The Roaring Twenties (1939)

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:

Wed. Dec. 9

9:30 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:

This film started a nostalgia craze. Disk jockeys began to run Roaring Twenties music. Producer Mark Hellinger was an important guest on singer Bing Crosby's Kraft Music Hall radio show and singer Kate Smith promoted the film on all of her radio programs. Both Life and Look magazines published "Roaring Twenties" layouts.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the Panama Club, Eddie's glass of milk and the other two drinks disappear from the table just before the table gets flipped over and the brawl sequence begins.

Quotes:

Lloyd Hart: [the men are taking cover in a bombed-out farmhouse, shooting at German soldiers somewhere off-screen] When is this "armistice" they've been talking about for the past four days?
Eddie Bartlett: That's just another rumor. This brawl's gonna' go on forever.
Lloyd Hart: If I ever get back, I'm gonna' have a swell law office in the Woolworth Building. Have it all picked out, on the 28th floor. Can see the whole city: the Bay, Brooklyn...
Eddie Bartlett: Whaddya' wanna' look at Brooklyn for?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Bullets Over Hollywood (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Bye Bye Blackbird

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.