Invisible Stripes (1939) User Reviews

Fun & Entertaining

[boscofl · 8/10 · 11 November 2008]

"Invisible Stripes" is by no means a great film but I enjoy the heck out of it. Any crime picture that has George Raft and Humphrey Bogart is going to be worth a look. Here they play two cons: Raft planning to go straight and provide for his Mom and kid brother while Bogey returns to his criminal ways. There are so many interesting angles to this picture for true film buffs. First, Raft's younger brother is played by 21 year old William Holden in his second film. Watching him in this it is amazing he made many more; he is pretty whiny and forgettable as the hotheaded sibling. The great British actress Flora Robson plays their mother in a colossal bit of miscasting but since her role is minimal she retains her dignity (although some of the lovey-dovey exchanges with her movie son Raft are borderline incestuous). Bogey is his typical brilliant self and easily walks off with the picture. While he is continuing his cycle of bad-guy supporting roles his character is not without some redeeming features. Cast as his moll is Lee Patrick; the two would combine again in a couple of years as Sam Spade & Effie Perrine in "The Maltese Falcon." Another interesting footnote in the film is the brief appearance of Leo Gorcey as a department store clerk.

And finally I come to the star, George Raft. He has gained a reputation as a mercilessly wooden performer and some of it is deserved. I have always liked him and find this performance relatively solid; he is acted off the screen by Bogart in their scenes together and his one shot at emoting over his plight as an ex-con is comical but in the overall he is very likable. This is the kind of role Raft wanted to play: the tough guy who is good to his Ma, loyal to his friends, and possessing a strict code of ethics. Despite turning down nearly every role that made Bogart a star, Raft's brief career at Warners represents his best work.

If you are a fan of old Warners crime pictures you will have a good time with "Invisible Stripes."

"You think changin' your uniform means anything, you'll still be wearin' stripes. You may not be able to see 'em, but they'll be there alright."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 9 January 2005]

George Raft and an unrecognizably young William Holden are top billed as brothers Cliff and Tim Taylor in this 1939 gangster genre film that has both brothers skirting opposite sides of the law as they try to make a life for themselves.

The story opens with Cliff Taylor and fellow Sing Sing inmate Chuck Martin (Humphrey Bogart) about to leave prison with their sentences completed. Taylor is determined to go straight, Martin can't wait to get back to his criminal life. As Cliff tries to settle back into his former life with his family, events conspire against him making it difficult to stay on the straight and narrow. Additional pressure comes from brother Tim, who wants to make a better life for himself and fiancée Peggy (Jane Bryan), but earning twenty dollars a week as a mechanic makes him fantasize about "taking what he wants".

The film see-saws it's way back and forth for Cliff, who alternately tries to play it straight and then gets mixed up with Martin's gangster pals. In that regard, George Raft really gets to portray a con man, hiding his involvement from Tim and his mother (Flora Robson), until events spiral out of control during a botched robbery attempt by Martin's gang.

If you're into film nuances, this one offers a number of treats. For starters, there's the scene where Bogey's character Martin is shown coming out of a movie theater with his blonde girlfriend Molly (Lee Patrick); the film that's playing - 1939's "You Can't Get Away With Murder", starring Humphrey Bogart! Speaking of Molly, she's almost a dead ringer look alike for Bette Davis, making me do a couple of double takes. And then there's the brief uncredited appearance of Dead Ender Leo Gorcey as the head stock boy for a general store where Cliff briefly finds a job.

I found myself enjoying this film, even if uneven at times. George Raft and Humphrey Bogart went on to make one more film together in 1940's "They Drive By Night", where they share equal billing as brothers involved in wildcat trucking, one might call them brother truckers.

For it's own part, "Invisible Stripes" may be hard to come by, not available as a studio release, but many of these Warner Brothers films find their way onto classic movie TV channels like TCM or are available through specialty video houses. This one would be well worth your time, especially if you're a fan of Raft, Bogey, Holden or the gangster genre itself.

"I'm one of them there realists."

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 1 May 2015]

George Raft and Humphrey Bogart play two parolees who take different paths when they leave prison. Bogie immediately goes back to a life of crime while Raft tries to go straight. But fearing that his younger brother (a baby-faced William Holden) might follow in his footsteps if he can't get a break, Raft turns back to a life of crime.

Solid gangster picture from WB with a good cast. George Raft doesn't always get respect but he shows in this and other films that he was a decent actor. Young William Holden is a little melodramatic here. He still had room to improve. Lovely Jane Bryan is his girlfriend. This was the penultimate movie in her all-too-brief career. Humphrey Bogart plays yet another of his many gangster roles. He may not have been enjoying playing these parts much at this point of his career but he really was perfectly suited for them. He really steals the film from his co-stars. Flora Robson, Paul Kelly, and Henry O'Neill are among the other fine actors in the cast. Leo Gorcey has a small but amusing part. WB had such a strong stable of talent in their crime dramas of the '30s and '40s.

