The film can be summed up as the fall of a genuinely good man. Eddie Bartlett (James Cagney) starts the film out as a principled and conscientious soldier fighting in the tale end of WWI. He has ambitions of returning home and continuing his work at an auto shop where he can save up and branch out on his own. The same cannot be said for fellow soldier George Hally (Humphrey Bogart), a man who has no scruples about gunning down young enemy soldiers mere minutes before the signed armistice. George also has major issues with authority figures, bristling when given orders by his commanding officer. A third soldier, Lloyd Hart (Jeffrey Lynn) has just graduated law school prior to being drafted and abhors violence. The three men form an unlikely, and shaky, camaraderie while on the battlefield.
Once the war is over Eddie finds that he cannot pick up his life where he left off as he had originally planned. His job is not waiting for him and work for the thousands of returning soldiers is scarce. Eddie is forced to live with a former friend, Danny (Frank McHugh), a cab driver, and share duties driving commuters around New York. Prohibition begins and Eddie unknowingly delivers a package of liquor to Panama Smith (Gladys George), a bootlegger, and is arrested. He contacts Lloyd hoping to get off but only manages to acquit Panama, getting sixty days in jail for his role in the crime. After a short stint in jail Eddie and Panama join together in the bootlegging business, using his street smarts and investing in more and more cabs to do the delivering as well as hiring Lloyd to be his lawyer. Adding to the mix is Jean Sherman (Priscilla Lane), a woman Eddie corresponded with during the war, who is now working as a dancer. He provides her a better position as a singer in Panama Smith’s speakeasy and intends to marry her once he has saved enough money to quit the rackets. But, while Jean is grateful for all Eddie has done for her she is falling in love with Lloyd instead.
The film takes the viewer through the entirety of the 1920’s, commenting on everything from prohibition to inflation, the stock market and more. At times it seems to want to comment on everything happening at the time, including the films of the era, many of which Cagney had been in. Cagney’s Eddie Bartlett is a better realized character than most of the gangsters and bootleggers from these earlier films, though. He is a well rounded character full of conflicts. He has strong moral values yet struggles with a wicked temper. He has no objections to hiring criminals into his organization but turns one away who won’t admit to his guilt. He also refuses to indulge in his own merchandise. “A dress salesman doesn’t have to wear dresses.” Whenever we see him drinking anything it is milk, a liquid impossible to confuse with alcohol. He views alcohol as a vice he has no use for other than to make money with yet there is a sense throughout that as he strays further away from the optimistic upstanding character from the beginning of the film eventually he will put the milk aside in favor of harder stuff.
Eventually he has to pair up with George, who has graduated from saloon keeper to bootlegger himself, in order to provide a higher quality of booze. But it becomes apparent right away that the violent and amoral George Hally can only make things turn for the worse for Eddie. This will lead Eddie into robbery and even murder, further pushing Eddie away from the man he once was. Cagney deftly portrays Eddie as the man who is slowly, yet steadily, escalates down that slippery slope until we feel he will have no redemptive arc. The only soft side we see at this point is his friendship with Danny, a man who is fiercely loyal to Eddie yet I’ll fitted for this business, and Jean. Eddie tries to shield Danny from the worst of things but ultimately is unable to keep him safe. As for Jean, her love for Lloyd will drive a wedge between the two men.
Late in the film, once prohibition is inevitably repealed, the stock market crashes leaving Eddie in desperate need of some quick cash. George forces Eddie out of his primary assets, his cabs, for a pittance of what they are worth and leaves Eddie destitute and out of work, back where he started immediately after the war. Jean and Lloyd are married and have a child and Lloyd is working for the District Attorney, putting him at odds with George and his enterprises. Where this is all leading is of no surprise to anyone who read the film’s opening crawl but that doesn’t make it any less riveting. James Cagney gives a powerhouse performance in what would become one of his greatest films. It provides a backbone to what easily could have been just another gangster film of the 30’s. Instead, we have a powerful drama about crime and corruption and how even the best of people can be seduced by money and power given the right circumstances. The final scene on the steps of a church is harrowing and Panama Smith’s declaration to the police about what she was to Eddie is haunting. We see glimpses of what she felt throughout but it is hammered home in that one moment at the end. It cements the film’s premise with heart and emotion on helps elevate it above most of its contemporaries. This is a cautionary tale that, while a little heavy handed at times, still resonates eighty years later and deserves the distinction of being called a classic.
Running time: 104 minutes
Starring: James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Priscilla Lane, Gladys George
Directed by: Raoul Walsh
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