The Fighting 69th (1940) - Cagney and O'Brien back in familiar dynamic in alright morale war picture

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A color-spiked, star-pushing poster for William Keighley's The Fighting 69th

Towards the end of WWI, the Irish-American 69th infantry company from New York are stationed in Europe's trenches, with cheeky Plunkett and silver-tongued father Duff, fighting for world peace.

The Fighting 69th is written by Dean Riesner (Coogan's Bluff (1968)), Fred Niblo Jr. (Father's Son (1941)) and Norman Reilly Raine (Eagle Squadron (1942)), based on the real heroics of the 69th infantry company during WWI, and directed by William Keighley (Each Dawn I Die (1939)). The company was named 'the fighting 69th' long before WWI; in fact by General Robert E. Lee during the American Civil War.
Both his soldier colleagues and James Cagney's (The Mayor of Hell (1933)) Plunkett, who turns out to have it all in his mouth, are vexing in The Fighting 69th. Pat O'Brien (Stage 7 (1955, TV-series)) seems to have been created for playing clerical parts such as this, - which he had also already done across from Cagney in gangster masterpiece Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), - and so the casting here is hardly innovative.
But that goes for the entire film, which relies on the suspense of whether or not Plunkett will convert to the good father's faith and redeem himself in the end (or not), and this works just fine as digestive afternoon fare - especially for men.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain - but seemingly a hit
[The Fighting 69th premiered 26 January (New York) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles and San Diego, in and around October 1939. The Plunkett character is entirely fictional. The only female character in the script was cast but then cut out prior to production. The film's budget and gross is unknown; though it reportedly peaked at #2 in North America; and TCM reports that it was "an enormous hit". Keighley returned with Torrid Zone (1940), also the next feature for Cagney. O'Brien returned in Castle on the Hudson (1940); George Brent (Stage 7 (1955, TV-series)) in Adventure in Diamonds (1940). 1,618 IMDb users have given The Fighting 69th a 6.7/10 average rating.]

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Angels With Dirty Faces (1938) - The quintessential anti-hero picture, Curtiz's electric gangster masterpiece

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With strong, splashy colors, striking composition and great detail, this is one delicious poster for Michael Curtiz's Angels With Dirty Faces

Rocky Sullivan wasn't a bad kid. But in juvenile penitentiary, he became one. Outside a gangster, and then behind bars again. When Rocky gets out, the neighborhood brats look up to him. But Rocky is heading into his own private abyss of self-destruction.

Angels With Dirty Faces is written by John Wexley (Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939)) and Warren Duff (Step Lively (1944)), based on a story by Rowland Brown (Widow's Might (1935)), with Ben Hecht (Angel Face (1953)) and Charles MacArthur (The Mad Doctor (1941)) contributing uncredited work, and is directed by Hungarian master filmmaker Michael Curtiz (Mildred Pierce (1945)).
James Cagney (The West Point Story (1950)) has street smarts and an electric charisma that beats every other actor's who has ever tried portraying a tantalizing hoodlum; as Rocky Sullivan, he's on fire! The character seems to trick himself through just about everything in the film, especially in the ultra-real scenes with The Dead End Kids (Crime School (1938)) group of teenage outcasts.
Across from Cagney in Curtiz' timeless, hugely quotable gangster masterpiece is Humphrey Bogart (The Harder They Fall (1956)) as the slimy lawyer and Pat O'Brien (Johnny One-Eye (1950)) as Rocky's childhood friend who has become a the minister, the redeeming character of the film, beautifully acted and written.
Angels With Dirty Faces is a singularly electrifying street drama and one of the best gangster movies ever; an incredibly potent, raw and enjoyable film that feels like it claws right through your imagination and sheds its juice into your open, palpitating heart. A true classic.

Related posts:

Michael Curtiz: Top 10: The best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Casablanca (1942) - The perfect film

 

Get a sense of the intensity of Angels With Dirty Faces from its original trailer right here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 1.7 mil. $
= Uncertain
[Angels With Dirty Faces was released 26 November (USA) and runs 96 minutes. Cagney took the story with him to Warner Bros. from Grand National Pictures when that company was nearing its 1939 bankruptcy. He drew on his memories of growing up in Manhattan and even of losing a childhood friend to the electric chair. Shooting took place in California and New York from June - August 1938. Cagney at one point used force to instill order around the notoriously unruly Dead End Kids. Later in the shoot the star was nearly shot, when live machine gun fire was used in a shootout scene, leading Cagney to conclude that the practice of using real bullets on film was "ridiculous." The film's budget is not known, but it is said to have been a financial success. It was nominated for 3 Oscars: Best Actor (Cagney), lost to Spencer Tracy in Boys Town, Director (Curtiz was also nominated that year for Four Daughters), lost to Frank Capra with You Can't Take It with You, and Original Story, lost to Boys Town. It won a National Board of Review award. Curtiz returned with uncredited direction on Blackwell's Island (1939) and credited as director with Dodge City (1939). Cagney returned in The Oklahoma Kid (1939); O'Brien in Swingtime in the Movies (1938, short) and theatrically in Off the Record (1939). Angels With Dirty Faces is certified fresh at 100 % with an 8.18/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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