Angels with Dirty Faces

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This article is about the film. For other uses, see Angels with Dirty Faces (disambiguation).
Angels with Dirty Faces

Angels with Dirty Faces theatrical poster
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Produced by Samuel Bischoff
Written by Rowland Brown
John Wexley
Warren Duff
Ben Hecht (uncredited)
Charles MacArthur (uncredited)
Starring James Cagney
Pat O'Brien
Humphrey Bogart
Ann Sheridan
George Bancroft
Billy Halop
Music by Max Steiner
Cinematography Sol Polito
Editing by Owen Marks
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s) November 24, 1938
Running time 97 min
Language English
Preceded by Crime School (1938)
Followed by They Made Me a Criminal (1939)
IMDb profile

Angels with Dirty Faces is a well-known and often referenced 1938 Warner Brothers gangster film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Pat O'Brien, and the Dead End Kids.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Rocky Sullivan (James Cagney) and Jerry Connally (Pat O'Brien) are two childhood friends who robbed a railroad car as kids. Rocky was caught, but Jerry escaped. Rocky, after being sent to reform school, grows up to become a notorious gangster, while Jerry has become a priest.

Rocky returns to his old neighborhood, where Jerry is running a home that intends to keep young boys away from a life of crime. Six of those boys, Soapy (Billy Halop), Swing (Bobby Jordan), Bim (Leo Gorcey), Patsy (Gabriel Dell), Crabface (Huntz Hall), and Hunky (Bernard Punsly), idolize Rocky, and Jerry attempts to keep his former friend from corrupting them.

Meanwhile Rocky gets involved with Frazier (Humphrey Bogart), a crooked lawyer, and Keefer (George Bancroft), a shady businessman and municipal contractor. They try to dispose of Rocky, but he finds the record book that they keep where they list the bribes to city officials. Jerry learns of these events and warns Rocky to leave before he informs the authorities. Rocky ignores his advice and Jerry gets the public's attention and informs them all of the crooked government, causing Frazier and Keefer to plot to kill him. Rocky overhears this plot and kills them to protect his childhood friend.

Rocky is then captured following an elaborate shootout in a building, and sentenced to die. Jerry visits him just before his execution and asks him to do him one last favor, to die pretending to be a screaming, sniveling coward, which would end the boys' idolization of him. He refuses, and insists he will be "tough" to the end, and not give up the one thing he has left, his pride. At the very last moment he appears to change his mind and has to be dragged to the electric chair. The viewer is never told whether Rocky genuinely was afraid, a "rotten sniveling coward," or if he does it for the Father and the boys. The boys hear about what happened and decide he was a coward. They then go with Jerry to Mass.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Awards and nominations

James Cagney won the 1939 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his role. In addition, the film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (James Cagney), Best Director and Best Writing, Original Story.

[edit] References in popular culture

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Warner Brothers created a 1939 cartoon that spoofed the movie called Thugs with Dirty Mugs.
  • During the 1950s, three Argentinian footballers - Antonio Angelillo, Enrique Sivori and Humberto Maschio - formed a talented inside forward line for their Country. They acquired the nickname "Angels with Dirty Faces" when they all moved to Italy in the latter part of the decade to play for the likes of Juventus. The name was given on account of their typically South American colour and ability. They were also known as ‘The Trio of Death’ because of their clinical finishing.[citation needed]
  • A parody of the film appears in Home Alone as Angels with Filthy Souls. In the parody, Gangster Johnny fires a lengthy machine gun salvo before remarking, "Keep the change, ya filthy animal." Hardcore band, Angels with Filthy Souls, are named after this reference.
  • In Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, we see scenes from a sequel to that film, Angels with Even Filthier Souls. In the sequel, Johnny fires his Tommy gun before saying "Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal. And a Happy New Year." In the two movies, Kevin uses the movies as an illusion to make others think that they were talking to Johnny, and that he was shooting at them.
  • It's Never Too Late, an episode of Batman: The Animated Series, alludes to Angels by telling the story of the Stromwell brothers, one of whom grows up to be a mob boss, the other a priest.
  • The famous Irish bar "Rocky Sullivan's Pub" in New York City was named after Cagney's character.
  • Several musical artists, including Sugababes and Tricky, have used the title "Angels with Dirty Faces" as the name of their album. Others, including Sum 41, Sham 69 and Los Lobos, have songs entitled "Angels with Dirty Faces", although Sum 41's version is actually a reference to another band's name.
  • In the early 90s an Indian version of the film was made. Called Ram Jaane, it cast Shahrukh Khan in the role of Rocky. The movie was quite faithful to the original (albeit Indianized).
  • Tiny Toons also parodies the death row scene, featuring Hampton the Pig as the Priest and Buster Bunny as the condemned going to the Principals office.
  • Angels with Dirty Faces is often cited as the favourite film of Dr. Edward Fitzgerald in the hit UK television drama Cracker.

