued to be ignored, in the many great films of the pre code era, which ended in 1934. (See this previous post for a guide to pre code films. And this post for part 2.) The stories and characters were far more realistic. People enjoyed sex, even before marriage and even (gasp!) if they were women. A film like Baby Face (1933) would be shocking even today. Other films shone a bright light on society like Heroes for Sale (1934). Then the forces of "decency" (i.e. repression) came along and Bathsheba was replaced by Pollyanna. That great films continued to be made seems a miracle.

I used to think that a person could be shot and killed without any blood or visible mark (my vivid young imagination presumed that the bullet would send some sort of sonic boom into the body thus killing the victim). Then I saw Bonnie & Clyde (1967). Violence can be overdone and lord know it has. But it was drastically underdone for the first 60 or so years of movie history. Sex, nudity and profanity can all also be overdone (though I'd be willing to sit through a movie that tried to overdo female nudity) but they were absent from film for too long. James Cagney managed to portray some pretty despicable gangsters in The Public Enemy (1931) and White Heat (1949) to name but two films without so much as saying, "damn." But it's hard to imagine Joe Pesci in Goodfellas (1990) saying "what the heck is so funny about me" with the same impact as when he said f*ck.

Also limiting was that crime could never pay in films. So you always, always knew the bad guys weren't going to get away with it and it was just a matter of how their grand schemes would be foiled. This might have been morally satisfying but artistically it was pretty darn limiting.

I've seemingly made a case for how and why films are today are better than their forerunners from 70 years ago. But as I said at the beginning more of my favorites are from 30's and 40's. How is that possible? To fully answer that question would require an entire post, however here's the short answer: Characters and story were emphasized over special effects. Also, to a certain extent the limits placed on films back then forced writers and directors to tell a fuller story. Today sex, profanity and bathroom humor often interrupt good story telling, they become a kind of short hand. Modern movies sometimes use their freedoms to shock and titillate, again in lieu of telling the story.

Past or present films? Happily none of us have to choose. Thanks to Turner Classic Movies, DVDs and revival houses and film archives we may enjoy the best of both worlds. There is over 90 years of cinema to watch. Bon appetit.

These are Real Knockouts! My Favorite Boxing Films

"In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade

And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down or cut him

til he cried out in his anger and his shame

I am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains."

- From "The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkel

As both a film and sports enthusiast I flatter myself that I'm in a pretty fair position to judge the quality of sports related film. That being the case I render the following succinct verdict: most sports movies suck. Not particularly articulate but it gets my point across. Most sports movies of recent years are formulaic, to wit, a scrappy group of underdogs overcome all odds and wins the big game against their heavily favored and hated rivals. The motley crew breaks into a joyous celebration joined by friends and loved ones, blah, blah, blah.

These films are predictable, unimaginative and overly sentimental.

There are a few exceptions such as the best of the many baseball films, Bull Durham (1988), Eight Men Out (1988) and Bang the Drum Slowly (1973). All three are highly recommended and I just might have to write a separate post about them some other time.

One sport that has been done justice in films is boxing. The brutal mano a mano nature of the sweet science does not lend itself to saccharine schmaltz (despite the best efforts of Sylvester Stallone). Boxing is an individual effort and thus provides a vehicle for character study. Many of the better boxing flicks have very little action inside the ring. They often explore issues of integrity, courage and loyalty. A lot of boxing stories feature the underworld which, of course adds another dramatic element. Women are a signficant presence in virtually all boxing films, albeit usually as conflicted lovers of the central boxing figure. The brutality of the sport means that issues of health, safety and even life and death can further add to the drama.

While many sports films suffer from looking totally unrealistic in depicting action scenes, boxing is relatively easier to re-create, largely because only two athletes are involved and in confined area at that.

Many of the films below are not exactly light hearted romps through a field of posies. There are no boxing musicals that I know of. Some are downright depressing but still elevating in their examination of humans in extraordinary circumstances. So here are my 11 favorite boxing films. Other than the placement of the first, they are in no particular order.

Raging Bull (1980). I know, I know, calling Raging Bull a boxing film is like saying that Cabaret is just a musical. But the story is about Jake LaMotta a famous middleweight boxer of yesteryear. The scenes within the square circle are not only among the most incredible boxing sequences after filmed, but among the best scenes of any sort you'll ever see. Raging Bull proves that you don't need to care a whit about the sport to enjoy a boxing film. After all, director Martin Scorsese not only wasn't a fight fan but knew little about the sport. In some respects it is the quintessential boxing film for its juxtaposition of the story of a man and his boxing alter ego.