This is in many ways a predictable movie for WB that follows a formula I've seen in many gangster movies. The actors play roles they're very comfortable with, most of them having played similar parts before. But that doesn't mean it isn't entertaining. It's very enjoyable for someone like me, who likes not only the genre but the specific way Warner produced these films at the time. They were the go-to studio for urban dramas then and they made many classics that defined these types of stories to this day. This is a good one most fans of Bogart, Raft, and old gangster flicks will like.

Unable to go Straight

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 28 August 2005]

George Raft and Humphrey Bogart after a stretch in prison are getting out together. Raft is going to make a go of the straight life, but Bogart just wants to get back to being a criminal.

Raft makes a try at it, but the fact he's an ex-con is continually being held against him. Eventually he rejoins the old gang, but keeps it a secret from mother Flora Robson and brother William Holden.

Holden in the mean time is barely keeping his financial head above water at the gas station he works at. He's thinking real hard himself that brother Raft might have the right idea. All this is most distressing to Flora Robson and his fiancé, Jane Bryan.

At Warner Brothers, it's all been done before, the players slip comfortably into roles that are very familiar to them.

George Raft, a guy with limited skills was always believable in the urban criminal milieu because of who he hung out with. From Owney Madden to Meyer Lansky and most importantly Bugsy Siegel, Raft inhabited the wise guy world and basically was what you saw on the screen. Please recall Warren Beatty's film Bugsy which was spot on about Raft's relationship with him.

It's interesting to speculate that if Raft had been at Warner Brothers from the beginning of his career instead of Paramount what path it might have taken. The best gangster flicks were done by the Brothers Warner, but by 1939 with their stable of gangster stars established, Raft is like a spare tire there.

This was Bill Holden's second film and his joint contract holders of Paramount and Columbia lent him out here. He's playing the callow youth parts he specialized in before Sunset Boulevard. 'Smiling Jim' roles was what Holden disparagingly called these parts. It is rumored that Holden is also one of the extras in the prison yard in the James Cagney-George Raft film Each Dawn I Die. I've never been able to spot him though.

Flora Robson's one great actress, her talents allowing her to play a slum mother and Queen Elizabeth the first. Some critics say she's wasted here and maybe she is, but one of her better later roles is as Mrs. Gonzo, the Maltese mother in Alec Guinness's The Malta Story. Very similar part.

Jane Bryan's career was cut short all too soon, but not with tragedy, far from it. Shortly after this Bryan married Rexall Drug founder Justin Dart. She concentrated on the wife and mother thing and she was the wife of one of America's wealthiest citizens. Later on she had a hand in convincing her husband to back another of her former Warner Brothers contract players in a political career and lived to see Ronald Reagan become our 40th president.

Both Bill Holden and Humphrey Bogart would feud legendarily on the set of Sabrina in the Fifties. No hint of their future troubles here in Invisible Stripes. Bogart's done it all before at Warner Brothers. George Raft helped Bogey in his career by shortly turning down High Sierra, The Maltese Falcon and later Casablanca.

Fans of all the players mentioned here including myself will enjoy this film which admittedly won't rank in the top 10 of any of their credits.

A prison/gangster flick with an exciting climax

[smccain · 17 April 2003]

Two great tough-guy actors, Raft and Bogart, play ex-cons. Bogart leaves prison and goes right back to the gangster life. Raft tries to go straight but, distressed by his younger brother's economic hardship, finally decides to join Bogart's gang pals.

The pace is very slow until Raft joins Bogart in the robbery gang. The second act involves a good bit of sentimental and repetitive elaboration of how hard it is for an ex-con to get a break, how life is unfair to the working man, and how much George Raft loves his mother. A certain sort of New Deal/AFL-CIO sensibility permeates the script. At one point, a factory boss offers Raft $30 a week ($10 more than Raft was making at his last job) if Raft will spy on the factory workers, who are dissatisfied with working conditions. Raft punches the boss -- insulted that the guy would even ask him to be a stool pigeon. And there's a little imbroglio between Holden and some stereotypical rich guy (with top hat and limousine) who unintentionally insults Holden's fiancee.

But after the proletarian class-struggle theme is exhausted, Raft joins up with Bogart's gang and the REAL action begins, featuring some well-choreographed shootouts and chase scenes.

Raft's performance is kind of weak, because he's trying to play a nice, sympathetic character -- it just doesn't work. Bogart is delightful as the disillusioned cynic, who is nonetheless loyal and reasonably noble in the end. A special pleasure in 30s flicks like this is the double-breasted suit-and-fedora gangster style. It's hard to imagine modern-day hoodlums dressing so sharp (even if they were gauche enough to wear their hats indoors).

(NOTE: Contrary to another member's comment, William Holden plays George Raft's younger brother, not his son.)