[edit] Memorable lines

  • Father Jerry: "All right, fellas... let's go say a prayer for a boy that couldn't run as fast as I could."
  • Rocky Sullivan: "Whadda ya hear; whadda ya say?!"'

When first offered the project, Cagney's agent was convinced that his star property would never consent to playing a role where he would be depicted as an abject coward being dragged to his execution. Cagney, however, was enthusiastic about the chance to play Rocky. He saw it as a suitable vehicle to prove to critics and front office honchos that he had a broad acting range that extended far beyond tough guy roles. Bogart, for one, was very impressed by the death house scene and informed Cagney as such.

[edit] DVD Release

January 25, 2005

[edit] References

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Dead End Kids
v • d • e
The films of Michael Curtiz
1910s
The Last Bohemian • Today and Tomorrow • Captive Souls • My Husband's Getting Married • The Exile • The Borrowed Babies The Princess in a Nightrobe • Prisoner of the Night • Bánk Bán • Golddigger • One Who Is Loved By Two • Seven of Spades • The Strength of the Fatherland • The Karthauzer The Black Rainbow • The Wolf • The Medic • Mr. Doctor • Master Zoard • The Red Samson • The Last Dawn • Spring in Winter • Tartar Invasion Secret of St. Job Forest • Nobody's Son • The Charlatan • A Penny's History • The Fishing Bell • Earth's Man • The Colonel • Peace's Road Jean the Tenant • The Merry Widow • Magic Waltz • A Skorpió I. • The Devil • Lulu • Lu, the Coquette • Júdás • The Ugly Boy • Alraune (with Edmund Fritz) • 99 • The Sunflower Woman • Liliom • The Lady with the Black Gloves
1920s
Boccaccio • The Star of Damascus • The Scourge of God • Miss Tutti Frutti • Good and Evil • Mrs. Dane's Confession • Labyrinth of Horror Sodom and Gomorrah • Young Medardus • Avalanche • Nameless • A Deadly Game • General Babka Harun al Raschid • Moon of Israel • Red Heels • Cab No. 13 • The Golden Butterfly • The Third Degree • A Million Bid • The Desired Woman Good Time Charley • Tenderloin • Noah's Ark • Glad Rag Doll • Madonna of Avenue A • The Gamblers • Hearts in Exile
1930s
Mammy • Under a Texas Moon • The Matrimonial Bed • Bright Lights • A Soldier's Plaything • River's End • Demon of the Sea God's Gift to Women • The Mad Genius • The Woman from Monte Carlo • The Strange Love of Molly Louvain • Doctor X • The Cabin in the Cotton • 20,000 Years in Sing Sing • Mystery of the Wax Museum • The Keyhole • Private Detective 62 • Goodbye Again • The Kennel Murder Case • Female • Mandalay • Jimmy the Gent • The Key • British Agent • The Case of the Curious Bride • Black Fury • Front Page Woman • Little Big Shot • Captain Blood • The Walking Dead • The Charge of the Light Brigade • Stolen Holiday • Mountain Justice • Kid Galahad • The Perfect Specimen • Gold Is Where You Find It • The Adventures of Robin Hood (with William Keighley) • Four's a Crowd • Four Daughters • Angels with Dirty Faces • Dodge City • Daughters Courageous • The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex • Four Wives
1940s
1950s
Young Man with a Horn • Bright Leaf • The Breaking Point • Force of Arms • Jim Thorpe -- All-American • I'll See You in My Dreams The Story of Will Rogers • The Jazz Singer Trouble Along the Way • The Boy from Oklahoma • The Egyptian • White Christmas • We're No Angels The Scarlet Hour • The Vagabond King • The Best Things in Life Are Free • The Helen Morgan Story • The Proud Rebel • King Creole • The Hangman • The Man in the Net
1960s
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn • A Breath of Scandal • Francis of Assisi • The Comancheros
Short films
Productions
Bright Lights (1935)
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American films of the 1930s
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