The Last Gangster (1937)

Director:

Edward Ludwig

Writers:

Robert Carson (story)
John Lee Mahin (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 November 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The Romance of a Gangster's Life told in GRIPPING DRAMA!

Plot:

Gangster Joe Krozac is in prison for ten years. Reporter Paul North is fired by his newspaper for writing...

Plot Keywords:

Newspaper | Reporter | Gangster | New York City | Murder

Cast

Edward G. Robinson	...	Joe Krozac
James Stewart	...	Paul North Sr.
Rose Stradner	...	Talya Krozac
Lionel Stander	...	Curly
Douglas Scott	...	Paul North Jr. / Joe Krozac Jr.
John Carradine	...	Caspar
Sidney Blackmer	...	San Francisco Editor
Grant Mitchell	...	Warden
Edward Brophy	...	Fats Garvey (as Edward S. Brody)
Alan Baxter	...	Frankie 'Acey' Kile
Frank Conroy	...	Sid Gorman
Louise Beavers	...	Gloria, Talya's Maid
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ernie Alexander	...	Reporter (scenes deleted)
William Arnold	...	Father (scenes deleted)
Nick Copeland	...	Reporter (scenes deleted)
Arthur Howard	...	Father (scenes deleted)
Mitchell Ingraham	...	Father (scenes deleted)
Cy Kendall	...	Editor (scenes deleted)
Frank Marlowe	...	Reporter (scenes deleted)
Eddie Marr	...	Frankie Kile (scenes deleted)
Walter Miller	...	Mike Kile (scenes deleted)
Broderick O'Farrell	...	Father (scenes deleted)
Cyril Ring	...	Father (scenes deleted)
Paul Sutton	...	George Kile (scenes deleted)
Pierre Watkin	...	Editor (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Another Public Enemy (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:(Banned) (1938) | USA:Approved (PCA #3768)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Joe Krozac is sent to Alcatraz in 1927, but Alcatraz didn't become a federal penitentiary until 1933.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

Unpromising material, but excellent drama

There are a lot of theoretical strikes against this movie-- Robinson playing a Capone lookalike for the zillionth time (right before he switched mainly to playing them for comedy in things like A Slight Case of Murder and Brother Orchid); post-Code MGM instead of pre- Code Warner Bros., which surely means a softer handling of the gangster theme; a no-name director and female co-star, Jimmy Stewart in a thankless good guy role; and, not least, a sort of gangster Sin of Madelon Claudet plot in which Robinson gets to get weepy about not knowing his son while he's in Alcatraz.

And amazingly, it's all handled remarkably freshly-- and toughly, especially from the point where the movie pulls the rug out from under big shot Robinson with a long and realistically bleak prison train sequence. Almost every opportunity to sink into cliche is rethought to find a fresher angle-- instead of the archetypal Warner Bros. tough-guy prison, with the warden acting like a crime boss himself to keep his charges in line, the movie's Alcatraz is a streamlined, impersonal machine for reducing men to numbers, the striking production design as institutionally cold as the manner of the warden. The classic welcome home from the boys (such lovable gangster lugs as Lionel Stander and Edward Brophy) takes a highly unexpected turn-- and keeps turning. Although the scenes where he finally meets his son again are hampered by unrealistic dialogue for the kid, in all this is a strong and thoughtful adult drama which brings emotional realism back to a genre usually riddled with cliches.