Well made, well acted, with a solid well-meant story about justice and reform

[secondtake · 7/10 · 23 June 2014]

Invisible Stripes (1939)

Both a crime movie and a message movie, a Warner Bros. look at two convicts released at the same time each trying to go back to some life outside of jail. It's interesting, and well done of course (it's 1939 after all), and stars George Raft who holds his own in his stiff, sincere way. More curious for sure is the secondary role by the up and coming Humphrey Bogart, still a couple years from his breakthrough movies. And then maybe most astonishing to see is a very young William Holden (I didn't even recognize him) in his second credited role.

It's Raft who plays the good guy, almost too good to believe for a guy who did years of jail time, but the idea is that he's learned his lesson and he's going straight. Even with his edgy little brother itching to be a criminal himself. They have for a mom the dependable Flora Robson who is filled with such worldly pathos you can't help but feel for her. The girlfriend here is the really convincing Jane Bryan, who had a short career with mostly stereotyped roles but she exudes true innocent sweetness on screen (she appeared in lots of great Warner films of the late thirties, including "Each Dawn I Die).

And Bogart here plays the bad guy, the ex-con who is going to jump right into his old ways. We don't see much of him for most of the movie, except a couple scenes to show his girlfriend with hair of "gold" and his crooked gang of friends. But of course the two worlds—nice family with two troubled sons and loner man with his thugs—re- collide. Temptations of easy money, a seeming sense of poverty, and several kinds of loyalty (to a brother, to a friend, to a lover) all play together there and the last half of the movie is top notch stuff.

The message part of the movie is simple but important, and as usual has Warner Bros pointing to some problems in society from a generally liberal point of view. That is, an ex-con deserves an honest shake because the system is stacked against him. It works. When the sign lights up at the end and it says "bros" up there (just like Warner Bros), you feel all the ramifications of that built up through the story.

There are enough clichés here, and few little moments that seem a bit rushed or choppy (including the sudden change in attitude of the Holden character) you might not find this to be a classic. But it's really good. See it!

William Holden at 22

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 18 April 2012]

Somehow at the age of 22, William Holden looked like a better-looking Tom Hanks. And I'll bet there are a lot of people who could sit through "Invisible Stripes" and not know it was William Holden.

"Invisible Stripes" stars George Raft, Humphrey Bogart, William Holden, and Jane Bryan.

George Raft plays Cliff Taylor who, once released from prison, decides to stay on the straight and narrow. His pal, Chuck Martin (Bogart) has no such intentions. Cliff, who has a brother (Holden) and a mother (Fay Robson) finds the going tough, unable to get a job he can keep for various reasons, usually someone making trouble for him. His kindly parole officer encourages him to keep trying. With his brother Tim wanting to marry his girlfriend Peggy, and the job situation, Cliff decides to go in with Chuck's group.

Pretty good gangster flick, with Bogart, not long before his breakout role in High Sierra, giving the strongest performance. Raft is playing a good guy so he doesn't demonstrate a lot of bite. The film has some exciting scenes, particularly toward the end.

Holden, as stated above, is just a kid but does a good job as a man in love who wants to give his girlfriend the world, if only he had some money. It would be 11 years before he made his mark in "Sunset Boulevard" and became a true superstar.

As an aside, Jane Bryan retired to marry Justin Dart, who took over Rexall Drug chain. She died in 2009 at the age of 91.

In many ways a typical Warner Brothers gangster film, but a good one.

As Straight as a Curve...

[Xstal · 7/10 · 26 August 2023]

After a few years when you've been incarcerated, as you've been patient and composed, quietly waited, you're released out on parole, look for work on the payroll, but all you find is that ex-cons are often slated. Persistence is the trait that you exhibit, you find a role that you would usually prohibit, but the die cast long ago, means privilege has to forgo, accused of a recent crime, but it don't fit. So old habits are revived and you go back, to a job that lets you visit and ransack, with Chuck Martin and his gang, you have intent, you have a plan, but there's always going to be, a big payback.

OK melodrama that tries hard

[ROCKY-19 · 7/10 · 18 November 2006]

This film should have been more interesting with the potential of such a cast. The script tries to be important. Indeed, we again get a "Les Miserables"-themed story of a parolee trying to go straight but finding all of the rules and society's prejudice forcing him back to crime. But Lloyd Bacon's sluggish direction holds everything back and it is never interesting storytelling.

How can a film with George Raft, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden not be compelling? Thank you, Mr. Bacon, for demonstrating. Raft tries hard to be the nice guy but the script gives the character no depth. He could be any ex-con coming home after a stint in Sing Sing. He seems handcuffed throughout. He does believably make a (much) older brother for Holden - the voice, the nose - but he surely can't pass for 27. Holden is so young and enthusiastic and all his acting mechanics are hanging out there for everyone to see. As few as his scenes are, Bogart is a steady if smarmy hand to get the action started.

