The Roaring Twenties

The Roaring Twenties

The Roaring Twenties

After nearly a decade of concentrating on the gangster period of the twenties, it appeared that Warner Brothers had decided to make one, final glorified kiss-off to the genre in the spectacularly staged "The Roaring Twenties." Director Raoul Walch was an odd choice for what turned out to be a first-rate action film, for Walsh was not normally a crime-film director The film contained every possible cliché connected with the era Bogart's portrayal was interesting as we watched him coldly murder an ex-army sergeant who had given him a rough time in the service, and then set put to get rid of Jeffrey Lynn, now a successful lawyer working for the district attorney and intent on crushing Bogart's empire Cagney, whose energy gave him a panerotic sexual magnetism, was evident with his two relationships which both tend to increase our valuation of Cagney as a person as are the two ladies involved: Priscilla Lane, the innocent whom Cagney helps and loves, and the experienced Gladys George who is evidently devoted to him but never expresses her feelings to him This basic relationship between Cagney and the two female characters does not take away the great merit of "The Roaring Twenties"-much more it proves the skill of Raoul Walsh and the writers in deploying conventional elements in an effective and meaningful way.

Sometimes I come to a film because it looks like it can directly fulfill, sometimes because it can provide precious background to other things that matter, letting them stand. It's watchable in itself, this one; a misfit's rise and fall played against the passing of times. Released on the cusp of WWII, it opened a portal back to more careless times, taking us on a journey from WWI trenches through the highs of Prohibition to the lows of Depression, so we could have this clear moral stance: in the new world there's no room for scoundrels. Right. Interesting here is that only a year or two before Citizen Kane we have a similar saga about the passing of the times, but one that asks no fundamental question of us, casts no doubt on its testimony. It's as lurid and constructed as newspaper headlines of the time, a main contrast in Welles' film about its world-creating newspaperman. It's machinegun history written in the staccato sounds of a newspaperman's typewriter. What I really wanted to see though was Cagney. I am in the middle of a film noir quest looking for its machinery, and as an aside I was brought to explore its roots in 1930's crime stuff. Cagney is a force in this niche. He had so much energy that he could turn into presence. He is not just amused, he doesn't coast on pushing things back like Bogart; he throws himself on the encounter, bitterly cutting himself on the edges. Not so here. He was asked to play a basically decent guy led astray by the prospect of easy money, meaning to reflect the broader American endeavor that ended on Black Tuesday. Usually in a Cagney film he lets loose in the end. They asked of him here the precise opposite; he sleepwalks, numbed by failure, a human ruin clawing at redemption. He looks like he gives it his all, but it's just not who he is. It's as if you asked Welles to strut like Wayne. If you want to see Cagney in top form, look him up in Footlight Parade fully in command of a show, White Heat to see him face real demons.

Three World War I buddies return from the war, when two of them become bootleggers (JAMES CAGNEY, HUMPHREY BOGART). The third one, JEFFREY LYNN, is a clean-cut war buddy who becomes a lawyer. PRISCILLA LANE does a passable job as a singer in a clip joint and gets to handle some nice oldies with a certain flair--but let's face it, she has those "American as apple pie looks" and appears out of her element in seedy surroundings. GLADYS GEORGE, as a wise-cracking joint owner of the place, is right at home in a tailor-made role. Cagney and Bogart resort to crime during the course of their bootlegging activities, with Bogart getting especially rough with an old Army sergeant (JOE SAWYER) and showing no mercy when it comes to pulling off a crime caper with his handy gun. Bogart gets uneasy with his pal, Cagney, and is soon planning a way to double-cross him. Priscilla Lane has fallen in love at first sight with lawyer Jeffrey Lynn. And Raoul Walsh keeps the tale spinning toward a violent climax, keeping all of the action fast-paced and giving the film a lot of colorful '20s atmosphere that gives it flavor and style. JEFFREY LYNN gives the only wooden performance and PRISCILLA LANE is a bit too bland to play a nightclub singer despite the golden oldies she sings in low-key style. But JAMES CAGNEY elevates the film with a really gutsy performance, especially good in his final scenes with GLADYS GEORGE, when both of them are down on the skids. Their chemistry is evident from the start. For Cagney fans, this is a must see Raoul Walsh film.

This is a very strange movie experience. Its a traditional gangster movie: good guy turns bad but is redeemed — oh and he incidentally has a love that he's not good enough for. And it features both Cagney and Bogart when both of them were tired of playing gangsters and their manner is tired too. These guys have no pizazz, no life. That makes the next fact heavy: its designed as if it were a documentary both on the times and this fellow's life. It is partly newsreel in fact, with that common voice-over style that even by then had become so distinct. One thing that's unsettling is that there's supposed to be a distinct separation between the time of the movie and the time of the story in the movie. We're supposed to be looking back, from a time of angst to a time of sensual freedom. The problem is that its about 70 years from the time of this, and we miss the jokes, the distance between these two. It was supposed to be a play where the nature of the play-acting was obvious. Its gone now. Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Masterpiece gangster action drama showcasing the 1920's/1930's U.S. Prohibition battles and dramas.Very good all around production and cast.Great music too.Very under rated film even though repeatedly imitated later on by countless films.This is due to much negative propaganda for this film coming from producers from later decades in an effort to hide this highly imitated masterpiece.Many more people should see this great film so they may see where Scorsase and Leone and countless other later gangster directors ripped their ideas from.Only for gangster action drama fans and big fans of the lead actors......

