The film opens in 1920 when youths Rocky and Jerry attempt to steal from a railway car. They are overheard and flee the scene. But Jerry is the faster runner and escapes while Rocky is captured and sentenced to several years in juvenile detention. Rocky refuses to give up his friend and takes the sentence all to himself. His time in juvie leads to further criminal acts and more time behind bars until eventually, eighteen years later he is paroled and back on the streets, his most recent being for armed robbery with his share, $100,000, being held on to by his partner Jim Frazier (Humphrey Bogart) while Rocky served his time.
Upon release from prison, Rocky visits the old neighborhood and discovers Jerry is still there, now a priest who oversees many of the young boys I n the area, determined to help them avoid a life of crime and grow up to live productive lives. The two are genuinely glad to see each other and Jerry helps Rocky secure a place to stay, renting from a young woman the two knew growing up, Laury (Ann Sheridan). When Rocky visits his old partner, Jim, he is promised the $100,000 by the end of the week and is given some spending money to tide him over, money that is soon after stolen from him from a group of young hoodlums played by the Bowery Boys. Rocky tracks them down easily enough taking his money back and earning their respect and adoration, something that slowly begins to concern Father Jerry. Meanwhile, Jim, Rocky’s old partner, has no intent on paying Rocky the $100,000, nor letting Rocky muscle in on their established rackets, and instead orders him killed.
The real power in this film is its message of how adoration can lead people astray and how a man, even one as bad as Rocky, can do the right thing from time to time to save those he truly cares about. He himself may be beyond saving but the generation behind him may still stand a chance if steered in the right direction. The Bowery Boys were the perfect choice to depict that here having gained a reputation themselves for mischievous behavior both in front of and behind the scenes. They never fail to hit the right notes as both aggressive bad boys as well as sympathetic characters in need of a good role model. We see both sides of that coin throughout this film, perhaps most prominently during a basketball game where Father Jerry is unable to get the boys to settle down and play fair until Rocky steps in to referee, using more harsh methods to get the boys to quit fighting and play right. Rocky’s influence over the boys is genuine and powerful, something Father Jerry doesn’t fail to notice.
The climax of the film runs the risk of being overly melodramatic and preachy, no pun intended. What saves it is the rawness to it all. When things finally turn violent and Rocky is arrested for a crime that carries a far more severe punishment than jail time, everyone, Rocky included, expects him to face that punishment with a sneer on his face, never backing down from his tough guy image. The boys may not be excited for Rocky to be killed but they idolize the way he’ll face death and spit in its face. Jerry sees this and knows there is only one way to save these boys and he’ll need his friend to make the ultimate sacrifice to make it happen.
The acting is top notch and the moral of the story is spot on. This movie is leaps and bounds above any gangster film of the era, relying on the old tropes of crime doesn’t pay. Instead, it focuses on how one’s environment and those they look up to can shape one’s destiny. The only real weak spot would have to be the generic casting of Humphrey Bogart who was, at this point in his career, coasting on roles of this sort. He’s not bad here but the part is underwritten in an otherwise well written script. But this movie isn’t really about Jim and his attempt to kill Rocky rather than pay him. It is about Rocky, Jerry and the Bowery Boys and that’s where it hits it out of the park. Everything else is just background noise.
Running Time: 97 minutes
Starring: James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, The Bowery Boys
Directed By: Michael Curtiz
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