Flora Robson, as the mother of Raft and Holden, is the most sympathetic character. The actress had a tremendous soul to give weight to what could be a thankless part. Only through her does any real feeling come into this melodrama. And though nearly seven years younger than Raft, just a little age makeup makes her look as if she could at least be his aunt.

It is interesting that the film never shows the cons in actual prison stripes. The only two scenes of Raft and Bogart in prison are in the shower (thank you) and in the warden's office before leaving.

I do like to show this film to friends after they've seen John Ford's "Mary of Scotland" just so they can be amazed at Moroni Olsen's range.

An interesting gangster / social drama !

[gullwing592003 · 9/10 · 25 June 2011]

It's high time this movie is released on DVD, it was never released before on VHS. This is one of my favorite Warner Bros. gangster films that stars both George Raft & Humphrey Bogart. I'm a fan of both actors & the gangster genre. But this isn't just another typical "knock down, drag out, car chasing, gun blasting gangster film, it's also a social commentary on just how tough it really was to live in depression era 1930's America. In the early 1930's public enemies like Al Capone, John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, Machine Gun Kelly etc. were celebrated folk hero's & the public had no respect for law & order until G-men like Melvin Purviss, Elliot Ness & Thomas E. Dewey cracked down & stopped these colorful characters dead in their tracks. Only then the tide turned & the people had a new found respect & admiration for law & order.

Invisible Stripes opens in Sing Sing prison with Cliff Taylor (Raft) & Chuck Martin (Bogart) on their way out of prison. Raft chooses the straight & narrow path while Bogart chooses to take up where he left off as a criminal. Both men have justifiable reasons for their paths. Bogie reasons that the odds are stacked up too high against them to go straight because of the economic hardship & the way the system is set up. A paroled convict only has a short time to get a job or end up back in jail. Raft soon finds out just how tough getting a job is & how cold & unfair the outside world is to an ex-con. He is greeted with suspicion, distrust & joblessness, his girlfriend quickly rejects him as soon as he gets out. Because Raft is an ex-con now he's not good enough for her anymore.

Raft has a kid brother named Tim played by a young & "very different" William Holden, Tim is a grease monkey & dreams of a better life & wants a garage of his own. When the going gets tough he starts to become rebellious but Raft discourages him from following in his convict footsteps & beats some sense into him. Raft needs to get from "Rags to Riches" quickly & looks up Bogart & decides to join Chucks gang in a series of bank robberies just to get enough jack saved up to buy an auto shop for him & his kid brother (Holden) to keep him straight.

After Cliff quits the gang in a subsequent botched up heist Chuck uses Tim's garage as a hideout until the heat cools off. Chuck lies to Tim by making him think that Cliff was in on the armoured car heist to assure his silence. After helping Chuck & his gang escape Tim is later arrested by the police & thrown in jail, placing Raft in the middle between a loyalty to Chuck & his kid brother Tim. But Cliff will not let his kid brother take the rap for Chuck & his gang & convinces him to rat on Chuck & the other gangsters by identifying them at the police station.

Chuck helps Cliff anyway against the other gangsters out to shoot Raft for betraying them & Bogart even takes a bullet for Raft as both are shot & killed. Bogart is a likable bad guy in this movie unlike his other gangsters during this period like "Angels With Dirty Faces" & "The Roaring Twenties" We all sympathize with Raft's character as he suffers much hardship, injustice & humiliation from the outside world because he's wearing invisible stripes.

Bogart's role as Chuck Martin is also sympathetic in a way because of the bond & close friendship that grew between the 2 men while they were in prison. It was tragic to see both actors getting killed in the end. If you're a fan of Raft & Bogart & the gangster genre this is a good watch. Recommended !

Programmer with some bright spots

[klg19 · 6/10 · 29 August 2005]

"Invisible Stripes" was based on a book by the same former prison warden responsible for the (far better) "20,000 Years in Sing Sing." Casting really does matter.

George Raft turns in a characteristically wooden performance as the ex-con trying to go straight in a world stacked against him. It really is heart-breaking to watch the different ways he loses jobs, unable to shake the shadow of the "invisible stripes" that cover any convict. The strictures on parolees in the 1930s, if accurately depicted, *do* seem a little on the strong side--they weren't even allowed to have drivers licenses! Raft is paired with, in the accurate words of another reviewer, an "unrecognizably young" William Holden. Flora Robson, who plays their mother, was actually six years younger than Raft at the time of shooting. Jane Bryan is convincing and touching as Holden's long-time fiancée.

Bogart spices up the story considerably, in a performance that may have been routine on the page but which comes fully to life in his hands. The film was originally to have been cast with Jimmy Cagney and John Garfield, but Bogart replaced Cagney in order to give him a vacation. I can't help but wonder how much better the film would have been with Garfield in the Raft role. Raft may have known the gang life inside out, but he couldn't act his way out of a paper bag.

