Angels with Dirty Faces

Summary

“I ain’t dead yet.”

I have come to terms with the fact that I am full-on addict for the film noir and gangster genres. It seems like every few weeks I need to watch another hard-edged crime picture from the Thirties or Forties. Luckily, Warner Archive is more than happy to keep a steady supply of important film noirs and crime films populating my Blu-ray player. It seems that there is almost a never-ending stream of good material to draw from out of their vault. A case in point – Warner Archive has just released the long-requested Michael Curtiz directed Angels with Dirty Faces. This film pairs the Casablanca director with stars  James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, and a group of actors called “the Dead End Kids.” From the first frames of the picture, I knew it was going to satisfy my craving, despite its unique morality play aspects that lend the film an almost PSA quality. I watched it the other night and was extremely happy to have the film in my collection.

As the film begins, Harding has just been elected President. In the streets, slum kids William “Rocky” Sullivan and his friend Jerry Connelly watch the people in the streets below them. They taunt a girl named Laury Martin and when she talks back to them, Rocky pulls down her hat over her head. Jerry and Rocky go to a Railyard and seeing an opportunity, they decide to grab some pens out of a boxcar stacked full of fountain pens. The two boys are caught in the act by the watchman and he calls for the police. They run away and Jerry trips on a railroad track. Rocky helps Jerry up before a train would have hit him. When the boys try to hop a fence, Rocky is caught and Jerry escapes. This single incident sends the boys down very different paths. Rocky is sent to a reformatory school and his life of crime begins. He escalates from small crimes to becoming a fully fledged gangster. Jerry goes down a path of righteousness and becomes a Priest. Rocky’s (James Cagney) lawyer Frasier (Humphrey Bogart) convinces Rocky to take a wrap so that a $100,000.00 theft can stay unclaimed. Rocky agrees as long as he can claim the funds upon his release. Upon his release from prison three years later, Rocky goes to visit Jerry who is a priest in the same ward where they both grew up. Father Jerry watches over a group of low-income slum kids like themselves (played by “the Dead End Kids”) and tries to steer them away from criminal activities. When Rocky goes to rent a room from Mrs Maggione’s rooming house, he encounters Laury (Ann Sheridan) again. She rents him a room to him and when she recognizes him she pulls his hat over his head in revenge. Rocky goes to see Frasier who has done well for himself in the interim with the $100 grand. Rocky wants his $100 grand, and his piece of the pie from Frasier’s business interests. Frasier tells him he will get him the money in a few days, but he is actually none too pleased to see his old partner. As Frasier works on a plan to cross Rocky and avoid parting with his money, Rocky befriends the slum kids. As they begin to look up to him, Father Jerry worries that Rocky is going to lead his flock to the slaughter. The film hinges on the interactions between Jerry and Rocky as they both pursue their chosen paths.

Angels with Dirty Faces is a classic gangster picture. Shot in black-and-white by cinematographer Sol Polito, the film is well directed by Michael Curtiz. Curtiz had an excellent eye as a director and the film is visually interesting consistently – from the very first shots of the city life of the youngsters to the final sequences that take place in and out of a prison – Curtiz knew what he was doing to bring out the best from his actors and his cinematographer. Curtiz is best known for directing Casablanca, but he was a versatile director who directed The Breaking Point, Yankee Doodle Dandee, Captain Blood, and The Adventures of Robin Hood. With whatever project he tackled, he rose to the occasion. With Angels with Dirty Faces he was given a fantastic cast to work with and a strong scenario from screenwriters John Wexley and Warren Duff (with uncredited work from Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur.)  Cagney is a blast to watch in the film. His control over his facial expressions and body from his years in vaudeville made him a formidable presence on screen. For example, there is a basketball scene with some really great physical comedy as Cagney beats the kids into submission and beats them into abandoning their tactics that rely upon fouls and walking with the ball. The scene calls for excellent comedic timing and precise actions. Cagney breezes through the sequence and makes it work with aplomb. With lesser actors the sequence could have come off as completely silly. With Cagney at the helm, it shows off how in control of himself Rocky is. In discussions with Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick spoke about his decision to hire Jack Nicholson in The Shining, with his reasoning being that he was a fan of James Cagney’s acting style and that Nicholson was in that same tradition. Watching Angels with Dirty Faces, that statement made perfect sense. The film is a good showpiece for the actor. Alongside Cagney, Pat O’Brien shines as the pious Father Connelly. In the finale of the picture as the film reaches its denouement, O’Brien is a perfect voice of moral reason. He fits the role well. Ann Sheridan is similarly well cast in the film. She has the right look to play the street toughened Laury. It feels believable when she says her last boyfriend went down in a hail of police gunfire. The last bit of clever casting is the great Humphrey Bogart. Bogart was a one-of-a-kind actor, and it is a lot of fun to see him playing the part of a corrupt lawyer.

Angels with Dirty Faces is certainly a product of its time. The film reflects the moral reasoning of the enforced code at the time of its production, but that type of moral reasoning does not in any way hamper my enjoyment of the film. Cagney and the other actors are wonderful to watch in the picture and Michael Curtiz directs the film with skill. For fans of Cagney, Bogart, and gangster films, picking up this release from Warner Archive should be an easy decision.

Video

Warner Bros. did a fantastic job on the transfer of the film using an MPEG- 4 AVC codec of a new 4K restoration in Black and White. For the most part, Angels with Dirty Faces looks great, even blown up on a projection screen. The film benefits from the cinematic talents of director Michael Curtiz and cinematographer Sol Polito. While the film shows its age (its over eighty years old) in the somewhat soft nature of the backgrounds, it is obvious that Warner put a tremendous effort into bringing out the best from the film’s elements. Fans of the film should be very pleased with the meticulous attention to detail that this transfer has been given. Clarity and fine detail are as good as could be possible from the source materials. The picture has been cleaned up beautifully to give the best viewing experience possible. I have no complaints about this restoration.

Audio

Warner Bros. have provided a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track that sounds good. As a mono mix front speakers are used for the entire mix. Clarity is solid. The audio has been cleaned up very well, and dialogue sounds fantastic. This is not the most robust mix imaginable, but the score does benefit from the mix. Fans should be pleased.

Supplements:

The extras have been ported from the 2005 DVD release in the Warner Gangsters Collection:

• Warner Night at the Movies 1938 – Leonard Maltin introduces these segments to make it feel like catching a film in 1938.
  • Introduction by Leonard Maltin
  • “Boy Meets Girl” Theatrical Trailer 
  • Newsreel
  • Out Where the Stars Begin – A Technicolor musical short
  • Porky and Daffy – a Looney Tunes short
• Audio Commentary – film historian and professor Dana Polan discusses the picture at length
• Whaddya Hear, Whaddya Say? – a featurette on Angels with Dirty Faces.
• Lux Radio Theater – A radio adaptation from 1939; James Cagney and Pat O’Brien reprise their lead roles, with Gloria Dixon subbed in for Ann Sheridan.
• Theatrical Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Warner Archive’s release of Angels with Dirty Faces is another wonderful addition to the label’s catalog of gangster films. Warner Archive continues to impress by choosing important genre films from their vaults and giving them pristine transfers. Angels with Dirty Faces is a classic gangster picture that benefits from solid direction by Michael Curtiz and great performances by James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, Humphrey Bogart, and Ann Sheridan. The film has all the morality play underpinnings that one would expect from a film made during the code, but it is still a winning picture with a lot to enjoy. Fans of the film will be thrilled to see the work that Warner Archive has put into the release, and the supplements have been ported from the excellent DVD release in the Warner Gangsters Collection. Highly recommended.