The Roaring Twenties
Encyclopedia
The Roaring Twenties is a 1939 crime thriller
starring James Cagney
, Priscilla Lane
, Humphrey Bogart
and Gladys George
. The movie was directed by Raoul Walsh
, and written by Jerry Wald
, Richard Macaulay and Robert Rossen
based on the story "The World Moves On" by Mark Hellinger
. The Roaring Twenties was the last film that Cagney and Bogart made together.
The Roaring Twenties is based on "The World Moves On", a short story by Mark Hellinger
, a columnist who had been hired by Jack Warner
to write screenplays. The movie is hailed as a classic in the gangster movie genre, and considered a "homage" to the classic gangster movie of the early 1930s.
), George Hally (Humphrey Bogart
) and Lloyd Hart (Jeffrey Lynn
), and depicts their trials and tribulations from the Armistice
through the passage of the 18th Amendment
leading to the Prohibition
period of the 1920s and the violence which erupted due to it all the way through the 1929 crash of the stock market
to its conclusion at the end of 1933, only days after the 21st Amendment
brought an end to the Prohibition era.
Following World War 1, Eddie Bartlett returns home from the war only to find his old job at a car shop is occupied. While naive Eddie (he orders milk at a speakeasy) is pulled into the boot-legging business by Panama Smith (Gladys George
), he remeets Jean Sherman (Priscilla Lane
), a girl he formerly spoke to during the war while she was in high school now working at a nightclub. She is an undiscovered star that Eddie generally takes under his wing. But when Bartlett runs into Hally on a boat raid, they agree to work together (as Hally is also in bootlegging). They also meet Hart again who has turned into a successful lawyer. He falls hard for Jean, not knowing Eddie has a thing for her. Due to a bad business deal with Hally however (as well as the stock market crash), Eddie's bootlegging empire crumbles and he's back to driving cabs and having hangovers. Quite by chance, one day Jean steps into Eddie's cab. Eddie is now angry at her for leaving him for Hart and marrying him, so he's stand-offish at first. But after talking, as well as meeting Jean and Lloyd's four-year old son, Jean and Eddie agree to be friends and leave it at that. But, after talking to Hally again, Eddie learns Hally is going to murder Hart because he "knows too much". Eddie adamantly protests and after talking to Jean again, goes to Hally's house to convince him not to bump Hart off. This results in a shootout in which Eddie kills Hally {"Here's one rap ya' won't beat..."} and some of his men, redeeming himself. After running outside, he is shot in the back by another cohort, runs a little ways, knocks over a mail box, and then dramatically collapses on the steps of a church. As the police arrest the remainder of Hally's gang, Panama runs to Eddie and, after being interviewed by a cop whilst she cradles Eddie's lifeless body, she informs the officer, "He used to be a big shot."
In 2009 Empire Magazine named it #1 in a poll of the 20 Greatest Gangster Movies You've Never Seen* (*Probably)
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
starring James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
, Priscilla Lane
Lane Sisters
The Lane Sisters refers to a group of sisters, three of whom achieved success in the 1920s and 1930s as a singing act, with their popularity onstage leading to a series of successful films. A fourth sister was not successful and left this milieu and a fifth avoided show business altogether...
, Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
and Gladys George
Gladys George
Gladys George was an American actress.-Early life:She was born as Gladys Clare Evans on September 13, 1904 in Patten, Maine to English parents.-Career:...
. The movie was directed by Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh...
, and written by Jerry Wald
Jerry Wald
Jerry Wald was an American producer and screenwriter for motion pictures and radio shows.Born Jerome Irving Wald in Brooklyn, New York, he had a brother and sons who were active in show business. Jerry began writing a radio column for the New York Evening Graphic while a student at New York...
, Richard Macaulay and Robert Rossen
Robert Rossen
Robert Rossen was an American screenwriter, film director, and producer whose film career spanned almost three decades. His 1949 film All the King's Men won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, while Rossen was nominated for an Oscar as Best Director...
based on the story "The World Moves On" by Mark Hellinger
Mark Hellinger
Mark Hellinger was an American journalist, theatre columnist, and film producer.-Early life and career:Hellinger was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in New York City, although in later life he became a non-practicing Jew. When he was fifteen, he organized a student strike at Townsend Harris...
. The Roaring Twenties was the last film that Cagney and Bogart made together.
The Roaring Twenties is based on "The World Moves On", a short story by Mark Hellinger
Mark Hellinger
Mark Hellinger was an American journalist, theatre columnist, and film producer.-Early life and career:Hellinger was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in New York City, although in later life he became a non-practicing Jew. When he was fifteen, he organized a student strike at Townsend Harris...
, a columnist who had been hired by Jack Warner
Jack Warner
Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner , born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, was a Canadian American film executive who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California...
to write screenplays. The movie is hailed as a classic in the gangster movie genre, and considered a "homage" to the classic gangster movie of the early 1930s.
Plot
The film follows three men who meet in a foxhole during the waning days of World War I: Eddie Bartlett (James CagneyJames Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
), George Hally (Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
) and Lloyd Hart (Jeffrey Lynn
Jeffrey Lynn
Jeffrey Lynn was an American actor.Born Ragnar Lind in Auburn, Massachusetts, Lynn was a school teacher before he began his acting career. He came to Hollywood and made his film debut in Out Where the Stars Begin...
