ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES (1938) Whataya hear, whataya say?

ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES is the quintessential Depression-era gangster movie, packed with the melodrama, comedy, romance and action that took moviegoers’ minds off their woes those years – and graced by the eternally watchable presences of James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Pat O’Brien, Ann Sheridan, and the Dead End Kids. Fresh out of prison and visiting his old neighborhood in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen, infamous mobster Rocky Sullivan (Cagney) reunites with his boyhood pal, a fellow tough who grew up to be a corruption-fighting priest (O’Brien). He also “gats” in touch his shyster lawyer (Bogie), who now manages a nightclub and is withholding both Rocky’s piece of the action. A few killings and one trial later, Rocky is chair-bound. Moments before the execution, the priest, fearing Rocky will become martyr-hero to the young hoodlums, urges him to have the courage to out begging for his life, appearing to be a coward. NO WAY, cocky Rocky tells him. But just as the screw’s about to flip the switch, we see Rocky, in shadow, wailing and pleading for his life. Is he honoring his old friend’s wish, or is he truly a coward? It’s up to you to decide. (Trivia notes: The young actor who plays teenaged gangster-in-training Rocky at the start of the film looks and sounds so much like Cagney you can hardly believe it's not him! Throughout the movie, Cagney uses a phrase that he picked up from his own youth, "Whataya hear, whataya say?") picked up from his own youth, "Whataya hear, whataya say?")