The Set Up (1949). From director Robert Wise starring Robert Ryan. One of the most underrated films of all time. A stylized noir told in real time. The Set Up is the story of a washed up boxer who's not told he's supposed to take a fall until well into the fight. Looking for one last crack at the title, he has other ideas. The story is splendidly told and combines great scenes in the ring, locker room and arena as well as the streets just outside. This is not just a look at the seamy side of boxing it appears. The Set Up is much more than that which makes it in keeping with the best of the genre.

Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962). Talk about dark! But talk about good too. This is a film that explores the toll that pugilism takes on a human body. More than that it explores the horrible price of exploiting a human's body for few bucks. Anthony Quinn is terrific as Louis "Mountain" Rivera, who after 111 bouts has to subject his body to the freak show that is professional wrestling. Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney and Julie Harris are part of the stellar cast. From a teleplay by Rod Serling.

City for Conquest (1940). One of several boxing films that James Cagney made. In this film he takes to the ring to a support a brother who wants to be a concert pianist and conductor. The fight game takes a toll on his body too but his gorgeous girlfriend played by Ann Sheridan stays by his side. A touching story directed by Anatole Litvak. The pugnacious but nimble footed Cagney made for a terrific film boxer.

Ali (2001). Michael Mann's biopic of Muhammad Ali covering the years 1963-1974 stars Will Smith in the title role with a splendid supporting cast. For huge Ali fans such as yours truly there was great fear that Mann and Smith would not do our hero's story justice. But Smith was uncanny and Mann captured both the boxing and political drama. In retrospect it seems impossible that so current a story could possibly be a great film, but it was good enough.

Rocky (1976). Back before Rockys II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XXXX etc. et al there was this the original Rocky and it was good. Certainly not worthy of its Best Picture Oscar but a fine film nonetheless. Sadly Stallone did not know how to leave well enough alone and went to make innumerable remakes each worse than the preceding one. But the genuine article was a powerful character study and unique concept at the time that's been run into the ground since. Rocky is a down and out fighter who's given a shot at the title and decides to, as the kids say, go for it. Some of the boxing scenes are a bit unrealistic but the overall effect adds to a fine story.

The Harder They Fall (1956). Probably most remembered as Humphrey Bogart's last film. The story is based on a real life Argentine boxer Primo Carnera who got to the top of heavyweight division through smoke and mirrors and oh by the way a little corruption. Bogie is the reporter who has to decide whether he should set the glass jawed fighter straight before he get his block knocked off. Rod Steiger is a revelation as the crooked fight promoter. The fight scenes are brutal and so is the storyline.

Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956). Another film from Robert Wise, this one a bio pic of boxer Rocky Graziano as portrayed by Paul Newman. Most directors would have turned the story of a criminal who manages to navigate the straight and narrow through boxing into pure corn pone mush. Not wise. Pun intended, Wise pulled no punches and does not sentimentalize his subject matter. It's the film that established Newman as a star.

City Lights (1931). Why the heck is this Charlie Chaplin silent here? I'll tell you why, it has the funniest boxing scene of all time. Indeed its some of the funniest stuff you'll ever see on screen. Chaplin's genius is on full display in the amazing choreography of the boxing sequences. Funny stuff in the pre and post fight locker room as well.

Gentleman Jim (1942). This is one of those films I like way more than I should. That said it has a lot going for it. Raoul Walsh directed and Errol Flynn star with his constant sidekick, Alan Hale on board as his dad. Flynn plays Jim Corbett a late 19th century boxer from San Fransisco who takes advantage of the new rules modernizing boxing to win the heavyweight title. He must conquer long time champ John L. Sullivan who is played by Ward Bond in a magnificent performance. A fun film that, especially with Flynn in the lead, is like a swashbuckling version of the boxing film.

Fat City (1972). John Huston directed and Stacy Keach stars in one of my candidates for the "Hall of Fame of Underrated Films". Keach plays Tully, a boxer on the downside of a so-so boxing career. He is juxtaposed with Ernie ( an impossibly young Jeff Bridges) a young fighter on the rise. Fat city is a raw film not saw much in its depiction of boxing but of the lower middle class life. There are no gussied up characters with remarkable wit and charm. They are very real people doing the best they can. Boxing can be seen as a metaphor here. If you've not seen Fat City, do yourself a favor and check it out. Thank me later.

