The Roaring Twenties (1939)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

Jerry Wald (screenplay) &
Richard Macaulay (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

23 October 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The land of the free gone wild! The heyday of the hotcha! The shock-crammed days G-men took ten whole years to lick!

Plot:

After the WWI Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging...

Plot Keywords:

Prohibition | Lawyer | 1920s | WWI | Murder

US TV Schedule:

Mon. Nov. 16

8:00 PM

TCM

Cast

James Cagney	...	Eddie Bartlett
Priscilla Lane	...	Jean Sherman
Humphrey Bogart	...	George Hally
Gladys George	...	Panama Smith
Jeffrey Lynn	...	Lloyd Hart
Frank McHugh	...	Danny Green
Paul Kelly	...	Nick Brown
Elisabeth Risdon	...	Mrs. Sherman (as Elizabeth Risdon)
Edward Keane	...	Henderson (as Ed Keane)
Joe Sawyer	...	The Sergeant
Joseph Crehan	...	Michaels
George Meeker	...	Masters
John Hamilton	...	Judge
Robert Elliott	...	First Detective
Eddy Chandler	...	Second Detective (as Eddie Chandler)

Also Known As:

The World Moves On (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG (TV rating) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #5576) | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

After the release of this film, producer Mark Hellinger received a telegram from New York that read: "We are all sitting here in the Stork Club discussing your new picture. We are glad The Roaring Twenties (1939) rates four stars and we wish we could be present to give you the remaining four-four. We love you. Walter Winchell, Louis Sobol, Damon Runyon, Rudy Vallee, Eddie Dowling, George M. Cohan, Sam Harris, Frank Buck, Buddy G. DeSylva, James J. Walker, Ted Husing, Ricardo Cortez, Sidney Clare, Bert Wheeler, Bert Lahr, Marc Lachmann, Clem McCarthy, Mack Gordon, Curley Harris, Jay C. Flippen, Dan Parker, Murray Lewin.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Eddie goes to the garage to ask for his old job back, he addresses the boss as "Mr. Fletcher". But on the closing cast list, the character (played by Joseph Crehan) is credited as "Michaels".

Quotes:

George Halley: [while running across the battlefield ablaze with an artillery barrage in progress, Eddie has just dived into a gaping shell hole for cover. He practically lands on top of another soldier who is already in the crater] Now, do you always come into a rat hole like that?
Eddie Bartlett: What do you want me to do, knock?

Movie Connections:

Featured in 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

It Had to Be You

Roaring

I got a kick out of this flick having seen in on TCM. In fact I get a kick out of all TCM movies because there are no commercials so whether you like or dislike Ted Turner, I gotta thank the man for giving us that channel and that format. It's just like sitting in the Bijou after buying a ticket for a quarter and a box of popcorn for a dime. Those were the days. When we hear the names Cagney and Bogart,what's taken for granted? Both were legends. Hollywood immortals whom as long as film is preserved, will never really be dead and "The Roaring Twenties" showcased the dynamic duo to the Nth degree. Bogie did not get top billing as did Jimmy however shining throughout that entire movie was unmistakable greatness yet to come from the guy with the impressive speech impediment. His villainous,conniving rotten gangster disposition was there to exploit in how many more films with him? And Cagney too was contemptible but in a nicer way-if indeed that makes any sense whatsoever. I guess I mean to write that if Cagney would shoot someone, he'd first apologize and then perhaps pay for the funeral.But when Bogie shot, his followup would be two or three more right to the gut. Regarding the story line of the film, it's quite straightfoward. Bogie and Cagney meet as Doughboys in France in W.W.I. The war ends, a few years later the Volstead Act becomes law which gives birth to bootlegging, rival murder etc. Jimmy, who's nuts about a gal who sings and is just out of high school is warned by his pal in booze,Bogie,that the gal is two-timing him for their lawyer and so forth and so on. A one time rock solid friendship between Cagney and Bogart disintegrate and why go on? See the film. It's classic gangster stuff and highly enjoyable.