When grand larceny may be justifiable

[weezeralfalfa · 8/10 · 27 December 2017]

As you may have guessed from the film title, one of the main themes of this gangster flick is the difficulty ex-cons have in adjusting to the outside world, especially the perception that they are a dangerous person to employ or associate with. George Raft, as Cliff Taylor, a parolee, is featured as an example. He was released with high praise by the warden, yet experiences rejection by his ex-girlfriend, then by various prospective employers, as well as fellow employees, in some instances. When something went wrong, he was likely to be blamed, and fired. The relationship between Cliff and fellow ex-con Chuck Martin(Humphrey Bogart) is complex. They were released from Sing Sing prison the same day, but with opposite attitudes about resuming their criminal career. Chuck said trying to go straight was so discouraging that it wasn't worth the effort. Cliff took the attitude that if he tried hard enough, he would eventually make it. Besides, he didn't want to draw his kid brother, Tim(William Holden) into a life of crime. But his experiences were so negative, he finally gave up and joined Chuck's gang in a number of bank robberies. In part, he did this to finance a garage for Tim, who presently was a grease monkey for another owner. From Tim's talk, Cliff was afraid he might embark on a spree of thievery.to finance his dream(Presumably, Tim didn't qualify for a standard loan to start his garage). .... After Cliff collected enough money to finance Tim's garage, he told the gang that he was quitting, because he had enough money. They didn't much like this, but Chuck gave his OK. Chuck's gang then tried to rob a bank armored truck, but it went badly. They hopped in their cars, with police chasing. Chuck was wounded in the leg. One car rode into Tim's garage for cover. Chuck told Tim that Cliff was part of his gang(not true at this point), and had gotten the money for his garage by being such, not by selling tractors(true). Tim drove Chuck to a spot where his girlfriend Molly(Lee Patrick) was parked, to take him home. Tim returned to his garage, where police were waiting, and was arrested for aiding a robbery. Cliff got wind of this and arranged for the charge on Tim to be dropped if he identified the members of the gang. Cliff then went to see Chuck, twice. The second time, he offered to help get Chuck, with his bad leg, out of town. But, as soon as they got out of the door, several members of his gang started firing at them(I don't understand why?). I leave the finale for you to see....... Cliff felt he owed Chuck a measure of loyalty, since he had included Cliff in a number of successful bank heists. However, where loyalty to Chuck conflicted with his goal of keeping Tim out of crime, he chose Tim over the gang. Perhaps I missed something, but I still don't understand why Chuck's gang turned against him in the end. To me, that's the main problem with the screenplay. Also, if you don't go for the idea that larceny is occasionally justified, you will have rejected one of the 2 main themes of the film.

Discriminated by the Society

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 30 April 2016]

Cliff Taylor (George Raft) and his pal Chuck Martin (Humphrey Bogart) are released together from Sing Sing. Cliff wants to regenerate and have a straight life while Chuck has no intention of changing his lifestyle. Cliff wants to support his mother Mrs. Taylor (Flora Robson) and his younger son Tim Taylor (William Holden) that can not afford to get married with his girlfriend Peggy (Jane Bryan). However he is discriminated by the society and has difficulties to get a job. When he sees Tim thinking to switch to a life if crime, Cliff seeks out Chuck and decides to join his gang to heist banks and make money to buy a garage for Tim. What will happen to the Taylor brothers?

"Invisible Stripes" is an entertaining gangster film with the story of an ex-con that wants to go straight during his parole but is discriminated by the society, returning to the crime. The fate of Cliff Taylor is predictable. The greatest attractions are probably William Holden very young is his second credited role and Humphrey Bogart in a support role. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available on Blu-Ray or DVD.

Going Straight

[sol- · 5/10 · 9 July 2016]

Prison stripes is what the title here refers to as a reformed gangster tries to go straight upon being released from prison, only to find that no legitimate business wants to employ an ex-con and nobody wants to work beside one. It is a bit of a simplistic message to drive an entire film, and star George Raft's dialogue only spells things out with lines such as "the rules only work one way", but Raft is nevertheless convincing as an ex-con gradually driven back into a life of crime since nobody out there seems to care whether or not he has really reformed. Solid support also comes from a pre-'Maltese Falcon' Humphrey Bogart as fellow inmate of Raft's who decides not to even attempt going straight after his stint in the joint. The less said about William Holden, cast as Raft's kid brother, the better though. It is interesting to see the Oscar winner younger than ever in his first major role here, but his character is irksome and seems to only function as an excuse for Raft to later get back into the criminal underworld. Whatever the case, the film never outstays its welcome, running at just over 75 minutes. It also helps that the movie has its heart in the right place with its blunt portrait of the difficulties faced by former criminals trying to turn straight, but it is a theme done much better since. The film's descent into obscurity over the years is certainly no surprise, but Bogart is really that impressive for those thinking of seeking it out. His turn here is even arguably finer than in 'They Drive by Night', which Bogie and Raft also collaborated on in the following year.

