The Roaring Twenties (1939) 7.8
Three men attempt to make a living in Prohibitionist America after returning home from fighting together in World War I. Director:Raoul Walsh |
|
| Watch Trailer 0Share... |
The Roaring Twenties (1939) 7.8
Three men attempt to make a living in Prohibitionist America after returning home from fighting together in World War I. Director:Raoul Walsh |
|
| Watch Trailer 0Share... |
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| James Cagney | ... | ||
| Priscilla Lane | ... | ||
| Humphrey Bogart | ... | ||
|
|
Gladys George | ... | |
|
|
Jeffrey Lynn | ... | |
|
|
Frank McHugh | ... |
Danny Green
|
|
|
Paul Kelly | ... |
Nick Brown
|
|
|
Elisabeth Risdon | ... |
Mrs. Sherman
(as Elizabeth Risdon)
|
|
|
Edward Keane | ... |
Henderson
(as Ed Keane)
|
|
|
Joe Sawyer | ... |
The Sergeant
|
|
|
Joseph Crehan | ... |
Michaels
|
|
|
George Meeker | ... |
Masters
|
|
|
John Hamilton | ... |
Judge
|
|
|
Robert Elliott | ... |
First Detective
|
|
|
Eddy Chandler | ... |
Second Detective
(as Eddie Chandler)
|
After the WWI Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver. Eddie builds a fleet of cabs through delivery of bootleg liquor and hires Lloyd as his lawyer. George becomes Eddie's partner and the rackets flourish until love and rivalry interfere. Written by Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
After nearly a decade of concentrating on the gangster period of the twenties, it appeared that Warner Brothers had decided to make one, final glorified kiss-off to the genre in the spectacularly staged "The Roaring Twenties."
Director Raoul Walch was an odd choice for what turned out to be a first-rate action film, for Walsh was not normally a crime-film director The film contained every possible cliché connected with the era
Bogart's portrayal was interesting as we watched him coldly murder an ex-army sergeant who had given him a rough time in the service, and then set put to get rid of Jeffrey Lynn, now a successful lawyer working for the district attorney and intent on crushing Bogart's empire
Cagney, whose energy gave him a panerotic sexual magnetism, was evident with his two relationships which both tend to increase our valuation of Cagney as a person as are the two ladies involved: Priscilla Lane, the innocent whom Cagney helps and loves, and the experienced Gladys George who is evidently devoted to him but never expresses her feelings to him
This basic relationship between Cagney and the two female characters does not take away the great merit of "The Roaring Twenties"much more it proves the skill of Raoul Walsh and the writers in deploying conventional elements in an effective and meaningful way