The Last Gangster (1937)

A gangster is jailed for ten years after his wife becomes pregnant. He becomes bitter when she divorces him and remarries.

Director:

Edward Ludwig

Writers:

John Lee Mahin (screen play), William A. Wellman (original story)

Stars:

Edward G. Robinson, James Stewart, Rose Stradner

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Edward G. Robinson	...	Joe Krozac
James Stewart	...	Paul North
Rose Stradner	...	Talya Krozac
Lionel Stander	...	'Curly'
Douglas Scott	...	Junior Krozac
John Carradine	...	Casper
Sidney Blackmer	...	Newspaper Editor
Grant Mitchell	...	Prison Warden
Edward Brophy	...	'Fats' Garvey (as Edward S. Brophy)
Alan Baxter	...	Frankie 'Acey' Kyle
Frank Conroy	...	Sid Gorman
Louise Beavers	...	Gloria

Storyline

Gangster Joe Krozac is in prison for ten years. Reporter Paul North is fired by his newspaper for writing articles sympathetic to Krozac's wife and young son. She divorces Krozac and marries North. When Korzac gets out he goes looking for his former wife and son.

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Plot Keywords:

divorce | prison visit | penitentiary | murder | reporter | 

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Taglines:

The First Gangster and The Last Gangster.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 November 1937 (USA)

Also Known As:

Another Public Enemy

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many actors listed in studio records as appearing in this film are not seen in the final print. These are, with their character names: Ernie Alexander, Nick Copeland and Frank Marlowe (Reporters), William Arnold, Arthur Howard, Mitchell Ingraham, Broderick O'Farrell and Cyril Ring (Fathers), Cy Kendall and Pierre Watkin (Editors), Eddie Marr (Frankie File), Walter Miller, (Mike Kile) and Paul Sutton (George Kile).

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Goofs

Joe Krozac is sent to Alcatraz in 1927, but Alcatraz didn't become a federal penitentiary until 1933.

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Quotes

Fats Garvey: Gee, i hope they sends us to Levensworth.
Joe Krozac: Whattaya wanna go there for?
Fats Garvey: So I can be near me pop. Boy, I'll bet he'll be glad to see me...
[Wistfully]
Fats Garvey: Pop!

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Crazy Credits

Credits appear as news headlines.

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Connections

Featured in Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

User Reviews

An entertaining gangster film with a "twist."

I saw "The Last Gangster" (1937) for the first time last night (7/18/2006) and found it to be a fairly entertaining film. Edward G. Robinson's acting,as per usual in gangster movies of this type, carried the film. It had its weak moments (like Rose Stander's acting) and its unlikely moments(like the final shooting scene), but it remained fairly entertaining just the same. There was one rather strange item about the film. One of the 1930s more identifiable "bad guy" actors (Edward Pawley) appeared only briefly in this film (in the scene where the mob tortures Robinson's character)and didn't have a single line of dialog! I found this rather odd after having seen Edward Pawley play featured roles such as: Public Enemy Number One in "G-Men", the head of a gangster mob in "King Solomon of Broadway", a crazed and rebellious convict in "Each Dawn I Die", a prominent gangster in "Smashing The Rackets" and in "Eyes of the Underworld", Bogart's bad-guy partner in "The Oklahoma Kid, et cetera. Perhaps this lends some additional credence to what some critics have claimed to be poor directing of this movie. Perhaps, also, the fact that there was no love lost between Robinson and Pawley had something to do with it. Interestingly, Pawley went on to replace Robinson as "Steve Wilson" in the long-running and highly popular radio drama series, Big Town, in the 1940s.