The Roaring Twenties was the third and last film that James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart worked on together. As usual Cagney was the good bad guy and Bogey the bad bad guy. They went out in style with this one. Shortly afterwards Bogey finally got his own A star status with The Maltese Falcon. Cagney, Bogart, and Jeffrey Lynn are three doughboys from World War I who meet just before the Armistice is signed. The plot then focuses on Cagney and his inability to adjust to civilian life. But then Prohibition comes, voted right into the U.S. Constitution, and Cagney sees his opportunities and takes them. In fact all three of them get into the rackets of selling illegal alcoholic spirits and they meet up again later. There stories, individual and combined, are set against the background of the historical events of the 1920s in a nice documentary style with narration by John Deering. There are two prominent female players in the cast also. Priscilla Lane beloved by both Cagney and Lynn and Gladys George who is supposed to be that famous nightclub hostess Texas Guinan with a different name who carries a big old torch for Cagney. Both do a fine job, especially Gladys George the quintessential good time gal with a heart of gold. Writer and critic Mark Hellinger wrote the script and Hellinger in his day was quite the boozer. He knew the bootleg and nightclub scene in New York inside out. Gladys George's character is Texas Guinan, the others are composites of people he knew and dealt with. Raoul Walsh one of the best action directors ever keeps things going at a crisp pace. In a James Cagney movie there ain't no other kind of pace. At the beginning there's some narration saying that in the future people might not believe this era could ever happen. The film was made in 1939 and Prohibition was repealed by another Constitutional Amendment. Now 85 years after it took affect in 1920 The Roaring Twenties has an almost unbelievable quality to it. I'm not sure young people watching it today take it for reality. But believe me, we were that stupid in America. The prime movers behind Prohibition were the Protestant fundamentalists who got the U.S. Constitution changed to fit their particular views. And the Roaring Twenties is an expose of the stupidity that followed. The film is great and should serve as a warning against future meddling with the our Constitution.

1939 was such a classic, milestone year for film cinema. So many great films, 'The Wizard of Oz' and 'Gone With the Wind' even being masterpieces. 'The Roaring Twenties' had a lot of talent involved, James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart both had career full of great and more performances and Raoul Walsh (in a different film for him at this stage of his career) sure could direct. Also like the genre 'The Roaring Twenties' fits under. 'The Roaring Twenties' did not disappoint. While it is quite rightly highly regarded today, considered by quite a number of people a genre classic and great representations of both Cagney and Bogart, it is a shame that it was over-shadowed by a lot of other films that year and doesn't get as much attention. 'The Roaring Twenties' may not quite be a film milestone in the way that the best films from such a great year are, but it is a great film in my view and deserves the high praise it gets. It is not quite perfect, with it being a bit of a slow starter and a film that didn't grab my attention straightaway. Luckily, 'The Roaring Twenties' got going very quickly. And when it did get going, boy did it blister. The photography is atmospheric and very stylish, the noir-ish lighting also adding to the impact. Was amazed at how evocative the Prohibition setting was. The music is appropriately moody without getting bombastic or syrupy and Walsh's direction is remarkably skillful in how vividly the deceptively gleaming yet very ominous at times setting is portrayed. As well in generating suspense. Something that 'The Roaring Twenties' does incredibly well in. The script has a sharp wit and tight tautness, with some quite hard to forget quotes. Cagney's last line, one of his greatest, really stands out, the very last line of the whole film likewise. Also really loved the hard boiled edge exchanges of dialogue between Eddie and George, delivering on the entertainment value too. The story is both entertaining and suspenseful, especially in the exciting final third. Cagney's exit is one of his greatest. Characters are well written, personally found George and especially Eddie (very meaty) very well defined. The acting is just right, Cagney is just terrific in a role that is so perfect for him and one that he played extremely well and better than most in that type of role. Bogart has great laconic intensity and steel, giving one of his best pre-'Casablanca' performances. Altogether, great. 9/10

James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart made three films together, each with Cagney receiving top billing. This was the middle film, following 1938's "Angels With Dirty Faces", and just before the same year 1939's "Oklahoma Kid". The movie opens with shellfire over a World War I foxhole, the boys joined by Jeffrey Lynn's character Lloyd Hart. It's April 1918, and post war plans and the news of the coming Prohibition are topics of conversation amid enemy fire. The film does a nice job of tracing the background of Prohibition, making much of the changes that occurred in the country and how difficult it was for returning servicemen to find jobs. Those who turned to bootlegging became part of a vast "criminal army", although in some quarters, the bootlegger was looked upon as a modern crusader and hero. By 1924, booze is big business, and by that time, wartime buddies Eddie Bartlett (Cagney) and George Hally (Bogart) have hooked up - Eddie makes and peddles it, George can get more in a big way. After they hijack a warehouse load, they're in deep and tempers begin to fray, as George resents taking a back seat to Eddie's control. Adding to the tension is an unrequited crush Eddie has on Jean Sherman (Priscilla Lane), first introduced as Eddie's wartime correspondent who views him as her "hero". But as the story progresses, Jean falls in love with Lloyd Hart, the final member of the opening scene foxhole trio who has become Eddie's business lawyer. "The Roaring Twenties" doesn't have the intensity of some of Cagney's other gangster films, like "White Heat" or "Public Enemy", but that shouldn't be considered less of a recommendation. The principals are all in top form, including Gladys George as Panama Smith, and the always entertaining Frank McHugh as Bartlett's hometown pal and partner Danny Green. The movie ends on a fitting note; Eddie's fortunes parallel the 1929 stock market crash - he falls off a cliff and keeps falling, until his final confrontation with George ends tragically for both. Panama utters the movie's final line putting Eddie's career into perspective - "He used to be a big shot".