Complete credited cast: | |||
Edward G. Robinson | ... | Johnny Blake | |
Joan Blondell | ... | Lee Morgan | |
Barton MacLane | ... | Al Kruger | |
Humphrey Bogart | ... | 'Bugs' Fenner | |
Frank McHugh | ... | Herman | |
Joe King | ... | Capt. Dan McLaren (as Joseph King) | |
Dick Purcell | ... | Ed Driscoll (as Richard Purcell) | |
George E. Stone | ... | Wires Kagel | |
Joseph Crehan | ... | Grand Jury Spokesman | |
Henry O'Neill | ... | Ward Bryant | |
Henry Kolker | ... | Mr. Hollister | |
Gilbert Emery | ... | Mr. Thorndyke | |
Herbert Rawlinson | ... | Mr. Caldwell | |
Louise Beavers | ... | Nellie LaFleur | |
Norman Willis | ... | Louie Vinci |
After police captain, McLaren becomes commissioner, former detective Johnny Blake knocks him down convincing rackets boss Al Kruger that Blake's sincere in his effort to join the mob. "Buggs" Fenner thinks Blake is a police agent. Written by Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
Following his brutal portrayal in "The Petrified Forest," Bogart became a much more articulate and calculating killer in "Bullets or Ballots," a gangster thriller starring Edward G. Robinson as a crusading crime-buster, modeled after true-life cop Johnny Broderick, known as "the toughest cop on Broadway," who pretended to be thrown off the police force in order to infiltrate Bogart's gang and get the evidence to bring him to justice
Bogart revealed no emotion whatever as he goes about his gun-happy chores of shooting a respected newspaperman as well as his partner-in-crime, Barton MacLane, in his characteristic double-cross
The exciting finale found both Bogart and Robinson in a blazing showdown, an unusual ending for this period in film history, but one which Robinson had fought hard to retain...
William Keighley directed the film with a firm and fresh efficiency