← Back to Reviews
in
The Roaring Twenties (1939) N
A crime film about bootleggers and how the prohibition turns good men into criminals (and how war lets them befriend with bad people).
Three people befriend during the WWI. After the war the return to civilian life isn't easy and slowing economy makes it hard to find a job. Eventually they all end up together smuggling booze to thirsty prohibition era New York. What started as easy money eventually turns to violent business and greed tears old friends apart. Pretty standard stuff for this kind of a film.
The foremost thing on my mind is the rushed pacing of the film. The story is just too huge for one movie. Obviously it wasn't an option in 1939 but I'd believe this would work much better as a TV series. Lots of of characters are simplified too much and the dynamics between them are practically distilled to one line of dialogue at worst (George and Lloyd). It's like a synopsis of a great story. Acting was also good but I'm not exactly sure if I like Cagney.
The opening sequence in France during the war feels staged and somewhat out of place. It's necessary because it's pretty much all the character building we have for George but it looks awful and is way too theatrical. Back in the States everything works better. I think one or two singing scenes could have been cut for something else and at least some attempt to show why Eddie fell in love with Jean would have been nice.
I like how the film puts much of the blame to prohibition itself. How making a law impossible to enforce that's against the people's sense of justice isn't only stupid but also dangerous as it turns otherwise decent men into criminals by pushing them outside of legality. I'm surprised how clearly the film criticized prohibition. As a related note Eddie is portrayed little too good and decent to underline that point. I don't think he could have gotten to his position by always being such a nice guy.
The story and acting are good, technically it's fine except for the opening scenes and there's nothing horribly wrong with the film but 106 minutes is just too short time to tell a story of Eddie's rise and fall. The end result is far too superficial.
A crime film about bootleggers and how the prohibition turns good men into criminals (and how war lets them befriend with bad people).
Three people befriend during the WWI. After the war the return to civilian life isn't easy and slowing economy makes it hard to find a job. Eventually they all end up together smuggling booze to thirsty prohibition era New York. What started as easy money eventually turns to violent business and greed tears old friends apart. Pretty standard stuff for this kind of a film.
The foremost thing on my mind is the rushed pacing of the film. The story is just too huge for one movie. Obviously it wasn't an option in 1939 but I'd believe this would work much better as a TV series. Lots of of characters are simplified too much and the dynamics between them are practically distilled to one line of dialogue at worst (George and Lloyd). It's like a synopsis of a great story. Acting was also good but I'm not exactly sure if I like Cagney.
The opening sequence in France during the war feels staged and somewhat out of place. It's necessary because it's pretty much all the character building we have for George but it looks awful and is way too theatrical. Back in the States everything works better. I think one or two singing scenes could have been cut for something else and at least some attempt to show why Eddie fell in love with Jean would have been nice.
I like how the film puts much of the blame to prohibition itself. How making a law impossible to enforce that's against the people's sense of justice isn't only stupid but also dangerous as it turns otherwise decent men into criminals by pushing them outside of legality. I'm surprised how clearly the film criticized prohibition. As a related note Eddie is portrayed little too good and decent to underline that point. I don't think he could have gotten to his position by always being such a nice guy.
The story and acting are good, technically it's fine except for the opening scenes and there's nothing horribly wrong with the film but 106 minutes is just too short time to tell a story of Eddie's rise and fall. The end result is far too superficial.