Review of Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) by Devon — 14 Apr 2009

Angels With Dirty Faces is a story of two innercity boys who take different paths in life, after one is caught stealing. Jerry goes on to live a respectable life, he attends college and becomes a preacher while Rocky spends the next fifteen years in and out of prison.

Rocky's final stint is a 3 year sentence, taking the fall for his attorney (Humphrey Bogart), in exchange for $100,000 and a 50/50 partnership in his gangster activity. When he gets out of prison, the partner isn't too anxious to relinquish his dues, and tries to have Rocky bumped off.

Meanwhile, the old neighborhood hasn't changed much, and a new gang of kids is running ragged in the streets. Father Jerry is trying to reform them, but it's an uphill struggle when the big gangster hero Rocky moves back into the area.

Rocky's way with the kids shows that he isn't so different from his old childhood friend, and that he could've been there right alongside father jerry, had he not been caught so many years ago.

It's odd to find poetic symbolism in a 1930s gangster movie, but that just goes to show how top notch the writing was for this movie. Cagney is great, Pat O'Brien is great, and the Dead End kids are like a kiddie 3 stooges (I could swear they're throwing real punches around).

It's the interaction of the entire cast that makes this movie so entertaining. What makes this movie unique isn't the message ("Crime Don't Pay" was cliche even by this point), but the questions it raises.

When it comes to morality, when it comes to fate, when it comes to justice, where are the lines drawn? And when Jesus won't even throw the first stone, who are we to?