In the late thirties, James Cagney was a major star for Warner Brothers, while Humphrey Bogart’s star was on the rise, basically playing gangsters or crooked characters for most films he acted in. With Angels with Dirty Faces, the two stars were paired together along with screen legends Pat O’Brien, Ann Sheridan and the Dead End Kids!  The film was directed by the legendary Michael Curtiz who was at the helm for a lot of classics that we all love!

Angels with Dirty Faces is basically James Cagney’s film, while Bogart’s role is a bit smaller. In it, Cagney plays William ”Rocky” Sullivan, who was a gangster at childhood. He and Jerry Connelly (Pat O’Brien, Some Like it Hot, I Sell Anything) were both criminals at a young age. Jerry grew up and became a priest, which Rocky continued his criminal ways. Rocky went to reform school as a juvenile delinquent and later a three-year prison sentence where he takes the rap for a crime he committed with Jim Frazier (Humphrey Bogart, Casablanca) who would become a crooked lawyer.  Rocky, freed wants the $100,000 that was promised to him by Frazier for taking the fall. But Frazier is holding out on him. In the meantime, Rocky has some young hoodlums who idolize him, known as the Dead End Kids, Soapy (Billy Halop, Dead End), Swing (Bobby Jordan, Dead End, A Slight Case of Murder), Bim (Leo Gorcey, Out of the Fog, Spooks Run Wild), Pasty (Gabriel Dell, They Made Me a Criminal), Crab (Huntz Hall, Docks of New York, Cyclone), and Hunk(Bernard Punsly, Sea Raiders) that Father Connelly wants to reform and a potential love interest in Laury Martin (Ann Sheradin, They Drive by Night, City for Conquest).

I just love this movie, as Angels with Dirty Faces is one of the major gangster films of the thirties. The acting is magnificent, with a good story and direction by the always excellent Michael Curtiz! The finale where Father Connelly asks Rocky to do something that would hopefully result in reforming the Dead End Kids is priceless as Rocky is a strong proud character and having him do something that goes against his own principles, even in death is something he’s not comfortable doing.

Warner Archive receives the popular film a much needed and deserved Blu-ray release and is easily an upgrade over the DVD. The image is as sharp as it will ever be with a beautiful, clear black and white image. The picture has a balanced greyscale with rich blacks and crisp whites and is smooth and polished throughout the presentation with rich textures and details for both the characters and scenery around them. Age-old anomalies such as speckles and lines are absent

The Angels with Dirty Faces Blu-ray has an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 sound mix for their Blu-ray and the sound is nearly perfect, but dialogue is a tad low for their audio presentation. Max Steiner’s excellent musical score and various action and sound effects blend the sound elements fluidly. Issues such as hissing, popping, or crackling that are often found in older films were not detected. English subtitles are available for this release.

Warner has ported over all the extras from their DVD release, which there is a wealth of.

Warner Night at the Movies has Leonard Maltin introducing us to some short films: a trailer for Boy Meets Girl, a newsreel, a musical short Out Where the Stars Begin, and the animated Porky and Daffy.

The audio commentary with film historian Dana Polan who discusses the film in great detail.

Angels with Dirty Faces: Whaddya Hear? Whaddya Say? which also focuses on the film. Movie historians Lincoln Hurst, Rudy Behlmer, Drew Casper, Alain Silver, Eric Lax, and Andrew Sarris are all part of this discussion.

Lux Radio Theater is a 1939 radio adaptation of the film with James Cagney and Pat O’Brien.

A theatrical Trailer rounds out the extras.

This release of Angels with Dirty Faces is a prime example of what a thirties movie could look and sound like with proper restoration. This is a major movie and was given the royal treatment by Warner Archive on Blu-ray. The audio and video quality for this release is overall superb. This is easily a recommended release not only for the quality of the image and sound but for the film itself!

Angels with Dirty Faces

Director- Michael Curtiz

Cast- James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Pat O’Brien, Ann Sheridan

Country of Origin- US

Distributor – Warner Archive / Warner Home Video

Number of Discs – 1

Reviewed by – David Steigman

Date –12/12/2021