Tagarchief: FilmDungeon

The Roaring Twenties (1939)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


‘America’s Most Colorful Era!’

Directed by:
Raoul Walsh

Written by:
Jerry Wald (screenplay)
Richard Macaulay (screenplay)
Robert Rossen (screenplay)
Mark Hellinger (story)

Cast:
James Cagney (Eddie Bartlett), Priscilla Lane (Jean Sherman), Humphrey Bogart (George Hally), Gladys George (Panama Smith), Jeffrey Lynn (Lloyd Hart), Frank McHugh (Danny Green), Paul Kelly (Nick Brown), Elizabeth Risdon (Mrs. Sherman), Ed Keane (Henderson), Joe Sawyer (The Sergeant)

The Roaring Twenties opens in the immediate aftermath of World War I, as soldiers James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart return home in 1919. They find a nation grappling with economic hardship and rising living costs just as Prohibition is ratified, turning alcohol into both a forbidden fruit and a lucrative business opportunity.

The film follows Eddie Bartlett (Cagney), a former doughboy who seizes the moment and rises to power in the bootlegging underworld. Along the way, he reconnects with Jean Sherman, a woman he corresponded with during the war, securing her a singing job at a nightclub. His path eventually crosses again with his old comrade George Hally (Bogart), now a rival booze importer. Their partnership sours, and tensions escalate when they double-cross fellow bootlegger Nick Brown.

The movie by Raould Walch, who would ten years later make the best gangster film yet at that point – White Heat – is a trendsetter in more than one way. Walsh crafts The Roaring Twenties with a dynamic, almost documentary-like style. Crisp black-and-white cinematography is punctuated by newsreel-style interludes, lending the film an energetic, GoodFellas-esque rhythm. The story of the ‘working gangster’ feels like a clear influence on Scorsese, blending ambition, a jetset lifestyle, and eventually an ugly downfall.

Cagney delivers another magnetic performance as Eddie Bartlett, a character who begins as a mild-mannered entrepreneur, but grows increasingly volatile as his world unravels. What sets The Roaring Twenties apart is its focus on redemption: Eddie’s final act is a selfless one, driven by love rather than greed. It is a rare moral twist for the genre.

Like most gangster tales, it ends with a memorable line, this time spoken by a dame: “He used to be a big shot.”

Rating:

Quote:
EDDIE BARTLETT: “I just ran into a streak of bad luck, that’s all. I’ll be there on top again. I just got to figure out a new angle.”

Trivia:
Gladys George replaced Ann Sheridan (the female star of Cagney’s previous gangster film Angels with Dirty Faces) who had replaced Lee Patrick who had replaced Glenda Farrell for the character of Panama Smith.

Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


‘The saga of America’s dirty faced kids… And the breaks that life won’t give them!’

Directed by:
Michael Curtiz

Written by:
John Wexley (screenplay)
Warren Duff (screenplay)
Rowland Brown (story)

Cast:
James Cagney (Rocky Sullivan), Pat O’Brien (Jerry Connolly), Humphrey Bogart (James Frazier), Ann Sheridan (Laury Ferguson), George Bancroft (Mac Keefer), Billy Halop (Soapy), Bobby Jordan (Swing), Leo Gorcey (Bim), Gabriel Dell (Pasty), Huntz Hall (Crab)

Angels with Dirty Faces brings together two screen legends – James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart – in a gangster film that transcends the genre. The chemistry between them is great.

Cagney stars as Rocky Sullivan, a tough kid sent to juvenile prison for petty theft who grows into a hardened criminal. Bogart plays his lawyer, Frazier, while Pat O’Brien portrays Jerry Connolly, Sullivan’s childhood friend turned priest. And the lovely Ann Sheridan stars as Laury, his childhood teasing target who becomes his trusted partner.

When Sullivan befriends a group of street kids who once robbed him, Connolly tries desperately to steer them away from a life of crime. Meanwhile, Frazier orchestrates a betrayal that adds a layer of moral complexity to the story.