), and depicts their trials and tribulations from the Armistice
Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)
The armistice between the Allies and Germany was an agreement that ended the fighting in the First World War. It was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not technically a surrender...
through the passage of the 18th Amendment
Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution established Prohibition in the United States. The separate Volstead Act set down methods of enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment, and defined which "intoxicating liquors" were prohibited, and which were excluded from prohibition...
leading to the Prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
period of the 1920s and the violence which erupted due to it all the way through the 1929 crash of the stock market
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
to its conclusion at the end of 1933, only days after the 21st Amendment
Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution repealed the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which had mandated nationwide Prohibition...
brought an end to the Prohibition era.
Following World War 1, Eddie Bartlett returns home from the war only to find his old job at a car shop is occupied. While naive Eddie (he orders milk at a speakeasy) is pulled into the boot-legging business by Panama Smith (Gladys George
Gladys George
Gladys George was an American actress.-Early life:She was born as Gladys Clare Evans on September 13, 1904 in Patten, Maine to English parents.-Career:...
), he remeets Jean Sherman (Priscilla Lane
Lane Sisters
The Lane Sisters refers to a group of sisters, three of whom achieved success in the 1920s and 1930s as a singing act, with their popularity onstage leading to a series of successful films. A fourth sister was not successful and left this milieu and a fifth avoided show business altogether...
), a girl he formerly spoke to during the war while she was in high school now working at a nightclub. She is an undiscovered star that Eddie generally takes under his wing. But when Bartlett runs into Hally on a boat raid, they agree to work together (as Hally is also in bootlegging). They also meet Hart again who has turned into a successful lawyer. He falls hard for Jean, not knowing Eddie has a thing for her. Due to a bad business deal with Hally however (as well as the stock market crash), Eddie's bootlegging empire crumbles and he's back to driving cabs and having hangovers. Quite by chance, one day Jean steps into Eddie's cab. Eddie is now angry at her for leaving him for Hart and marrying him, so he's stand-offish at first. But after talking, as well as meeting Jean and Lloyd's four-year old son, Jean and Eddie agree to be friends and leave it at that. But, after talking to Hally again, Eddie learns Hally is going to murder Hart because he "knows too much". Eddie adamantly protests and after talking to Jean again, goes to Hally's house to convince him not to bump Hart off. This results in a shootout in which Eddie kills Hally {"Here's one rap ya' won't beat..."} and some of his men, redeeming himself. After running outside, he is shot in the back by another cohort, runs a little ways, knocks over a mail box, and then dramatically collapses on the steps of a church. As the police arrest the remainder of Hally's gang, Panama runs to Eddie and, after being interviewed by a cop whilst she cradles Eddie's lifeless body, she informs the officer, "He used to be a big shot."
Cast
- James CagneyJames CagneyJames Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
as Eddie Bartlett - Priscilla LaneLane SistersThe Lane Sisters refers to a group of sisters, three of whom achieved success in the 1920s and 1930s as a singing act, with their popularity onstage leading to a series of successful films. A fourth sister was not successful and left this milieu and a fifth avoided show business altogether...
as Jean Sherman - Humphrey BogartHumphrey BogartHumphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
as George Hally - Gladys GeorgeGladys GeorgeGladys George was an American actress.-Early life:She was born as Gladys Clare Evans on September 13, 1904 in Patten, Maine to English parents.-Career:...
as Panama Smith - Jeffrey LynnJeffrey LynnJeffrey Lynn was an American actor.Born Ragnar Lind in Auburn, Massachusetts, Lynn was a school teacher before he began his acting career. He came to Hollywood and made his film debut in Out Where the Stars Begin...
as Lloyd Hart - Frank McHughFrank McHughFrancis Curray "Frank" McHugh was an American film and television actor.Born in Homestead, Pennsylvania, McHugh came from a theatrical family. His parents ran a stock theatre company and as a young child he performed on stage...
as Danny Green - George MeekerGeorge MeekerGeorge Meeker was an American character movie and Broadway actor who became more of a legend off-camera than on. Meeker made several movies such as Crime Inc. , and Thief in the Dark and played an uncredited part in All Through the Night .Meeker has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-External...
as Harold Masters - Paul KellyPaul Kelly (actor)Paul Michael Kelly was an American child actor who later as an adult became a stage, film, and television actor.-Child actor:...
as Nick Brown - Elisabeth RisdonElisabeth RisdonElisabeth Risdon was an English film actress. She appeared in over 140 films between 1913 and 1952. An attractive beauty in her youth she usually played in society parts...
as Mrs. Sherman - Ed Keane as Henderson
- Joe SawyerJoe SawyerJoe Sawyer was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in over 200 films between 1930 and 1962.He was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, and died in Ashland, Oregon from liver cancer....
as The Sergeant - Joseph CrehanJoseph CrehanJoseph Crehan was an American film actor. He appeared in over 300 films between 1916 and 1965.He was born in Baltimore, Maryland and died in Hollywood, California from a stroke.-Selected filmography:...
as Michaels - Abner BibermanAbner BibermanAbner Biberman , was an American actor, director, and screenwriter...
as Lefty
Reputation
In 2008, the film was nominated for AFI's Top 10 Gangster Films list.In 2009 Empire Magazine named it #1 in a poll of the 20 Greatest Gangster Movies You've Never Seen* (*Probably)