Goofs

When in the kitchen where James Cagney tries to give his mother some money, the kitchen table is covered with items; seconds later there's only a can of milk on it.

In the scene where Tom Powers and Matt Doyle are strafed by assassin's machine guns, Cagney ducks behind the corner of a building. Bullets suddenly and violently hit and tear up the concrete corner into big pock-marked chips an eye-blink after he ducks. But in subsequent shots, the machine gun damage to the concrete is gone.

As Tom and Matt leave the fur warehouse after their aborted robbery attempt early in the film, Matt is clearly seen throwing down his gun on the roof of the building but, after they slide down the drainpipe and run to freedom through the alley, both Tom and Matt throw their guns onto a nearby roof, even though Matt has already discarded his.

Near the end of the film, Tom Powers is hiding by the stairs, waiting in the rain for his enemies. After they arrive, Tom stands up and his hat is straight on his head, the next view of him has the hat cocked to one side, then the following view shows the hat straight again.

In Mike's homecoming scene at the dinner table, the level of beer in each glass changes between shots before anyone drinks.

In 1915, when Tom meets Putty Nose at the pool hall, the sign on the wall says "Don't spit of the floor. Remember the Jamestown Flood". It was the city of Johnstown, not Jamestown than had the historic flood.

This movie is supposed to be a story within Chicago. The license plates on the front of the cars are not Illinois plates but resemble California plates from 1931, the time of the filming. The Plates shown have number sequence shown as 00 00 00 with spaces typical of California plates, while real 1931 Illinois plates are not as tall as the plates shown and bear a sequence as 000 - 000 with a dash in between.

When Mike confronts Tom at the dinner scene (where the keg of beer is on the table) about Tom's illegal activities and association with Paddy Ryan, there are 2 chevrons on his left sleeve (a corporal) and 3 on his right (a sergeant) Wouldn't the Marines (which Mike joined at the start of WWI) know which rank he was?

Mike Powers' Marine Corps jacket has a shoulder patch of the US Army 2nd Infantry Division, with its distinctive Indian head design.

In the scene where Paddy Ryan's bar is bombed, there are two individuals standing up in an open car preparing to throw the bombs meant to destroy the building. They throw the bombs and, as the car pulls away, the bombs bounce off the building and roll down the street immediately behind the car as it accelerates out of the frame, but the building blows up anyway.

The newspaper headline preceding the bombing of Paddy Ryan's bar starts with "Gangland Prepares For War"; however there is no byline for the writer of the article and, after the first paragraph, the story has nothing to do with the headline.

The trailer for the film begins by showing a 38 caliber revolver pointed at the viewer. Gun smoke moves across the screen. One can clearly see that all chambers are empty, thus the gun is unloaded.

The "Foreword" mentions that the movie is to depict "a certain strata of American life." "Strata" is the plural form of "stratum." The phrase should have been written "a certain stratum of American life."

As the boys pull up to rob the Fur Trading Company in the laundry truck, there is no license plate on the rear of the truck. Also there is no glass in the back door windows as one robber is seen putting his hand through the window.

The opening scenes of the movie supposedly take place in Chicago in 1909, yet there are many automobiles in the streets. At that time, a private car was a rare luxury, and most of the vehicles in the street would have been horse drawn wagons or carriages or electric trolleys.

Although the story takes place immediately after World War I, in the early 1920s, all of the cars, music, and women's hairstyles and fashions are from 1931.

When the phonograph needle is put on the record for the music that will play throughout the last scene, the music begins well before the needle touches the record.

Mic shadow (apparently disguised with leaves) in early scene where girl trips while roller skating.

When Powers feigns ignorance about guns, the salesman carefully explains the workings of a .38 revolver, yet seems unconcerned when Powers loads the gun using .38 cartridges that he takes out of his jacket pocket.

As a truck is leaving the Leehman Brewing Company, the shadow of a boom mic is visible on the side of the truck as it drives out the gate.

When Molly is reading the cards on the flowers sent for Mike's homecoming, the shadow of the boom mic is visible on the American flag flower arrangement.

After Tom trips a roller skating Molly with a string you can spot the entire contraptions shadow raising up on the fence.

Tom Powers and Matt Doyle are first seen in 1909 and appear to be pre-teenagers. Then, in 1915, just six years later, both men appear to be full grown adults close to their mid to late 20's.