Directed by Michael Curtiz (Casablanca), Angels with Dirty Faces feels less like a traditional gangster film (such as The Public Enemy or White Heat) and more like a sharp social commentary. The real focus isn’t just on Sullivan, but on the impressionable youth drawn into his orbit.

Still, it’s a powerful film with standout performances. Cagney’s portrayal of Sullivan foreshadows the unhinged mobster he’d later perfect in White Heat. His influence on the genre is undeniable. The film’s iconic ending remains just as gripping today.

A year later, Cagney and Bogart would reunite for another classic, The Roaring Twenties, but Angels with Dirty Faces stands on its own as a thought-provoking blend of crime and conscience.

Rating:

Quote
ROCKY SULLIVAN: “What do you hear, what do you say?”

Trivia
The scene where Rocky forces a reluctant henchman to take his place in the pharmacy’s phone booth – knowing it will cost him his life – was directly inspired by the real-life death of infamous New York gangster Vincent ‘Mad Dog’ Coll. During a brutal gang war with Dutch Schultz, Coll took refuge in an apartment above a pharmacy, venturing out only to use the phone booth inside to call his girlfriend. Schultz caught wind of this routine and seized the opportunity: when Coll entered the booth for his usual call, Schultz’s gunmen stormed in and fatally shot him.

Across the Universe – a Beatles Musical

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


All you need is love.

Director: Julie Taymor
Written by: Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Julie Taymor
Cast: Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Joe Anderson

Year / Country: 2007, United Kingdom, United States
Running Time: 133 mins.

Across the Universe is a jukebox musical in which the songs are provided by the greatest band of all time: the Beatles.

It opens with the main character Jude (Jim Sturgess) singing ‘Girl’ – a John Lennon classic – on a beach, immediately immersing the audience in the emotions and energy of the 1960s. The film continues with ‘Helter Skelter’ and ‘Hold Me Tight’, offering a glimpse of Liverpool’s vibrant nightlife.

Like so many of the Beatles’ songs, love is the film’s central theme, and Evan Rachel Wood and Jim Sturgess bring undeniable chemistry to their roles. Jude, a shipyard worker, travels to the US to find his G.I. father, whom he’s never met. After locating him – a janitor at Princeton – he meets student Max, who takes him home to meet his sister Lucy. Their connection sparks a romantic love story, but Across the Universe is also deeply rooted in the era’s revolutionary spirit.

Max and Jude move to New York, but their lives are disrupted when Max is drafted for Vietnam. They rent a room from Sadie, a talented singer, and her guitarist Jo Jo, both on the brink of stardom. Lucy joins them in New York, and their relationship blossoms amid the growing anti-war movement, which becomes increasingly radical as the conflict worsens.

The movie features 34 Beatles compositions, many performed memorably by the cast. Standout musical numbers include ‘I Want You’ in a US Army Recruitment Centre, a surreal circus performance of ‘Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite’ (complete with blue meanies), and a soulful ‘Let It Be’ by a black church choir.

The film is packed with visual and lyrical nods to the Beatles, from character names to cranberry sauce, the number 9, and psychedelic imagery that mirrors the band’s evolution – from Liverpool’s working-class roots to the revolutionary fervor of 1960s America, and in between a psychedelic magical mystery tour in the countryside.

The film unfortunately was a box office flop, but the two surviving Beatles praised the film after seeing it, and when the director asked Paul McCartney what could have been done better, he replied: “What’s not to like?” And who am I to disagree with Paul?