Underrated

[Michael_Elliott · 12 March 2008]

Invisible Stripes (1938)

*** (out of 4)

Another Warner gangster film this time a gangster (George Raft) gets paroled and plans on going straight until he overhears his younger brother (William Holden) thinking about entering the racket so that his new wife can have a better life. To prevent that from happening Raft goes back into the racket with the help of #1 guy (Humphrey Bogart). Great performances and chemistry between Raft and Holden with good support from Bogart really pushes this one over the edge. The nice story and backslap at the parole board are interesting and the various shoot outs and bank robberies are filmed perfectly. A couple of The Dead End Kids (including Leo) have a funny cameo.

A great cast hemmed in by an often too-talkative script

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 29 May 2015]

A great cast is closeted in a movie that spends a great deal of its running time shooting down the then-current USA parole system. Fortunately, all the characters are well acted, though we see a little too much of impassive parolee, George Raft – here nearing the end of his number one star-billing career – and not enough of people like Paul Kelly, Lee Patrick, Marc Lawrence and Leo Gorcey. After a somewhat too long introduction in the prison showers, Bogart disappears from the movie for long stretches but fortunately figures as a central character in the all-action climax. A pity the movie-makers didn't wrap the film up at that point, but instead they tag on a somewhat overly sentimental all's-well-that-ends-well wrap-up with Bill Holden and Jane Bryan. Available on a superb Warner DVD.

Bogey On The Rise

[ferbs54 · 7/10 · 6 July 2009]

The years 1937-39 were extraordinarily productive ones for rising star Humphrey Bogart. He appeared in no less than 20 (!) films during those three years (seven in '37, six in '38 and seven in '39), playing "the heavy" in most of them. His last film of this period was "Invisible Stripes," a lesser Warner Bros. gangster film that still offers much. Bogey, fourth billed here, plays Chuck Martin, an inveterate hood who is released from Sing Sing after a five-year stretch and returns to his old ways back in the big city. Getting out of the slammer on the same day is Cliff Taylor, played by the film's nominal star, George Raft. Back at home, Cliff finds that being on parole isn't so easy. His old girlfriend summarily dumps him, no employer will hire him, and his kid brother (William Holden, here in one of his earliest roles) is being drawn into a life of crime to finance his dream of an automotive shop and to marry pretty Jane Bryan. Good thing that Bogey consents to bring Cliff along on a string of capers to pick up some folding money.... Anyway, while not in the same rarefied league of such Warners gangster flix as "Angels With Dirty Faces" and "The Roaring Twenties," this Bogey outing is still lots of fun. It features an exciting armored-car robbery and resultant high-speed car chase, loads of terrific character actors (Flora Robson, Leo Gorcey, Paul Kelly, Lee Patrick, Marc Lawrence, John "Perry White" Hamilton, et al.), reams of snappy patter and even some brightly amusing bits. (I love the scene in which Bogey and his blond moll are shown exiting a movie theatre that is playing "You Can't Get Away With Murder"...another Bogart picture from 1939!) Bogey easily walks away with this picture, stealing every scene that he is in, and his final words, "You can't live forever," are worth the price of admission alone. It would be another few years until 1941's "High Sierra" and "The Maltese Falcon" really made the world see him in a new light, but "Invisible Stripes" was still a highly entertaining vehicle for his ever-growing talent.

Bogie breathes life into this standard flick

[jjnxn-1 · 7/10 · 12 October 2013]

George Raft gives a slightly more animated performance than usual, which means his face actually moves once or twice but his eyes are still empty and blank, his successful starring career has always been a mystery. He is supported by a much better cast than he, an unbelievably young William Holden does fine by his part but is still rather green. Flora Robson and Jane Bryan have thankless parts as the long suffering mother and girlfriend but do okay with them. The real standout is Bogart followed closely by Lee Patrick as his moll, they breath life into the picture whenever they are on screen. Bacon's direction is nothing special but he keeps things moving along at a good clip.

Your not squealing get me! Your telling the truth!

[sol-kay · 6/10 · 21 September 2006]

(There are Spoilers) Being sprung from the big house ex-cons and good friends Cliff Taylor and Chuck Martin, George Raft & Humphrey Bogart, go their separate ways. Cliff determined to go straight and become a law abiding citizen with Chuck going back to his gang of hoods that the left for a five year forced vacation in the clink.

