If you ever take a film class about gangster films you'll soon learn that it's a genre " Catholic " in outlook in much the same way as the western is " Protestant " . Once you analysis the gangster genre you'll find that there's almost a formulaic lay out of themes of a fatherless outsider trying to become part of the American dream via illegal means . ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES is slightly different in that the characters are Amercan born and it's the street gang of juvenile delinquents who are in need of the father figure and the film rests on whether Father Jerry Connolly or Rocky Sullivan becomes that father figure
I'm feeling slightly ashamed of myself for saying this but I liked this movie a lot , and the reasons I liked it is down to the reasons that I shouldn't . There's hardly a single scene that rings of any type of realism . Cagney was a Hollywood star but he was never an actor . There is something compelling about his performances however and he dominates every scene he is in . I can certainly understand why some people don't like his acting style but it's a style that suits the film perfectly that lacks any type of verisimilitude . None of it rings true but there's something that keeps you watching even though there's a voice inside your head saying " What a load of melodramatic Hollywood tosh "
Your opinion of the film lies with what you thought about the golden age of Hollywood . This was a period of American film making where producers were under heavy censure via The Hays Code where any type of immorality must be seen to be punished on screen and this suits a film like ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES wonderfully . Rocky is a bad man but a hero to the teenage street gang , he must not be allowed to be a hero to criminal youth and so must face death as a coward . On paper this appears to be the cheesiest ending ever seen in a movie but as it plays out on screen it's one the most beautiful and memorable endings Hollywood has ever produced . Michael Curtiz directs this scene via suggestion and is all the better for it
If you're a fan of Old Hollywood then you'll enjoy this . Even a self confessed cynic like myself found this movie compelling . You have to be slightly forgiving for some of the more melodramatic aspects but in some ways that's part of the movie's appeal
I'm feeling slightly ashamed of myself for saying this but I liked this movie a lot , and the reasons I liked it is down to the reasons that I shouldn't . There's hardly a single scene that rings of any type of realism . Cagney was a Hollywood star but he was never an actor . There is something compelling about his performances however and he dominates every scene he is in . I can certainly understand why some people don't like his acting style but it's a style that suits the film perfectly that lacks any type of verisimilitude . None of it rings true but there's something that keeps you watching even though there's a voice inside your head saying " What a load of melodramatic Hollywood tosh "
Your opinion of the film lies with what you thought about the golden age of Hollywood . This was a period of American film making where producers were under heavy censure via The Hays Code where any type of immorality must be seen to be punished on screen and this suits a film like ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES wonderfully . Rocky is a bad man but a hero to the teenage street gang , he must not be allowed to be a hero to criminal youth and so must face death as a coward . On paper this appears to be the cheesiest ending ever seen in a movie but as it plays out on screen it's one the most beautiful and memorable endings Hollywood has ever produced . Michael Curtiz directs this scene via suggestion and is all the better for it
If you're a fan of Old Hollywood then you'll enjoy this . Even a self confessed cynic like myself found this movie compelling . You have to be slightly forgiving for some of the more melodramatic aspects but in some ways that's part of the movie's appeal