Rating: 
Summary: PROHIBITION TIME CAPSULE
Review:
The speakeasy era comes alive in THE ROARING TWENTIES (1939), Raoul Walsh's gangland chronicle with newsreel-like montages and narration.
James Cagney is bootlegger Eddie Bartlett who deals in "bottles not battles." But alas, major battles and bloodletting await both inside and outside his self-styled, growing empire. And there's the double-dealing of Humphrey Bogart as his associate George Hally.
Extras: a 1939 newsreel, musical short "All Girl Revue," "The Great Library Misery" comedy short, "Thugs with Dirty Mugs" cartoon and a new featurette "The Roaring Twenties: The World Moves On." The better than average, informed commentary's by Lincoln Hurst.
Rating: 
Summary: The Roar You Hear Is the Sound of Virtue Triumphant
Review: Hollywood gangster films of the 1930s did more than merely entertain. The producers were careful to insure that each one became a mini-morality play with good in conflict with evil. Evil was usually given a head start with the villains enjoying their ill-gotten gains, but by the time the closing credits rolled, the audience could see that if good did not triumph at least evil had to be punished or contained. In THE ROARING TWENTIES, director Raoul Walsh presents three men who start out on a level playing field. Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, and Jeffrey Lynn all survive the horrors of trench warfare to return to the United States, only to find that the sociological and economic deck has been stacked against them, forcing each to travel a separate path. Bogart and Cagney choose the path of crime, with Lynn opting for the honorable profession as a lawyer. The twenties was a time of illegal bootlegging and Bogart and Cagney form a partnership of convenience to give the American people the liquor that the government denies them. Yet, they are not alike either in philosophy or methodology. Bogart is your amoral thug, one who takes to his new profession with the gusto that he often brought to his parts in similar roles. When he kills, he does it more for the sheer joy than for the momentary expediency. Cagney kills too, but his killing is only to solve the problem at hand. He takes no joy in it, and he even chastises Bogart for an unnecessary killing of a former despised comrade from their army days. Lynn, who chooses the straight life as attorney, is shown as the man Cagney could have been in different circumstances. Priscilla Lane plays Jean, a girl whom Cagney loves but cannot return that love since she falls in love with Lynn. Gladys George is Panama Smith, a rough-speaking yet inwardly noble saloon singer who loves Cagney but sees that she cannot compete with Jean. The crash of the stock market in 1929 sends Cagney down the spiral of financial and personal dissolution. He drinks, gets arrested, and loses his money. Bogart, of course, has no trouble adapting to the new political climate. Lynn marries Jean, and when Bogart plans to kill him to insure his silence, she runs to Cagney, asking him to intervene. Cagney shoots Bogart and is himself shot by the police while fleeing. The movie ends with Cagney's corpse lying on a snowy street and Panama cradling his head. A cop asks her who he was and she replies, 'He used to be a big shot.'
THE ROARING TWENTIES could have been a by-the-numbers gangster melodrama, but the fine acting of the cast elevated it to what is now seen as the cultural pop gangster icon of the era. Further, there is an undercurrent of inevitability, a foreshadowing that the criminal life offers no stable life at all, and all the cars, money, and flashy women cannot compensate for the tragic loss of wasted potential. Gangsta wannabes of today might want to see this film to keep this is mind.
Rating: 
Summary: How about a DVD???
Review: I caught this most poignant of gangster films on TV a few weeks ago, and I was so moved by James Cagney's performance...it is a cryng shame that only a handful of his movies have been released on DVD. Please, Warner Brothers, how about giving this gem a shot at the big-time?
Rating:
Summary: This movie made me a Cagney fan
Review: If you have not yet seen the great James Cagney in one of
his movies, then take a look at this. Mr. Cagney cuts a wide
path through this picture, which could have been much less
compelling with any other actor in his role as Eddie Bartlett. It's filmed in that wonderful vintage Warner Brothers
style, which was the reason I first took a look at it. It grabbed my attention and never let it go, all the way to the
Operatically tragic final scene. Mr. Cagney gave his per-
formance a heart and soul that few actors have rarely
matched, and he did so with a seeming effortlessness.
Ironically, he was , in real life, an artist and a gentleman
who represented everything that Hollywood was not---
he apparently led a life of modesty, generosity, and integrity. He also appeared to lack any of that complication
that comes from being self-absorbed. I am thrilled to say
that I had the opportunity to (briefly) personally meet him
after a private screening of this film, several years back.
I am delighted to be able to say that he was warm and en-
thusiastic about my liking this movie, so I can tell all the rest
of his fans who haven't met him that he was glad to have
people appreciate his work, all these years later. And, I have
also found , in an antique mall, an autographed photo of
Mr. Cagney's. It is something I will treasure all my life.
Anyway, let me just say that The Roaring Twenties, if you
never have seen it, would be a terrific introduction to the
creative whirlwind known as James Cagney. You'll love it.
By the way, I'm not Larry Francis--my name is Colin, and I''m
his step-dad in-law.fo
Rating:
Summary: IT'S ONLY A SHANTY...
Review: Jimmy Cagney had the top spot in this piece which was reminiscent of his earlier successes in THE PUBLIC ENEMY & ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES. A bravura account of the speakeasy days, of wars between rival bootleggers, of underworld feuds and killings, of dizzy night spots and sentimental tears. Cagney played with his usual zest, one Eddie Bartlett, a former garage mechanic who comes back from WWI and finds jobs are tough to get. He takes a fling at taxi driving. And then bootlegging. Eddie helps Jean Sherman, a pretty young miss (Priscilla Lane) get a job in a speakeasy as a singer; she does well, but doesn't return his affections...THE ROARING TWENTIES would be little more than another sentimental and synthetic gangster melodrama were it not for the honest and assured portrayal given by Cagney as the criminal career man. The great actor played this sort of role before, but some feel he had never played it better. By virtue of his taut and knowing portrayal, Mark Hellinger's rather slipshod script becomes alive and vastly exciting on the screen. Gladys George had a genuine triumph as Panama; she breathed poignance into the stock role of the night club hostess who calls her customers "chump".
