There is a scene that occurs about half way through this film in which a cop, a newspaper man, and couple of random people get into a protracted discussion about what has to be done about the mafia menace. The scene is terrible. It explicitly spells out the theme of the story-the wages of sin are death-while browbeating the viewer to get on the case. Some of the ideas put forward during that scene-enforcing the deportation act for example-are morally suspect. It stops the film's pace dead. The film is so much worse for including the scene.
Hawks' and Hughes' production is right on the edge of being a stylish early gangster film and being a self-parody of the same. Hawks' visuals are very inventive; they are primitive Noir-like use of deep shadows and high contrast black/white. It is really easy to see the German expressionism influences that goes through horror than crime to film Noir by this film being the connecting material. The use of the Tommy gun ripping off the dates of a calendar to show deaths and time passage was especially striking in that regard. The film tips into more parody than it should have because of the moralizing scene; it really does undermine the effect of the film.
The acting is scene chewing operatic caricature. Muni, especially, is quite overstated. It makes the film entertaining but I find it hard to get into the story with such comedic overtones.
This is the godfather of the gangster subgenre. It is not hard to see the bones of other works. But this film's influences and flaws explain why the gangster subgenre is as limited as it is. The film is entertaining when it shouldn't be.
Hawks' and Hughes' production is right on the edge of being a stylish early gangster film and being a self-parody of the same. Hawks' visuals are very inventive; they are primitive Noir-like use of deep shadows and high contrast black/white. It is really easy to see the German expressionism influences that goes through horror than crime to film Noir by this film being the connecting material. The use of the Tommy gun ripping off the dates of a calendar to show deaths and time passage was especially striking in that regard. The film tips into more parody than it should have because of the moralizing scene; it really does undermine the effect of the film.
The acting is scene chewing operatic caricature. Muni, especially, is quite overstated. It makes the film entertaining but I find it hard to get into the story with such comedic overtones.
This is the godfather of the gangster subgenre. It is not hard to see the bones of other works. But this film's influences and flaws explain why the gangster subgenre is as limited as it is. The film is entertaining when it shouldn't be.