Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Angels with Dirty Faces Blu-ray Movie Review

Dear Amazon: leave it on the doorstep and get the hell outta here.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III December 3, 2021

Lifelong friends James Cagney and Pat O'Brien starred in nine films together, most between 1934 and 1940. Their seventh and arguably best joint project is Michael Curtiz' Angels with Dirty Faces, the memorable story of two pals on very separate paths as their lives unfold in the same neighborhood. Released during the early years of the Hays Code era in filmmaking, its biggest weak point is a cloying religious ending that hobbles the film's most likeable element: an absolutely dynamite performance by Cagney, who's in top form and steals almost every scene he's a part of.

The linear story leads off with scrappy teenagers William "Rocky" Sullivan (Frankie Burke, Hell's Kitchen) and Jerry Connolly (William Tracy, The Shop Around the Corner), whose botched attempt to steal valuable fountain pens lands Rocky in reform school -- Jerry only gets away because he runs a little faster. A decade or two later, we catch up with adult Rocky (Cagney) after taking the fall for armed robbery because his crooked lawyer and accomplice, Jim Frazier (Humphrey Bogart, just four years away from re-teaming with Curtiz on Casablanca), promised him $100,000 after his release from prison. Returning to the old neighborhood, Rocky takes a group of troubled teens (memorably played by "The Dead End Kids", a group of young actors who appeared in eight films together) under his wing; not surprisingly, they look up to him as a local legend. Rocky also meets two blasts from the past: lovely Laury Martin (Ann Sheridan), a regular target in his youth... and Jerry Connolly (O'Brien), now a straight-and-narrow man of the cloth.

Among other things, Angels with Dirty Faces attempts to balance these four key relationships as they unfold. Rocky's interactions with the neighborhood kids and Laury shows his tough love and charisma in full force, doubling as a sign that he's finally attempting to make up for past behavior. (Sadly, Laury's involvement kind of dries up during the film's second half, one of only two character-driven missteps.) Unsurprisingly, the film smartly places most of its chips on the dynamic between Rocky and Jerry on both sides of the law, during which time the Catholic priest fruitlessly tries to save his fallen friend. Things get complicated quickly, though: Rocky's promised payout arrives in the form of a double-cross by Frazier, who plans to kill him instead... but the crafty ex-con doesn't go down easily, smartly avoiding Frazier's trap while keeping Laury out of harm's way in the process. Jerry ends up being Frazier's next target after railing against city corruption; once again, Rocky steps in and, after a fierce standoff that culminates in the shooting of a police officer, he's back in custody. But this time, Rocky is sentenced to death and redemption seems impossible.

Or does it? Angels with Dirty Faces takes a soft left turn during its final stretch, pushing hard for Rocky's death-bed redemption as Jerry pleads with him to find God mere moments before execution. The reason? Those troubled kids, who still idolize the scrappy outlaw, might not follow in his wavering footsteps. It's a sappy swerve that, while not as jaw-droppingly awful as the one in San Francisco (also released during the Hays Code's infancy, just two years prior), still feels like further melodramatic mistreatment of Cagney's character. (And that angelic coda? Gag me with a spoon.) Even so, it's at least not too terribly unexpected and, as part of an otherwise magnetic film packed with fantastic one-liners, great action, and solid performances, one wrong turn obviously can't sink the ship. But had it been made, say, five years earlier, Angels with Dirty Faces would be an absolute classic of Hollywood's Golden Age.

Even so, Curtiz's film is still wildly entertaining and worth (re)discovering for fans and first-timers alike, with Warner Archive's new Blu-ray being the easy standout in a rather slim month of releases compared to last December. As usual, the film benefits greatly from their top-tier restoration efforts, while a handful of excellent bonus features have been carried over from its former home as part of 2005's excellent Warner Gangsters Collection DVD boxed set.

