Angels with Dirty Faces (DVD, 2005)

Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) is a great gangster film starring some of the top actors from that genre. James Cagney and Pat O'Brien play childhood chums - they were friends in real life, too - who grow up on opposite sides of the law. It's an often-used storyline, but Michael Curtiz directs a true standout.

Cagney is a gangster who seeks his part in the organization of which Humphrey Bogart is second in command. Bogey had promised to set up connections for Cagney when Jimmy took the wrap for a crime they both committed, but now he has no intentions of letting Cagney in, forcing Jimmy to blackmail him.

Meanwhile, O'Brien has become a priest whose chief task is to reform a group of troublemakers played by the Dead End Kids. When the boys meet Cagney, they quickly come to admire and imitate him. O'Brien is determined to prevent gangsters from being the idols of children and starts a campaign to arrest and try Cagney, Bogey, and the other gangsters.

The story is very dramatic, and the acting is great. Cagney gives a masterful, Oscar-nominated performance, culminating in his remarkable final scene.

I highly recommend Angels with Dirty Faces to those who love film, excellent acting, and gangster pictures. If you like this movie, you may also be interested in Manhattan Melodrama (1932), which stars Clark Gable, William Powell, and Myrna Loy in a similar plot. The earlier picture is different and interesting because Powell plays a politician with the option to pardon his childhood friend, Gable, from execution, a choice which Pat O'Brien's character doesn't have to make in Angels with Dirty Faces.