Also see: The Champ (1931), They Made Me a Criminal (1939), Cinderella Man (2005), Body and Soul (1947), and Champion (1949).

Is 1939 Overrated or are 1940 and 1941 Underrated?

This month Turner Classic Movies (aka the world's greatest TV station -- ever) is celebrating the 70th anniversary of 1939.TCM is calling it's tribute: 1939 Hollywood's Greatest Year and showing 39 films from that year. Fair enough. There were many a good film released that year (check out TCM for examples) including some of my favorites. But in my estimation the two years following were equally good, if not better. And I have some pretty strong arguments, as you'll see below.

There are probably more good films in '39 than any other year. But in terms of great and near great the two subsequent years are every bit as good. What follows is the 15 best films from those years, it's my bold contention that they match up quite favorably with any top 15 from '39.

From 1940:

Foreign Correspondent. Speaking of underrated. This is Alfred Hitchcock's most underrated film. (Poster above.) On the eve of war in Europe, Joel McCrea is a reporter sent abroad to get the scoop. He finds love and adventure and gets the story.

His Girl Friday. Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in a screwball comedy with deeper truths to tell. As I said in a recent post that you're more than welcome to read.

The Philadelphia Story. George Cukor directed Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and Jimmy Stewart star in the story of a society wedding that doesn't go as planned. Like I need to tell you anything about this movie. Sheesh.

The Letter. Goodness is Bette Davis amazing in this film, though actually goodness had nothing to do with her character. See my post from last Fall, if you'd like.

The Grapes of Wrath. John Ford directed this adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel. Henry Fonda starred in the story of Depression Era farmers dispossessed by the Dust Bowl who head for California only to face new heartache and anger. I rattled on about this fine film last Spring.

The Shop Around the Corner. Ernest Lubitch directed, Jimmy Stewart, Maureen Sullavan and Frank Morgan star. If you've ever wondered what the Lubitcsh touch is watch this film. Great Christmas season viewing.

Brother Orchid. Edward G. Robinson plays a gangster for the umpteenth time but this time he's hiding out in a monastery. So what's it going it, the monastic life or the rackets? Worth watching to find out.

The Great Dictator. Charlie Chaplin's satire of Hitler and Mussolini is a subtle as a sledge hammer and just as effective.

Rebecca. Joan Fontaine couldn't be lovelier. Judith Anderson couldn't be creepier. Laurence Olivier couldn't be better. Hitchcock directed. See my post from a few months ago for more.

City for Conquest. Jimmy Cagney reluctantly becomes a prize fighter to support his brother's ambitions of being a concert pianist and composer. Ann Sheridan is his girlfriend and I wish she were mine.

Gaslight. The original version of the story of a man who tries to convince his wife she's loony. I prefer this one. Thorold Dickinson directed Anton Walbrrok and Diana Wynyard and no you shouldn't feel bad about not having heard of any of them.

My Favorite Wife. Cary Grant has two wives. He'd thought the original was long dead. Imagine the newlywed's embarrassment when she shows up! It's between Irene Dunne, the loving mother of their two children and Gail Patrick the stereotypical nasty step mom. Guess who prevails?

The Great McGinty. Preston Sturges started his brief run of brilliant films with this story of corrupt politics. Brian Donleavy is the title character. The usual cast of Sturges characters are around to provide laughs.

The Mortal Storm. Here was a film to stir audiences up for a little Nazi hating. Stewart and and Morgan are together again but this is no comedy. See my post from last Fall.

The Westerner. A William Wyler Western. Wow! Walter Brennan is the onery but love struck Judge Roy Bean and Gary Cooper is Cole Harden, the one man who can match wits and gun play with the Judge.

From 1941:

Sullivan's Travels. I just raved about this Preston Sturges masterpiece the other day. Check it out.

The Maltese Falcon. Bogie is unforgettable as Sam Spade. The rest of the cast ain't half bad either. Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet and let's not forget Elisha Cook. John Huston's directorial debut.

Meet John Doe. One of director Frank Capra's best. Stanwyck is the reporter, Gary Cooper is the hobo. Edward Arnold is the bad guy. Walter Brennan is the sidekick. Great film.

Citizen Kane. You may have heard of it. Young wunderkind Orson Welles produced this opus and ticked off William Randolf Heart and company something awful. A film so good that it lives up to its hype.

