Review of Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) by Xgary X — 21 Feb 2010
Classic Warner Brother's melodrama is an archetype of the gangster morality play, perhaps the best of it's kind. Cagney is in fine form as Bowery tough-guy Rocky Sullivan, Pat O'Brien solid as his former partner-in-crime and childhood friend turned priest Father Connally, and the souls of the Dead End Kids hanging in the balance between the two of them.
Good example of the kind of role Bogart got in his early days (namely as the heel who always gets whats coming to him by Cagney in the end), before becoming a leading man in his own right. Final execution scene still as gripping and moving as ever.
Did Rocky really turn yellow at the end? One of the great unanswered questions in film history.
This review of Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) was written by Xgary X on 21 Feb 2010.
Angels with Dirty Faces has generally received very positive reviews.
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