Rating:

Biography: Julie Taymor (1952, in Newton, Massachusetts) is an acclaimed American director, playwright, and costume designer, renowned for her groundbreaking work in theater, opera, and film. She is best known for her inventive use of masks, puppets, and visual spectacle, blending Eastern and Western artistic traditions. Her most iconic achievement is directing Disney’s The Lion King (1997), which revolutionized Broadway with its innovative puppetry and staging. In film, Taymor directed Frida (2002), a biopic of artist Frida Kahlo starring Salma Hayek, which received six Academy Award nominations and won two. She also directed Across the Universe (2007), The Tempest (2010), and The Glorias (2020), a biopic about feminist icon Gloria Steinem. Her work often explores themes of transformation, identity, and social justice, and she is celebrated for her ability to create magical, immersive worlds on stage and screen.

Filmography: (a selection): The Tempest (1986, Video), Juan Darién: A Carnival Mass (1990, TV Movie), Fool’s Fire (1992, TV Movie), Salome (1995, TV Movie), Titus (1999), Frida (2002), Across the Universe (2007), The Tempest (2010), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2014), The Glorias (2020)

Backbeat: The Early Days of the Beatles

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


He had to choose between his best friend… the woman he loved… and the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world.

Director: Iain Softley
Written by: Iain Softley, Michael Thomas, Stephen Ward
Cast: Sheryl Lee, Stephen Dorff, Ian Hart, Gary Bakewell

Year / Country: 1994, United Kingdom, Germany
Running Time: 100 mins.

Just let me hear some of that rock and roll music.
Any old way you choose it.
It’s got a backbeat, you can’t lose it.
Any old time you use it.
Gotta be rock and roll music.
If you want to dance with me.
If you want to dance with me.

Liverpool, 1960 – home of the soon-to-be-famous Liverpudlians John Lennon (Ian Hart), Paul McCartney (Gary Bakewell), and Stuart Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff). Stu is a talented painter who uses the money from selling his first painting to buy a bass guitar. He joins the band of his best friend John, and John convinces him to come along to Hamburg, where they’ve been asked to perform in a nightclub for an extended period.

They arrive on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg and end up sleeping in a run-down porno theatre. Between strip acts in the Kaiserkeller, they play classic rock ’n’ roll songs for drunken German crowds. Their energy and raw talent spill out of every performance. But Stuart’s heart soon turns to something other than the music and the band: he falls in love with the local photographer Astrid.

Backbeat captures the true story of the Beatles before they were famous. It was in Hamburg that they learned to play together night after night (fueled by speed pills) and built up their insanely extensive repertoire. Ringo wasn’t in the band yet (Pete Best was the drummer), and the group still had five members rather than four. It is also the tragic story of John Lennon’s best friend and a beautiful love story. Stephen Dorff and Sheryl Lee are great in their lead roles.

What impresses most about the film is the music. It truly captures the spirit and passion of this incredible moment in history. I expect that Sam Mendes’ four biographical films scheduled for 2028 will draw heavily from the same sources – and from Backbeat – in capturing the beginnings of the sensational life story of the greatest band in history, and of the man who tragically never got to see what came after.

Rating:

Biography: Iain Softley (1956, London) is a British film director, screenwriter, and producer known for his visually distinctive style and interest in character-driven stories. He first gained professional recognition directing music videos and documentaries for the BBC before transitioning into feature films. Softley’s debut feature, Backbeat (1994), a drama about the early days of The Beatles in Hamburg, earned international acclaim and multiple award nominations. He followed this with the cult-favorite cyber-thriller Hackers (1995), which helped launch the careers of several actors, including Angelina Jolie. His subsequent films, including The Wings of the Dove (1997), K-PAX (2001) and The Skeleton Key (2005) showcased a wide stylistic range. Softley has also worked extensively in television and stage, including adaptations and original productions.

Filmography (a selection): Backbeat (1994), Hackers (1995), Toni Braxton: How Could an Angel Break My Heart (1997, music video), K-PAX (2001), The Skeleton Key (2005), Inkheart (2008), Playhouse Presents (2012, TV Episode), Trap for Cinderella (2013), The Outcast (2015, TV Episodes), Curve (2015), The Shepherd (2023, short)