- Actors: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, George Bancroft
- Directors: Michael Curtiz
- Writers: Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur, John Wexley, Rowland Brown, Warren Duff
- Producers: Hal B. Wallis, Jack L. Warner
- Language English
- Classification: PG
- Studio: Warner
- VHS Release Date: 6 Mar 2000
- Run Time: 97 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00004CI42
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,385 in Video (See Top 100 in Video)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Gangster Rocky Sullivan (James Cagney) returns from prison to make a name for himself in the crime world. He's soon discovered by the Dead End Kids, who idolise him, and childhood pal Father Jerry Connolly (Pat O'Brien), who has taken a different turn from Rocky and is struggling to bring the Kids around. While still friends with Rocky, the good Father tries to persuade him to steer clear of the gang of urchins. Rocky runs foul of the law, however, when he guns down his former partners Frazier (Humphrey Bogart) and Keefer (George Bancroft) after they betray him over a cut of crime-related profits. Seen as a whole, Angels with Dirty Faces may seem dated to many viewers, but its ending is still enough to bring chills. Director Michael Curtiz infused this gritty l938 effort with an amazing amount of energy and pacing; the Dead End Kids, in their screen debut, supply a fair amount of comic relief along with their dramatic roles. It's also worth noting that at the time, the notion of a criminal being a product of his environment was a controversial one. The swaggering bantam-rooster role played by Cagney, one of the screen's greats, helped define how he would be perceived (and parodied) for years to come. This movie easily stands along with The Roaring Twenties and Little Caesar as one of the most important, archetypal gangster films of the 1930s. --Jerry Renshaw, Amazon.com
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
i adore this film.it is without a doubt my favourite cagney movie ever.. James Cagney portrays his character in a way that always wants me to feel sorry for him. Rocky Sullivan may well be one of his most famous roles and you only have to watch this to see why. i have never ever seen an actor playing a gangster with such class as i have seen with cagney. i find him brilliant and unmatched even today in the world of a-list millionaire celebrities.i always reach for this film if i wake up around four thirty on a saturday morning and find i can't sleep, and after watching it i feel i can face the day fully. you will understand when you watch the film and maybe you too will fall in love with James Cagney just like me.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
James Cagney was one of America's greatest actors, and this film is one of his best, building up to a climax which is unforgettable. I watched it on TV nearly three decades ago and this DVD edition brought it back, just as powerfully. A morality tale for the 1930s, it is still watchable today.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This bears the hallmarks of quite a lavish Warner Bros. production - in some of the scenes the extras are numbered in their hundreds, and there is somewhat more location shooting than the norm for the day - and the combination of a fine director (Michael Curtiz) and the sensational James Cagney can hardly go wrong.
It marries two film genres, the gangster movie and the social comment picture, and does it pretty well, though at times a touch of sentimentality, mostly to do with the priest (Pat O'Brien) detracts from the tough gangster element; I believe that films about boyhood pals who take a different turning in life were popular in the Thirties.
The film falls into three sections which to my mind succeed in varyinbg degrees. The opening section dealing with Rocky's adolescence and early criminal career are solidly scripted and played, but I felt that the succeeding section as Rocky emerges from prison and attempts to reassert himself was a little limp in comparison. The scenes involving Humphry Bogart and his associates fail to rise above standard cops-and-robbers fare, and the Dead End Kids were probably much more to the taste of thirties than contemporary audiences; their scenes in their Fagin-like dugout and the gym drag somewhat.
But then the film suddenly moves into top gear in the final third; it becomes taut, gripping and brilliantly directed in the grand Film Noir tradition. The shoot-out is violent but balletic as Cagney swoops from room to room and roof to roof, an angel of death, and filmed in great contrasts of light and shade. The culminating famous final moments are powerful and touching, and devoid of sentimentality.