The Lady Eve. Another 1941 classic from Preston Sturges. How many other directors have had two great films within 12 months? Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck star and the latter put the exy in sexy.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith. An Alfred Hitchcock screwball comedy. His one and only and he was a most emphatic one- for-one in this category. Robert Montgomery and Carole Lombard are the stars.

The Sea Wolf. Why the hell is this film not available on DVD? Someone get on that, pronto. Edward G. Robinson is superb as a sadistic sea captain. Michael Curtiz directed, Ida Lupino and John Garfield co star. It's not on TCM's schedule for the next couple of months, so now I'm getting mad.

Ball of Fire. Stanwyck is sexy again this time in a comedy from Howard Hawks. Cary Cooper is her co star. For more see this post from last Summer. And say, any year that's got three great Stanwyck films is all right by me.

The Devil and Daniel Webster. I can't say enough good stuff about this film, although I tried recently and you might want to read that post.

Here Comes Mr. Jordan. The original of the Heaven Can Wait stories stars Robert Montgomery as a boxer who shuffled off this mortal coil before his time. Heaven's mistake so they give him another chance, this time in the body of a millionaire who's just been offed by the missus. Much under appreciated film.

High Sierra. Bogie is bad man Roy Earle who hooks up with Ida Lupino and Joan Leslie before shooting it out with the cops from the side of a mountain. Raoul Walsh directed.

Love Crazy. You can't go wrong with Myrna Loy and William Powell and this wacky comedy proves it. Powell has to pretend he's off his rocker to keep Loy. Trust me, it's a gas.

Sergeant York. Another Hawks film with Cooper in the lead, this time its the true story of World War I hero, Alvin York. Strong supporting cast featuring Walter Brennan, Joan Leslie and the ubiquitous Ward Bond.

The Devil and Miss Jones. Sam Wood directed this delightful story of a Scrooge like business tycoon (Charles Coburn) who goes undercover to find union agitators at one of his department stores. Instead he becomes one of the gang which includes Jean Arthur and Robert Cummings and Spring Byington (who Coburn ends up being daffy for). Love and laughs triumph.

The Big Store. For a Marx Brothers film this is pretty lame but compared to most comedies its top drawer. Another film set in a department store but this time anarchy is the order of the day (so to speak).

Ladies and gentleman, I rest my case.

Film Gangsters, They Do Indeed Pre Date the 1970's

Yesterday I wrote a post (more went off on a tangent) after reading an article in the San Francisco Chronicle's entertainment section that claimed to list the top ten gangster performances in film. Ever. None of the roles mentioned was from a film made before 1972. I was understandably outraged.

During my tirade I said that I could easily come up with a top ten made up solely of performance before the 1970's. Always one to put my money where my mouth is (never mind that it's quite unsanitary). Here it is.

10. Clark Gable as Blackie Gallagher In Manhattan Melodrama (1934). Known as being the film John Dillinger had just seen when shot down outside of Chicago’s Biograph theater, Manhattan Melodrama features a strong performance by Gable as a powerful gangland boss. The performance suggests that Gable could have had a fine career playing heavies.

9. Robert Taylor as Johnny Eager in Johnny Eager (1942). Johnny is so slick he’s got the authorities fooled. They’ve bought his line about going straight and being a cab driver. Suckers. Eager’s back in the rackets after a stretch in the pen and the D.A.s daughter has fallen for him. Taylor too could have played the bad guy a few more times to good effect.

8. Edward G. Robinson as Rico in Little Caesar (1931). Robinson couldn’t have imagined what he’d started with his bravura performance. He not only spawned countless imitators but locked himself into a lifetime of similar roles. Its a rags to riches story gangster style, which means a return to rags and “the end for Rico.”

7. Lee J. Cobb as Johnny Friendly In On the Waterfront (1954). Technically he’s a union boss but we know better. Friendly lives up to his name if you play ball. If not this is one tough S.O.B. who can be as loud as he his mean.

6. Alan Ladd as Philip Raven in This Gun For Hire (1942). So what is this guy, friend to kitties and children or cold blooded killer? How about both. Raven was cooler than a cucumber. The trench coat and hat inspired legendary French director Jean-Pierre Melville.

5. James Cagney as Tom Powers in The Public Enemy (1931). This was the quintessential sociopath. Likable, even lovable to some. A momma’s boy who stood for nothin from nobody. His hubris caught up with him in the end but what a show he put on en route.