Cliff coming back home get's his first taste of reality, as being a man with a criminal record, with the girl that he left behind Sue, Margot Stevenson, dropping him like a hot potato. Sue seeing that there's no future for her in hitching up with the unwanted, by society, and unemployable ex-convict. Cliff is also a bit disturbed with his hot-headed younger brother Tim, William Holden, wanting to follow in his footsteps as a hoodlum. Feeling that it's the only way for him to get out of the hopeless poverty that he finds himself in working on and off as a grease monkey whenever he can find work at the local garages.

We see the hardships that Cliff has to contend with as an ex-con no matter what job he get's through the help of his kindly and caring parole officer Masters,Henry O'Neill. From a grease monkey, like his brother Tim, to a loader of heavy equipment at a plant where he's forced to lay out a fellow worker who was breaking his chops.

Finally getting a job as a stock-boy Cliff starts to become a productive citizen working his way up to a stock clerk. But is later fired when he's accused, but later found innocent, of knocking off a fur store for $40,000.00. Meanwhile Tim feeling that he can't make it big in the world of business and finance for himself as well as his girl Peggy ,Gane Bryan, goes out and with a few friends and beats up and mugs a drunk for $6.00. With Cliff finding out what Tim did he locked him up in his room and proceeds to knock some common sense into his hard and pig-headed skull.

It's with him getting all fed up with all the obstacles thrown in his path that keeps Cliff from straightening himself out that he reluctantly goes to the local bookie joint when he get in touch with Chuck, now a big shot in the New York mob, for a job with his gang as a bank robber. Knocking of a number of banks and armored cars Cliff sends his share of the stolen loot to Tim telling him that he got himself a job as a door to door salesman selling trackers and farming equipment to farmers in upstate New York.

Tim using the money that his big brother Cliff mailed him opens up a garage but as you would have expected it turns out that he get's unloved with Chuck's and Cliff's gang. That happens after they tried to rob an armored car ending up with a number of people being shot and killed. The Chuck Martin Gang making their getaway to Tim's garage and then having the scared and confused Tim bamboozled into helping them. Chuck tells him that his brother Cliff was also involved in the shootout which was a lie; Cliff had already broke with Chuck's gang and went back to being an honest and law abiding citizen.

Cliff finding out about his brother Tim being now involved in a crime that can possibly land him in the Sing Sing electric chair, there were a number of innocent persons killed goes to the police and makes a deal with them. The deal is to have the now in custody Tim identify Chuck and his gang that in return the D.A would drop all charges against him.

Cliff now finally realizes that he put Tim in this deadly position by him going back to his criminal ways. He now has no choice but to later confront Chuck & Co. and with taking the blame for Tim's fingering them on himself he'll thus let the chips fall where they may and take everything, good or bad, thats coming to him.

compelling character work turns into less interesting gangster work

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 14 September 2020]

Cliff Taylor (George Raft) and Chuck Martin (Humphrey Bogart) are both released from prison. Cliff is trying to go straight but finds parole life difficult. His younger brother Tim grows frustrated at not having enough money to marry his sweetheart Peggy. Meanwhile, Chuck is back living the high life of crime.

I like Cliff's tribulation as an ex-con trying to go straight. That's a compelling character study. The best section is when he gets pulled in for a random unrelated crime. I actually like the brother growing angry. I hoped that Cliff would be facing off against Chuck for his brother's fate. It loses a bit of steam when it turns into a more conventional gangster crime drama. It actually becomes less compelling despite having more Bogie.

Sing-Sing In a Sidecar

[davidcarniglia · 9/10 · 17 October 2018]

George Raft and Humphrey Bogart play a couple of ex-cons who could also be shadows of each other. Raft's Cliff is more sensible, wanting to blend into life as a citizen, Bogart's Chuck is more hedonistic, looking for action, excitement, and a return to the criminal underworld.

The other pairing in Invisible Stripes is Cliff and his brother Tim (William Holden). Ironically, Tim aspires to a quick way to the top, aping Cliff's criminal past, which Cliff desperately tries to put behind him. But nothing works out for Cliff; everyone from prospective employers to his girlfriend reject him for what he's done, not for who he is.

Just as Cliff finally finds a decent situation, thanks to a sympathetic employer, he's accused of robbing the place. He finally succumbs to temptation, and throws in with Bogart's gang. As others have noted, the pace picks up at that point, and an attempt by Chuck's gang to implicate both Cliff and Tim fails. After a wild chase scene and plenty of shooting, Cliff ends up getting killed anyway.

What's interesting is that Chuck and Cliff put their friendship before everything else. Neither is completely blameless, nor completely blameworthy. Chuck bravely lets Cliff quit the gang, as Cliff realizes he's not comfortable being a criminal anymore. Cliff, for his part, tries to help Chuck after he's injured during the car chase. Both end up victims of the same group of thugs.

Cliff's death at least has tragic meaning. Tim acknowledges Cliff's influence by calling his garage Taylor Bros., telling the inquisitive cop that his brother is "a silent partner." Even though Tim hasn't suffered to the extent that Cliff has, Tim's relationship with Peggy (June Bryan) has been rocky because even she disdains a steady, but gradual ordinary rise in society.

