Review of The Roaring Twenties (1939) by Tim J — 20 Jan 2010

When most people question the supreme gangster film of James Cagney's career, it's usually comes down to White Heat or The Public Enemy. I think both are wrong. The Roaring Twenties is the great underlooked gem of Cagney's grand career. What makes the film so great is that unlike most gangster films we are taken multiple perspectives of why would one would turn to crime.

Like The Public Enemy Cagney plays a gangster, Eddie Bartlett, that prospers during the height of prohibition. However his reasons are firmly established as just, he's war veteran who can't get a job and finds a racket that works. No sense of egotism or the love of violence; He needs to put bread on the table. His lifestyle comes at a cost however, his love interest, played by Priscilla Lane, can't accept his rough business. This again a welcome change to a gangster's girlfriend who simply goes with the flow.

The other perspectives in world of bootlegging are also established. Humphrey Bogart plays the basic and nasty gangster but relies on his un-deniable charm. Also a fellow war veteran who decides to go straight near the end of the film. The relationship of all three men forms a combination of drama that successfully carrys the film. Bogart betrays Cagney and the straight man decides he has enough and takes Cagney's girl. This all explodes with one tragic image of James dying on the steps of a church after trying to save the people so dear to him. The impression of The Roaring Twenties outshines Cagney's gangster flicks as a drama on the highest level.