Angels With Dirty Faces (1938)
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, (more)
- Director(s):
- Michael Curtiz
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- NR
- Category:
- Drama
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Childhood chums Rocky Sullivan (James Cagney) and Jerry Connelly (Pat O'Brien) grow up on opposite sides of the fence: Rocky matures into a prominent gangster, while Jerry becomes a priest, tending to the needs of his old tenement neighborhood. Rocky becomes a hero to a gang of teenaged boys (played by Dead End Kids Billy Halop, Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, Bobby Jordan and Bernard Punsley). Father Jerry despairs at this, asking Rocky to lay off so he can keep the kids on the straight and narrow. Then Rocky's crooked business associates George Bancroft and Humphrey Bogart attempt to end Father Jerry's radio campaign against the rackets by killing the priest. Rocky (whose cynical outlook on life has been softened by his romance with true-blue Anne Sheridan) shoots them down and takes it on the lam. Arrested and convicted of murder, Rocky sits smugly on death row, fully intending to go to the chair with a smile on his face. A few moments before the execution, Father Jerry pleads with Rocky to "turn yellow" so that the tenement kids will despise his memory. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 78 mins
Complete Cast:
- James Cagney - Rocky Sullivan
- Humphrey Bogart - James Frazier
- George Bancroft - Mac Keefer
- Bobby Jordan - Swing
- Gabriel Dell - Pasty
- Bernard Punsly - Hunky
- Adrian Morris - Blackie
- Marilyn Knowlden - Laury as a Girl
- David Durand - Boy in Poolroom
- John Hamilton - Police Captain
- William Tracy - Jerry as a Boy
- Claude Wisberg - Hanger-On
- George Sorel - Headwaiter
- William Worthington - Warden
- Theodore Rand - Gunman
- Jack Perrin - Death Row Guard
- Dick Rich - Gangster
- Lane Chandler - Guard
- Billy McClain - Janitor
- James Farley - Railroad Yard Watchman
- Thomas E. Jackson - Press City Editor
- Charles Sullivan - Gunman
- John Harron - Sharpies
- Charles Trowbridge - Norton J. White, Press Editor
- Mary Gordon - Mrs. Patrick McGee
- Lotta Williams - Woman
- Vera Lewis - Soapy's Mother
- George Offerman - Adult boy
- Steven Darrell - Gangster
- Chuck Stubbs - Red
- Brian Burke - Convict
- Wilfred Lucas - Police officer
- Elliott Sullivan - Police Officer
- John Marston - Well Dressed Man
- Pat O'Malley - Railroad guard
- Pat O'Brien - Rev. Jerry Connolly
- Ann Sheridan - Laury Ferguson
- Billy Halop - Soapy
- Leo Gorcey - Bim
- Huntz Hall - Crab
- Edward Pawley - Guard Edwards
- Frankie Burke - Rocky (as a boy)
- Joe Devlin - Gangster
- Earl Dwire - Priest
- Harry Hayden - Pharmacist
- William Crowell - Whimpering Convict
- Ted Offenbecker - Older Boy in Poolroom
- Joseph Downing - Steve
- Ralph Sanford - City Editor, Press
- John Dilson - Chronicle Editor
- Galan Galt - Policemen at Call-Box
- Ben Hendricks, Jr. - Guard
- A.W. Sweatt - Boy
- James Spottswood - Record Editor
- Charles Wilson - Buckley, the Police Chief
- Jack C. Smith - Railroad Guard
- Wilbur Mack - Croupier
- Joe Cunningham - Managing Editor
- William Pawley - Bugs the Gunman
- Frank Coghlan, Jr. - Boy in Poolroom
- Carlyle Moore, Jr. - Reporter
- Harris Berger - Basketball Captain
- Jack Mower - Detective
- Eddie Brian - Newsboy
- Jack Goodrich - Reporter (uncredited)
- William Edmunds - Italian Storekeeper
- Poppy Wilde - Girl at gaming table
- Robert E. Homans - Policeman
- Belle Mitchell - Mrs. Maggione
- Oscar O'Shea - Guard Kennedy
- Director(s):
- Michael Curtiz
- Writer(s):
- John Wexley, Rowland Brown, Warren B. Duff
- Producer(s):
- Sam Bischoff
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- NR(Questionable for Children, Suitable for Teens)
- Categories:
- Drama
- Closed Captioning:
- Check All Versions
- Subtitles:
- Check All Versions
- 1938 - Angels With Dirty Faces - National Board of Review - Best Acting
- 1938 - Angels With Dirty Faces - New York Film Critics Circle - Best Actor
