A highly styled 'genre' film which can perhaps be seen as a pastiche of all gangster movies. Tom Reagan is the laconic anti-hero of this amoral tale which is also, paradoxically, a look at morals within the criminal underworld of the 1930s. Two rival gangs vie for control of a city where the police are pawns, and the periodic busts of illicit drinking establishments are no more than a way for one gang to get back at the other. Black humour and shocking violence compete for screen time as we question whether or not Tom, right-hand man of the Irish mob leader, really has a heart.
Written by <morry@argonet.co.uk>
Reagan toasts Volstead, outside the Casper's premises during the police raid. Andrew Volstead served as the sponsor and facilitator of the National Prohibition Act in the US Congress. It supported the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, effectively establishing Prohibition.
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Goofs
Continuity:
When Verna and Tom are talking in the women's restroom, Verna slugs him. As he staggers away, the glass is in his left hand, but he throws it at the mirror with his right.
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Quotes
Verna:
Maybe that's why I like you, Tom. I've never met anyone who made being a son of a bitch such a point of pride. See more »
"Runnin' Wild"
Lyrics by Joe Grey and Leo Wood Music by A.H. Gibbs (as A. Harrington Gibbs) Courtesy of EMI Feist Catalogue, Inc., Cromwell Music, Inc. and Redwood Music, Ltd.
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