Review of Invisible Stripes (1939) by Allan C — 18 Apr 2015

Terrific Warner Bros crime story about ex-con, George Raft, getting out of jail and trying to go straight. His younger brother William Holden wants to get rich quick and Raft does his best to keep his little brother away from the influence of fellow ex-con, Humphrey Bogart, who has no plans of going straight.

Raft and Bogart give strong performances and Holden is good as well, though it's rather odd to see him playing a golly-gosh-gee-whiz younger brother. I'm used to seeing him as much tougher, cynical and world weary characters like Sefton in "Stalag 17" or Shears in "The Bridge on the River Kwai" or Pike Bishop in "The Wild Bunch.

" Solid action, tough performances and a good script all add up to a classic Warner Bros crime flick. And I continue to be fascinated by the recent factoid that I learned that it was widely suspected that George Raft was a functional illiterate.