Angels With Dirty Faces

Synopsis: A gangster returns to the neighborhood from his childhood days after 15 years in jail. He finds his old friend is now the priest in the area, and is trying to lead the "Dead End Kids" away from a life of crime.

I love efficient story telling, and that's often what you get from these classic films from the 30's and 40's. Angels With Dirty Faces is certainly no exception. Michael Curtiz directed, and he gives a good pace to the movie. With just the scenes necessary for the plot of the movie, Curtiz is able to develop characters who have depth. There might have been a little too much of the Dead End Kids in the middle part of the movie, but that's a small qualm.

To help Curtiz with the character development, James Cagney gives a signature performance as Rocky Sullivan, a gangster returning to the neighborhood of his youth. Cagney is able to portray this gangster as a very likable character, where most of the audience will be pulling for him. But Sullivan is also intimidating and unafraid to commit terrible acts. It is thanks to Cagney's performance that Rocky Sullivan is a complex character and this movie succeeds.

The movie follows Rocky Sullivan and his return to gangster life. He becomes a celebrity among the local youth (The Dead End Kids), which troubles Father Connolly. Connolly and Sullivan are long time friends, and their friendship is refreshing to see on screen - each looking past their moral difference. In most movies we would see the priest judge the criminal, or perhaps the criminal feel inadequate to be friends with a priest. Angels with Dirty Faces does not dive in to that black & white world. It instead remains in a complex world where we don't have all the answers.

The end of the movie is powerful, and honestly one of the better endings to any movie. The death of Rocky Sullivan is a powerful scene that draws real emotion from the viewer. Thankfully Curtiz didn't overdraw the emotion by giving us closeups of Cagney suffering. I think he actually draws more emotion from viewers by not showing Cagney at all, but instead giving us shadows and shots of people watching him.

This particular scene gives us an interesting look at redemption and sacrifice. I don't know if God forgives Rocky Sullivan at the end of this movie. But I do know that Rocky Sullivan denied himself, and in a sense sacrificed his life on earth. That in itself is not cause for redemption with God, but it seems like something that would be done by a redeemed soul. I guess like Jerry Connolly, we have hope.

Angels With Dirty Faces - 8 out of 10