IMDb > Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Angels with Dirty Faces
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Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.9/10   7,724 votes
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Down 34% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
John Wexley (screenplay) and
Warren Duff (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Angels with Dirty Faces on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
26 November 1938 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
The saga of America's dirty faced kids... And the breaks that life won't give them! more
Plot:
A priest tries to stop a gangster from corrupting a group of street kids. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win more
NewsDesk:
(4 articles)
Raising free-range kids
 (From Roger Ebert's Blog. 30 June 2009, 5:45 AM, PDT)

Pros And Cons
 (From New York Post. 3 May 2009, 12:22 AM, PDT)

User Reviews:
An absolute classic more (97 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

James Cagney ... Rocky Sullivan
Pat O'Brien ... Jerry Connolly

Humphrey Bogart ... James Frazier

Ann Sheridan ... Laury Ferguson
George Bancroft ... Mac Keefer
Billy Halop ... Soapy
Bobby Jordan ... Swing
Leo Gorcey ... Bim
Gabriel Dell ... Pasty
Huntz Hall ... Crab
Bernard Punsly ... Hunky (as Bernard Punsley)
Joe Downing ... Steve
Edward Pawley ... Edwards
Adrian Morris ... Blackie

Frankie Burke ... Rocky - as a Boy
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Battle of City Hall (USA) (working title)
more
Runtime:
97 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Norway:16 (1939) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Portugal:M/12 | UK:A (1938) (cut) | UK:PG (1986) | Sweden:15 | Argentina:16 | Australia:G (cable rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Chile:18 | Finland:(Banned) (1939-1950) | Finland:K-16 (1950) | USA:Approved (PCA #4496) | Germany:12

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
To play Rocky, James Cagney drew on his memories of growing up in New York's Hell's Kitchen. His main inspiration was a drug-addicted pimp who stood on a street corner all day hitching his trousers, twitching his neck, and repeating, "Whadda ya hear! Whadda ya say!" Those mannerisms came back to haunt Cagney. He later wrote in his autobiography, "I did those gestures maybe six times in the picture. That was over thirty years ago - and the impressionists have been doing me doing him ever since." more
Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: As Father walks away from the gang in the pool hall, a camera shadow falls across other patrons of the hall. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Jerry, As a Boy: Bulls eye!
William 'Rocky' Sullivan, as a boy: It's as dead as a door nail around here.
Jerry, As a Boy: Yeah.
more
Movie Connections:
References Dead End (1937) more
Soundtrack:
In My Merry Oldsmobile more

FAQ

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31 out of 44 people found the following review useful.
An absolute classic, 3 January 2005
9/10
Author: The_Void from Beverley Hills, England

Michael Curtiz has made some great films, yet the only one that tends to be well received among film fans is his contender for the best movie ever made - obviously Casablanca (and Robin Hood, to a lesser extent). However, the man has a wealth of other influential classics under his belt that don't tend to get the recognition that they deserve, and Angels With Dirty Faces is one of those films. To sum the film up easily, one would say that it is a crime drama. However; like the best crime dramas, this one has multiple themes that elevate it from being merely a film about crime, to being a character study, a portrait of what it is that makes a hero and a condemnation of criminals on the whole. The story follows Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connolly; two young New York thugs, the former of which is caught by the police and sent to a reform school, where, ironically, he learns to be a criminal. The latter escapes punishment and goes on to become a priest. The story follows these two men as they meet up as adults and have an effect on the lives of the kids of their old neighbourhood.

The focus of the film is always centred on the neighbourhood. This allows Curtiz to show us the effects that Rocky's criminal endeavours have on the kids of the neighbourhood more effectively. This sort of narrative would be employed in later films, such as the critically acclaimed 'City of God', and works well here too. The way the film shows how impressionable young kids can be influenced by adults works brilliantly, and Curtiz is able to continue this theme up until the powerful ending. James Cagney would later go on to achieve major fame in the incredible 'White Heat', but here he shows us what the quintessential New York gangster would be like. His performance, in short, is incredible and easily ranks among the best gangster roles of all time. The rest of the cast do well in their roles, with distinct New York accents helping to firmly place the audience in the city that the film is taking place in. Furthermore, the film is economic in the way it's plotted and it's also very exciting, and therefore guaranteed to delight it's audience.

Angels With Dirty Faces is an absolute cinema classic and quite why it isn't more famous is anyone's guess. Although not quite as good as Casablanca, this is a major notch in Michael Curtiz's filmography and I wouldn't have any qualms with recommending this to film fans at all.

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