The Mayor of Hell (1933)

Five members of a teen-age gang, including leader Jimmy Smith, are sent to the state reformatory, presided over by the melodramatically callous Thompson. Soon, Patsy Gargan, a former ... See full summary »

Directors:

Archie Mayo, Michael Curtiz (uncredited)

Writers:

Edward Chodorov (screen play), Islin Auster (based on a story by)

Stars:

James Cagney, Madge Evans, Arthur Byron

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Cagney	...	Patsy
Madge Evans	...	Dorothy
Arthur Byron	...	Judge Gilbert
Allen Jenkins	...	Mike
Dudley Digges	...	Thompson
Frankie Darro	...	Jimmy
Sheila Terry	...	Blonde with Mike
Robert Barrat	...	Fred Smith
Allen 'Farina' Hoskins	...	Smoke (as Farina)
Harold Huber	...	Joe
Dorothy Peterson	...	Mrs. Smith
G. Pat Collins	...	Brandon (as George Pat Collins)
Edwin Maxwell	...	Louis Johnson
John Marston	...	Hopkins
William V. Mong	...	Mr. Walter

Storyline

Five members of a teen-age gang, including leader Jimmy Smith, are sent to the state reformatory, presided over by the melodramatically callous Thompson. Soon, Patsy Gargan, a former gangster appointed deputy commissioner as a political favor, arrives - complete with hip flask and blonde. Gargan falls for activist nurse Dorothy and, inspired by her, takes over the administration to run the place on radical principles. But Thompson, to conceal his years of graft, needs a quick way to discredit Gargan.

---

Plot Keywords:

nurse | juvenile delinquent | gang | reform school | gangster | 

---

Taglines:

See Warner Bros tear the taboo from another forbidden theme! A story more powerful than "I'm a Fugitive" Cagney lets go with everything he's got as the as THE BIG BROTHER OF TODAY'S WILD YOUTH! (Print ad from Los Angeles Times June 29, 1933)

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian Yiddish

Release Date:

24 June 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

Reform School

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$229,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Dorothy goes into her office and locks Patsy out, there is a table outside the door on which four books are resting. In the next shot, a closeup of the table top, there are only two books.

---

Quotes

Hopkins: [Night at the reform school's front gate.the guards in the high tower hears a car's engine revving towards them, then .it stops at the gate and he shines a light on it, and barks an order] Who's there?
Patsy: [Sticks his fedora - covered head out the driver's window] Gargan, the new depot commissioner, you screw.
[Smiling]
Hopkins: Oh, open the gate, Charlie,.it's Mr Gargan, the new deputy commissioner.
Patsy: Where's Thompson's office?
Hopkins: Yeah, third building on the right, Mr Gargan.
Patsy: You said it, bizarre.

---

Connections

Remade as Crime School (1938)

User Reviews

WB sure knew how to make them

This one of those social dramas that WB knew how to put together and were guaranteed boxoffice hits in the thirties. This early "dead end kids" are sent to a reform school where they are mistreated. Cagney, a gangster as part of a deal is appointed as the commissioner of the school. He doesn't take it seriously at first but he changes and makes the necessary changes to improve the lives of the boys. The idea is to let the boys rule and administer their community. Whether this is sound social reform is beyond my belief but it's a movie. It's a lot like Boys Town with a slight darker tone. A useless happy ending deluges what impact the scene prior hard but is still good. WB would later make this same movies with Bogart in the Cagney/fatherly role.