Curtiz handles the crowd scenes throughout with wonderful skill. Ann Sheridan as Cagney's girl is convincingly acerbic but affectionate. Pat O'Brien as the priest is the weak link; here the script lacks bite, but even though O'Brien has the misfortunate to be paired with the electric Cagney in most of his scenes, he still lacks impact. Of Cagney what can one say, other than that for sheer burning energy, even when doing nothing, he stands apart from all but a handful of actors? I see that Orson Welles said of Cagney that he "was maybe the greatest actor to ever appear in front of a camera".
It marries two film genres, the gangster movie and the social comment picture, and does it pretty well, though at times a touch of sentimentality, mostly to do with the priest (Pat O'Brien) detracts from the tough gangster element; I believe that films about boyhood pals who take a different turning in life were popular in the Thirties.
The film falls into three sections which to my mind succeed in varyinbg degrees. The opening section dealing with Rocky's adolescence and early criminal career are solidly scripted and played, but I felt that the succeeding section as Rocky emerges from prison and attempts to reassert himself was a little limp in comparison. The scenes involving Humphry Bogart and his associates fail to rise above standard cops-and-robbers fare, and the Dead End Kids were probably much more to the taste of thirties than contemporary audiences; their scenes in their Fagin-like dugout and the gym drag somewhat.
But then the film suddenly moves into top gear in the final third; it becomes taut, gripping and brilliantly directed in the grand Film Noir tradition. The shoot-out is violent but balletic as Cagney swoops from room to room and roof to roof, an angel of death, and filmed in great contrasts of light and shade. The culminating famous final moments are powerful and touching, and devoid of sentimentality.
Curtiz handles the crowd scenes throughout with wonderful skill. Ann Sheridan as Cagney's girl is convincingly acerbic but affectionate. Pat O'Brien as the priest is the weak link; here the script lacks bite, but even though O'Brien has the misfortunate to be paired with the electric Cagney in most of his scenes, he still lacks impact. Of Cagney what can one say, other than that for sheer burning energy, even when doing nothing, he stands apart from all but a handful of actors? I see that Orson Welles said of Cagney that he "was maybe the greatest actor to ever appear in front of a camera".
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Subtitled
Just to add that this dvd has English subtitles for the hard of hearing, as well as being a fantastic film.
Published 2 months ago by Wayfarer
Angels with Dirty Faces
My husband is into all the old films and will be thrilled on Christmas Day when he gets this (banned from buying DVS until Boxing day he is)!!!
Published 6 months ago by Mrs. M. D. Walker
enjoyable movie, very good dvd
(I own the Benelux version that will probably not differ from the UK version except for language used on the sleeve. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Music and Film fan
Gangster at it's best.
Had to get this dvd, as it was a film I never forgot from my childhood. A Classic Cagney must have.
Published 10 months ago by Ms. S. Ali
"Morning, gentlemen. Nice day for a Murder"... James Cagney
Warner Bros. Pictures presents "ANGEL WITH DIRTY FACES" (1938) (95 min/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- Starring James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Ann... Read more
Published 15 months ago by J. Lovins
Angel for getting it here in time for Xmas
Ordered during adverse weather conditions and still received before Xmas. More than happy with purchase.
Chellebell
Chellebell
Published 16 months ago by Chellebell
One of the Great Classic Gangster Movies
There were a number of classic gangster films that were a staple of my childhod Saturday or Sunday afternoons. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Numinous Ugo
Hey! Wise Guy!
This has to be my all time favourite Cagney film,next to 'White Heat'..The story of 'Rocky's defiance to the law.. Read more
Published on 14 April 2010 by Mr. Anthony Cox
first film that made me cry!!
this is one of my top 5 films, watched it for the first time when i was about 10 and searced for it on dvd for years. Read more
Published on 4 Mar 2010 by Anthony Edward Lynch
"Let's go and say a prayer for a boy who couldn't run as fast as I...
By comparison with Dead End, the 'Dead End Kids' first feature, Angels with Dirty Faces seems much less visually imaginative when watched side by side despite the not too shabby... Read more
Published on 31 Jan 2008 by Trevor Willsmer
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