4. Paul Muni as Tony Camonte in Scarface (1932). This is not the over top Tony of the re-make but he’s no shrinking violet either. A man who wouldn’t hesitate to dispense with those in his way. And don’t mess with his sister!

3. Humphrey Bogart as Duke Mantee (1936) in Petrified Forest. This was a more studied, mannered gangster than the ones Bogie usually played. Fatalistic, not unreasonable, but deadly.

2. Edward G. Robinson as Johnny Rocco in Key Largo (1948). We meet him while he’s soaking in a tub, all big belly and bigger cigar. He’s not only a heartless gangster but he whispers what are obvious obscenities into Lauren Bacall’s ears. What a rat! Robinson could have played this one on his reputation but he gave Rocco a little something extra.

1. James Cagney as Cody Jarrett in White Heat (1949). Makes Pacino’s Tony Montana of the second Scarface look like a choirboy. Shoots people in trunks, kicks others downstairs, but he too loves his ma and she’s no Little Miss Muffet either. For her he makes it to “the top of the world.” Never mind the cost to others or even himself.

Runners Up: Bogart as Roy Earle in High Sierra (1941), Kirk Douglas as Whit Sterling in Out of the Past (1947), Bruce Gordon as Frank Nitti in The Untouchables TV Series (1959-1962), Vic Morrow as Dutch Schultz in Portrait of a Mobster (1961), George Raft as Hood Stacey in Each Dawn I Die (1939), Ricardo Cortez as Leo Darcy in Midnight Mary (1933).

The Rise and Fall of Eddie Bartlett

Imagine a World War I veteran just back from the front, his name is Eddie Bartlett. He goes to the garage where he'd been employed before the war seeking his old job back. Sorry, he's told, I can't very well let go the guy who took your place. Eddie knows the boss has a point. Still, he'd counted on the job. Had planned to save his money and some day have a a garage of his own.

Undaunted, Eddie seeks employment elsewhere. Surely there's a job somewhere, especially for someone who fought for his country. But no, there isn't. Eddie's not the only one looking for a job. Finally he accepts his best friend's offer to share a cab. Eddie will be a hack. No shame there.

Then one day fate intercedes in Eddie's life in a most unexpected way. A fare asks him to pass along a package. With a few bucks at stake, Eddie doesn't hesitate to run the simple errand. Unbeknownest to Eddie the package is liquor and conveying it in the time of prohibition is a federal offense. Cops apprehend Eddie. Before a judge he refuses to implicate the woman, Panama Smith, to whom he was delivering the booze. Eddie is found guilty and since he cannot pay the fine must go to prison. But the grateful Panama pays his fine and takes Eddie into her business: the production and distribution of liquor. It's an ironic twist for Eddie, who's a confirmed teetotaler.

Eddie Bartlett, who just wanted to realize the American dream through hard work, is now involved in a criminal enterprise. He is, by definition, a crook. Moreover, he's about to rise to the top of his new found profession.

I've just summarized the beginning of The Roaring Twenties (1939), directed by Raoul Walsh and starring James Cagney as Eddie. It is the story of a perfectly ordinary, decent man who is swept by circumstances to the leadership of a criminal empire. Eddie's descent will be as fast as was his rise.

Cagney was no stranger to playing gangsters. He was Tom Powers in Public Enemy (1931), Cody Jarrett in White Heat (1949), and Rocky Sullivan Angels with Dirty Faces (1938). But Eddie Bartlett was different. He stumbled into the criminal world. He did not choose crime, crime choose him. Oh sure, Eddie had free will. He had opportunity to stop, turn around and return to the straight and narrow. But how easy is that to say from afar? He'd made an honest effort and all it got him was a jail term -- talk about ironic!

Eddie did not just gain money by going into crime. Don't sell him short like that. He got power. Eddie was in control of his own destiny, or it certainly seemed that way. After all power is what we all want. At least power over our own lives. It's the whole point of wealth. To be in a state of poverty is to be powerless. To be rich is to be able to do whatever the heck you want.

Also, Eddie was doing something with his life. Most people in their prime don't want meaningless jobs performing rote tasks. As "the boss" Eddie was organizing liquor production and sales. He was stealing hijacking, making deals and overseeing employees. That's pretty intoxicating (no pun intended.) Eddie wasn't just a participant in life, he was a controller.