Angels with Dirty Faces Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Although the details of Angels with Dirty Faces' new 1080p transfer were not specified by Warner Archive, it looks to share the exact same qualities of similar nitrate films recently scanned in 4K. (Whether or not is was sourced from the original negative or preservation elements remains to be seen.) But rather than split hairs, it's easy to recognized this is yet another top-tier transfer by the studio: one that reveals a stunning amount of fine detail, retains its natural film grain, and appears to be very clean thanks to a careful round of manual cleanup. From deep blacks and bright whites to a full range of silvery grays, Angels with Dirty Faces far outpaces its 2005 DVD counterpart and, as usual, is perfectly encoded with no obvious artifacts or other compression issues. In short, it's yet another best-case scenario for die-hard fans and purists alike, and will clearly stand as the film's best outing on home video for years to come.

Angels with Dirty Faces Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

"Whaddya hear, whaddya say?" Glad you asked. This DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mono mix is, as usual, occupies the left and right channels but can be directed solely to the center with a few adjustments. It's a quality presentation that only suffers from a handful of age and source-related problems such as light hissing and a thin high end, yet still manages to sound a lot more clean and crisp than its DVD counterpart. No obvious drop-out or sync issues were heard along the way, rounding out what's a perfectly straightforward presentation of this 83 year-old soundtrack.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included... but only during the main feature, not the extras. This continues to be frustrating since Warner Bros.' 2005 DVD had available subs that could easily have been repurposed here.

Angels with Dirty Faces Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with terrific one-sheet cover art and no inserts. The extras (a full menu page's worth) are all ported over from 2005's excellent Warner Gangsters Collection DVD boxed set.

• Warner Night at the Movies 1938 - This series of five era-specific extras is warmly introduced by celebrated film historian Leonard Maltin and includes a related promotional trailer, a newsreel, a music short, and a Looney Tunes cartoon, all designed to be suitable pre-show entertainment for the main feature. These are always a great inclusion and really set the proper mood, even if you can't play them automatically beforehand.

• Introduction by Leonard Maltin (4:20)
• "Boy Meets Girl" Theatrical Trailer (2:47) - This lively musical comedy, also starring Cagney and O'Brien with Marie Wilson and Ralph Bellamy, was actually released a few months earlier that year.
• Newsreel (2:06) - From UCLA's Film and Television Archive.
• Out Where the Stars Begin (19:15) - A Technicolor musical short directed by Bobby Connolly.
• Porky and Daffy (7:32) - This terrific Looney Tunes short starring the duo was directed by Bob Clampett and has been beautifully restored in 1080p with lossless DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio.

• Audio Commentary - An informative and well-organized full-length track by Dana Polan, who currently serves as professor of cinema studies at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts (but was then still teaching at USC).

• Whaddya Hear, Whaddya Say? (22:16) - This featurette pays tribute to Angels with Dirty Faces -- as well as other like-minded gangster pictures from the era -- with enlightening comments by film professor Dr. Lincoln D. Hurst, author / film historian Rudy Behlmer, film professor Dr. Drew Casper, and more, with many related to Hays Code restrictions and their affect on the film itself and Hollywood's output in general.

• Lux Radio Theater (59:07) - An abridged radio adaptation originally broadcast on May 22, 1939; James Cagney and Pat O'Brien reprise their lead roles, and Gloria Dixon fills in for Ann Sheridan.

• Theatrical Trailer (3:20) - This lengthy promotional piece can also be seen here.

Angels with Dirty Faces Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Michael Curtiz' Angels with Dirty Faces is a popular favorite in the gangster genre, yet one of many compromised by Hays Code restrictions. While this flattens a few otherwise memorable moments including the finale, it's a still a very entertaining picture with memorable performances by James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, up-and-coming Humphrey Bogart, and more. Warner Archive's Blu-ray is another definitive catalog release, combining a top-tier A/V restoration with a handful of appropriate era-specific bonus features. Highly Recommended to fans and first-timers alike.