Angels With Dirty Faces [VHS]

A great example of movie acting which still holds up after 80 years. It is also a Chtistian element I like as well. Does the gangster go to the gallows strutting with bravado or screaming and kicking like a coward? What example does this set for the gang of youths who hero-worship the protagonist.

They sure don't make 'em like they used to ...

Loved it

One of those great old gangster movies. Brilliant movie.

Love this film it's a real classic. my son is pursuing an acting career and I thought this was a good film for him to watch.Had to have the telly turned up full as the sound quailty wasn't too good and there were subtitles

There were a number of classic gangster films that were a staple of my childhod Saturday or Sunday afternoons. They Often involved Humphrey Bogart, Edward G Robinson or, most dangerous of all James Cagney. This is Cagney at his best, Bogart not central character here, however his presence adds a bit of gravitas to the cast.Some reviewers of this film have commented that Pat O'Brien's Father Connelly lacks dynamism and is just a bit too "good", especially next to Cagney's Rocky Sullivan. This is a huge mistake based on the dreadful current trend of trying to make all good characters a bit flawed and bad because this is how Hollywood see that we all are. It is central to the way that the story unfolds that the distinction beween the unconpramisingly good Connelly is maintained. The key to O'Briens performance is that he isgood and well meaning but lacks the charisma of Rocky Sullivan. He is fighting an uphill struggle to steer the local (Dead End) kids onto the right path, away from gangs and crime. He still believes in redemption for his childhood friend aided by the infeasibly naive Laura Ferguson (Ann Sheridan)Modern Hollywood could not make such a film. Look at another classic film Cape Fear. The 1962 original finds the all good Sam Bowen (Gregory Peck) being forced into breaking the law to protect his innocent daughter. He is balanced against the evil Max Cady (Robert Mitchum) who is out for revenge because Peck put him in jail. In the 1991 remake Nick Nolte's Bowen had lied in his evidence that put Cady in jail and so De Niro's Cady seems to have a genuine grudge although he was equally guilty of the crime. Furthemore the daughter changes name from the homely Nancy to Danielle and becomes sexually aware. This all serves to blur the bowndries and ultimately saps alll the energy from the film. Where the original had a tension that built to an almost unbearable climax the remake trundled on and I could not care so deeply about any of the characters.So please don't see the inbalance of energy in the characters as a flaw in this film it is key to the film. The quiet determination and reasoning of Father Connelly manages, in the end, to persuade Sullivan to do the right thing.

Picture is clear also the sound considering the age of the film.Region 2 excellent

What a brilliant movie this is,I love cagney in his gangster rolls he just doesnt get any better,this the second time I have purchased this,the first one I lent someone and they must have loved it so much that I never got it back,so I missed it so much that I purchased it again,Well worth the money,its a movie you can watch over and over again (SUPERB)stuff