All of this has really been an exercise to help answer a question I had: why do I love The Roaring Twenties so much? Cagney is wonderful in every film I've seen him and though not as demanding a role as some, like White Heat, he's especially good in this movie. His unrequited love for Jean Sherman (the lovely Priscilla Lane) is touching as is Panama's (played by Gladys George) unrequited love for him. Humphrey Bogart is along for the ride as George Hally an army buddy, business rival, partner ,and business rival again. it was one of the last films in which Bogie played second fiddle to anyone. Jeffrey Lynn is the third of the trio in the foxhole "over there" and he ends up being Eddie' lawyer, Jean's successful romantic pursuer and Hally's ultimate target. So it's a great cast but Cagney as eddie is the real draw. There is such a strong sense of decency and honesty to him that you root Eddie on every time. Not just because he's the central character, but because he deserved better from the get go.

The Roaring Twenties was based on real events. I know, what movie isn't? But it really does have a slice of history feel to it which is enhanced by the newsreel style narration of John Deering and the occasional use of actual footage.

It's a film I've long loved. Those who claim that 1939 was the greatest year for Hollywood films are wise to use it as an example. Walsh was an expert story teller and he had a great story to tell. Yes its about the crime that was prohibition and the crimes that prohibition spawned. But it's more that than. it's about how people on one track in life suddenly find themselves on another. Happens all the time. When Cagney plays the guy its happening to, you've got a helluva movie.

The Public Enemy, It's Not Just About the Grapefruit

"I wish you was a wishin' well. So I could tie a bucket to ya and sink ya." - Tom Powers as played by James Cagney in The Public Enemy (1931).

First of all, that doesn't make any sense. How do you sink a wishing well? Secondly, anyone who would say such a thing is likely a real jerk. Thirdly disregard the first point and realize the second one is irrelevant.

Huh?

Here's the thing about cinema. You can take the story of a gangster like Tom Powers, even show him shoving a grapefruit into his girlfriend's face, and create a thoroughly compelling story. Hell, you even end up rooting for the dirty rat.

Public Enemy is, in my estimation, one of the great film's of all time. The then-young Jimmy Cagney gives a performance that even he was only able to equal a couple of times (Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) and White Heat (1949)). At first look he may just seem all snappy dialogue and tough guy bravado. But watch him move. Cagney is as graceful as a ballet dancer and as powerful as a running back. No actor has ever looked more comfortable in his body. Watch him lean again the bar and give a confederate the affectionate air punch to the jaw. Watch him squire around Jean Harlow or run from the cops or just walk into a room. He's mesmerizing.

Powers is an uncompromising character in the uncompromising story of a gangster's raise. Director William Wellman (the best director you've never heard of) tells a story filled with sex and violence and death. But it's mostly all off camera (modern directors, take note). When Cagney shoots a former boss who betrayed him, we hear the shots but watch Cagney's partner react. In one of the best scenes you'll ever see we watch a grim faced and determined Cagney stride purposefully into his rivals' lair. We watch him disappear into the building and are left to listen to the ensuing shots and screams. Even the slaying of a horse is off camera, though audible.

We don't need to see people getting shot. We do need to see Cagney -- and we get lots of him.

Public Enemy doesn't really moralize. Sure it shows the rise of street punk to his inevitable fate and no this is no glamorizing of the gangster life. But the story is more documentary than fable. The reality of it stylized only by Cagney's performance.

Hollywood has produced some terrific gangster films from Little Caesar (1931) to Goodfellas (1990) with many before after and in between. The Public Enemy rates with the best of them. Like others of it genre it gives the vicarious thrill of rooting for the outlaw. We can imagine doing what we want, taking what we want, not bound by society's conventions. Usually there is an anti hero to root for. He (invariably it's a man) doesn't just break the law but does it with panache. Maybe he's handsome, he can even be charmer, usually he's quite smart. He probably loves his dear old ma too.

But the best of them, like Cagney's Tom Powers, have got charisma. Anyone interested in Cagney, the gangster genre or good films, will want to see The Public enemy. And not just once.

How Angels Beat the Code

I think Warner Brothers slipped one by Joseph Breen and the the rest of the censorship Nazis when they released Angels with Dirty Faces in 1938.

The Production Code was strict about pretty much everything including the idea that bad guys had to pay the price for their misdeeds. In fact, for a brief period after the code started being enforced you were hard pressed to find any gangster films even being made.

