ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES

(November 1938, U.S.)

During the golden age of cinema (the exact decade is still debatable, in my opinion), Warner Brothers was synonymous with gangster pictures as James Cagney was synonymous with the gangster himself. In that respect, ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES may not seem all that different from his roles in THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931) or THE ROARING TWENTIES (1939).

The difference with this film is rather unique, though. First, there is the boyhood relationship between Cagney's character Rocky Sullivan and Pat O'Brien's Jerry Connolly and the irony of their future, as Rocky becomes a notorious gangster and Jerry becomes a priest, of all things. Their relationship as men develops into a seemingly simple tale of good versus evil, and yet their is the irony of their long-standing loyalty to each other as friends. Second, and this is one of the strongest elements of the film, there is Rocky's final stand before getting the electric chair, where he makes the difficult and painful choice of swallowing his hard-edged honor and dignity and plays the part of a "yellow" coward in order to give the local boys gang a final negative impression of him so as to give them a (possible) hopeful future by choosing not to honor the memory of a gangster.

Favorite line or dialogue:

Father Jerry Connolly: "Alright, fellas...let's go and say a prayer for a boy who couldn't run as fast as I could."