Invisible Stripes gives us a very nuanced, conflicted character in Cliff. Raft has a very powerful, menacing air; that makes his journey out of the criminal world seem all the more intriguing and difficult. Bogart, on the other hand, seems to enjoy himself until his crimes catch up with him. His happy-go-lucky character looks out of place as the hardball gangster he's become.

Invisible Stripes acts as a sort of bridge between the action-packed gangland movies of the '30s and the atmospheric, psychological film noirs of the '40s. The criminal justice system is evenly presented; it's society and the individual's reaction to it that brings conflict and crime in this urban climate.

It's great to watch Raft dodge trouble, and Bogart ignore it while he can. Highly entertaining, well-worth a look. 9/10.

The Cast is the Main Attraction in Typical WB Gangster/Social Commentary

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 23 April 2015]

An Iconic Cast of Warner Bros. Gangsters and Other Actors Worthy of Note are All Brought Together in This Typical Social Commentary that the Studio was Well Known. This One is About Ex-Cons Not Getting a Fair Shake in the Unemployment Line.

Notable for Not Only Humphrey Bogart in One of His Last Pictures Before He Went Into the "Big Time", but George Raft Riding His Now Unfathomable Star Power, a Very Young and Handsome William Holden in His Second Film, Flora Robson as the All Loving Mother, Paul Kelly and Marc Lawrence as Hoodlums, and the "Babes", Jane Bryan and Lee Patrick. All Doing Typical Good Work.

The Movie is Never Preachy and Seems to be Even Handed on its Subject Matter. The Characters are More than One Dimensional and Overall a Pretty Good Movie. There is a Rousing Robbery and Escape Sequence with Cars Screeching and Bullets Flying.

Overall, Slightly Above Average with the Cast Elevating it Somewhat to the Must See Category. Nothing, Story Wise, is Special. Still It's Got Something for Those Attracted to Slick WB Gangster Flicks and Fans of Raft, Bogart, and Holden.

Up until about 60% of the way through the film it was exceptional,...then it lost some of its steam..

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 7 January 2007]

The main theme through most of the film was excellent. George Raft is being released from prison on parole. He honestly wants to succeed and does his best to stay clean, but has a hard time getting a fair shake on the outside. He's got a devil of a time getting a job and the system seems out to put a lot of roadblocks in his way. This social justice theme is good and provokes a lot of thought,...then it all gets lost as the plot takes a crazy turn that tends to undo so much of the original message. In so ways, it looked like two different films melded together!

At about one hour into the film, Raft is taken in by the police for questioning about a robbery. He was innocent and ultimately is exonerated and at the same time he's just completed his one year of parole. However, now that his life is falling into place, he goes back to a life of crime!!! Yes, the film tried to show that he was doing this to help his struggling brother, but it still made no sense. After all, throughout the film, he stood up for what was right and was a decent guy you couldn't help but like,...and then THAT?!?! It just wasn't at all convincing and helped to hopelessly muddle the message.

This is a real good example of the actors being better than the material--and it's just too bad. While still a decent gangster film, it could have been a better gangster film with a real message--something that is just tossed aside for some inexplicable reason.

Average crime melodrama is routine assembly line stuff...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 17 April 2006]

You're not missing anything if you skip INVISIBLE STRIPES. None of the players are seen to any particular advantage--not boyish looking WILLIAM HOLDEN or tough guy GEORGE RAFT, paired as hot-headed brothers who can't seem to get away from a life of crime. Raft plays a parolee who tries keeping his kid brother Holden clean, while at the same time tempted to join a gang of thieves when he can't seem to hold down a respectable job.

JANE BRYAN, FLORA ROBSON and HUMPHREY BOGART are fine in supporting roles but nothing about their work is liable to stick in the memory. Bogart plays his typical hoodlum role, writhing on the floor under a hail of bullets as was his usual destiny in these sort of things.

Bogart, of course, came into his own once he in inherited all the roles George Raft foolishly turned down--including THE MALTESE FALCON. Raft underplays his role here to such an extent that he looks bored with the whole thing--which he probably was.

This is strictly a routine Warner crime melodrama with uninspired script and direction and easily one you can skip despite a couple of well-staged shootouts.

Routine

[rmax304823 · 25 August 2002]

A pretty good cast, or at any rate well known, but the story is strictly by the numbers. Raft is released from prison, has difficulty finding and keeping work because of prejudice against ex-inmates, is drawn back into life of crime, and so on. The gunfighter who's attempt to hang up his guns and retire was an exercise in futility. There are one or two shootouts to enliven the story, but even they seem routine. Maudlin score. Just another Warner's gangster movie with nothing outstanding in the script, performances, or direction.