Angels, directed by Michael Curtiz, starred James Cagney as career criminal Rocky Sullivan who returns from a recent stint in jail to his old neighborhood. He looks up his childhood friend Jerry Connolly (it’s no accident that his initials were J C) who is now a priest. They renew their acquaintances and even their friendship. This despite the fact that they clearly represent good and evil and the padre at least is aware of it – in an appropriately humble way.

Rocky also looks up his most recent partner, a shyster lawyer, played by Humphrey Bogart, who's ostensibly holding on to Rocky's $100,000. Meanwhile Rocky encounters the grown-up version of a girl he used to tease, Laury Ferguson. Ferguson is brought to life by Ann Sheridan, upon whom I have a massive crush (albeit 70 years late). The two get along just fine as grown-ups.

Lastly, we have the Dead End Kids as the rambunctious teen age bad seeds of the neighborhood. Their brand of mischief-making recalls that of the youthful Rocky, meaning they slip onto the other side of the law. A key to the story – and the manner in which Angels With Dirty Faces beat the code – is the relationship Rocky develops with the gang.

Rocky becomes hero, mentor and role model to the lads. Father Sullivan's efforts to lead them on the right path have been for naught, with Rocky in the picture it is perhaps make or break time for these roughnecks.

While Rocky has gladly taken the boys under his wing he also has some very significant fish to fry. Bogart is part of a larger criminal enterprise and has no intention of parting with Rocky’s money. Indeed, these really bad guys (there are degrees of bad guys, especially in films of that era) want him rubbed out. Rocky’s way too smart for them though and not only stays alive but muscles in on the operation.

Our friend Rocky has a lot going on but like most any character played by Cagney, he’ll clear all hurdles with grace and charm. Herein lies the problem. Rocky is making fools of the police and thus the establishment and thus laws and thus morals and thus God. Father Connolly can’t have that for his parish, no matter that the principal perpetrator is his old pal.

With the cops impotent the padre joins forces with crusading reporters to expose the criminal element as personified by Rocky.

(From this point on we’re into serious spoiler territory so if you’ve not seen the movie proceed at your own risk.)

In large part due to Connolly’s agitation, Rocky and his reluctant partners engage in a gun battle and you can guess who wins that. The cops are drawn to the fracas and Rocky’s fate is sealed. It’s to prison, trial and the chair for him.

This was 1938 and bad guys couldn't win. But that wasn’t enough. After all, Rocky was still a hero to the young gang back home and frying in the chair wasn’t going to change that. All this is made clear by shots of the boys reading the latest news stories about Rocky.

The solution comes in the form of Father Connolly, who persuades Rocky to do the one thing he least wants to do: go out like a coward. If he faces death kicking and screaming he’ll no longer be such a hero to impressionable youngsters. A stoic Rocky is what the kids expect; only a rat shows fear. At the last second Rocky obliges. The boys read this and are disappointed in their one-time hero. The film ends with them going off with Father Connolly to pray for Rocky. Good triumphs over evil, game set and match.

Or does it?

Maybe the characters thought Rocky was a coward but audiences knew Rocky was putting on an act at the end. What a great guy to do that. Say, he must be all right! Plus Cagney’s Rocky was still the colorful character who led the exciting if abbreviated life. Father Connolly? A good guy, but come on, this was Pat O’Brien being oh so upright and moral. In other words, dull as dish soap.

Angels with Dirty Faces was clearly saying one thing and showing another. I doubt many career decisions have been based on seeing it but I’ve got to think it would be just as likely to lead one to a life of crime as to the priesthood.

The enforcement of the Production Code (not to mention the Code itself) sucked – to put it quite bluntly. But savvy filmmakers managed to work around it. While being sure to dot their i’s and cross their t’s, they’d still get away with a little immorality, sex, and unpunished crime.

What lunkheads like Breen missed was that the audiences who saw Angels with Dirty Faces were enthralled with Cagney, not the ultimate triumph of O’Brien. This was not the Cagney of White Heat (1948) rotten to the core. He was kind to all save double crossing gangsters who were far dirtier rats than he. True, Rocky’s tutelage of the young guns would have kept them on the path to evil but he lent them a touch of class. He refereed a basketball game for them and insisted they play by the rules (watching basketball from the 1930’s is, as they say, a hoot).

Cagney’s Rocky Sullivan was a multi dimensional character who audiences would root for. In the end he did the right thing. O’Brien’s priest was a true saint and truly yawn inducing. He automatically did the right thing. There was no choice involved. Me thinks Angels with Dirty Face slipped a fast one past the code all right.