Rating:
Summary: Cagney and Bogie as bootleggers
Review: One of my all-time favorite gangster movies. The Roaring 20's features James Cagney at his best as a returning WWI vet who has lost his job , turns to bootlegging and muscles his way to the top. Cagney is at his wisecracking tough guy peak in this and he is given a run for his money by Humphrey Bogart as his WWI buddy turned partner turned rival.
The movie traces these characters through the tumultuous speakeasy days. Cagney's character falls for a young singer who is in love with a young straightshooting attorney. Eddie(Cagney) has one loyal admirer in Panama Smith an aging speakeasy manager who is played flawlessly by Gladys George. She delivers the most memorable line in the movie "Get a Victrola- Jughead". The story culminates with Eddie being ruined financially and having a showdown with Bogart's character that results in the death scene to end all death scenes. Cagney's staggeriing down the street and collapsing on the church steps after being shot has been often imitated but never duplicated. A great movie and a piece of film history that stands up to repeated viewings.
Rating:
Summary: THE DECADE THAT ROARED IN A THRILLING NEW TRANSFER!
Review: Raoul Walsh's "The Roaring Twenties" (1939) is an unintentionally laughable little bit of business that, at the time of its release was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. It stars James Cagney as Eddie Bartlett a jobless war veteran whose rags to riches story is something ripped straight from the cliched pages of the American dream. He starts out a cab driver but winds up in charge of a fleet of taxis. Of course none of this is possible without the financial backing of old fairweather pal, George Hally (Humphrey Bogart) a bootlegger who uses Eddie's cab service as his own private delivery service for booze, booze and more booze. Lloyd Hart's (Jeffrey Lynn)aspirations of going legit' by practicing law go slightly awry as he takes on Eddie as a partner. As the years roll on, all flows like vintage champagne until love and rivalry over the goody-two-shoes, Jean Hart (Priscilla Lane) interfere. Gladys George is in it too, as the long suffering, knock about his gal Friday to Eddie - who's absolutely oblivious to the fact that her feelings for him run deep.
What is particularly humorous about "The Roaring Twenties" today is its dated aversion to taboo spirits. In one montage we see teens and college students slipping one another mickeys at the malt shop while a voice over speaks ominously of the perils of getting stoned. It's all fun and games until someone wraps their car around a tree during a hairpin turn. So much for celebrating the good times!
Warner's DVD transfer is particularly pleasing. Though there are several instances where second generation print material has been substituted for original camera negatives, the gray scale overall is nicely balanced and quite pleasing with rich and deep blacks and generally clean whites. Some age related artifacts and film grain are present throughout, particularly in the stock footage - but nothing will distract you from this fond farewell to the gangster era. Extras include a newly produced featurette. Film historian Lincoln Hurst does a good job of summing up the film, while Leonard Maltin delights with his summation of 1939 with "Warner Night at the Movies." Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: All the Way Up, and All the Way Down
Review: That's the symbolism at the end of "The Roaring Twenties", my all-time favorite James Cagney movie. What a joy to watch Cagney as he plays Eddie Bartlett, a doughboy who can't get a job after WWI, and who stumbles into the racketeering world by accident. It's a world about tuxedo clad toughs who pack heaters and gats, and speakeasies raided by cops on the make, two-timing ingenues and shady ladies with hearts of gold. And ultimately, a world set right by truth, justice, and the repeal of Prohibition. Supporting Cagney's gangster protagonist is a wonderful ensemble cast. Gladys George has been around the block, but gets stuck on Eddie; Priscilla Lane is the baby face that Eddie's ga-ga about, who sings "Melancholy Baby", "It Had to Be You" and other great songs of the period; Frank McHugh is Eddie's sidekick from the trenches to the big time; and Humphrey Bogart is the rat fink who chisels and kills with very little effort or remorse. "The Roaring Twenties" is a great movie about a good boy who fell in with the wrong crowd, expertly put over by that prince of the gangster movies, James Cagney. Take it out for a little ride back to your VCR.
Rating:
Summary: Big Shots
Review: The Roaring Twenties came at the end of the gangster cycle of movies in the Thirties, and it's a fitting end. The film takes sort of a documentary approach to the era of Prohibition, from its beginning to its finish after fourteen years. At the same time, it chronicles the rise and fall of a gangster played by James Cagney, who becomes a big shot, only to lose it all. Cagney is, as usual, riveting in his role, with some great scenes at the end of the movie. Priscilla Lane is the idealized love of his life who can never return his love because of her dislike for his lifestyle. Gladys George is excellent as Panama Smith, a speakeasy hostess who really is Cagney's soulmate, even though he doesn't realize it. Humphrey Bogart has another one of the bad guy gangster roles that he had a lot of in the Thirties. The movie is well directed and moves along quickly, and although it doesn't really offer anything new to the gangster film genre, it does give the viewer a good overall look at the era, with a finale that is truly memorable. It's worth seeing.
Rating:
Summary: we won't honor them on Veterans Day
Review: THE ROARING TWENTIES is a gangster film about life in New York City during the Prohibition years after World War I. James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart star as two former army buddies who turn to crime during lean times. A strong supporting cast includes Priscilla Lane, Gladys George, Frank McHugh and Paul Kelly. The climatic scene is perhaps one of the most famous ones directed by Raoul Walsh. He also directed THE STRAWBERRY BLONDE, THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON and HIGH SIERRA.
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