Directed by:
Michael CurtizCinematography:
Sol PolitoComposer:
Max SteinerCast:
James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, George Bancroft, Bobby Jordan, Billy Halop, Leo Gorcey, Gabriel Dell, Huntz Hall, Bernard Punsly (more)Plots(1)
Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connolly, two New York slum kids, are caught trying to steal pens from a railroad car. Jerry escapes but Rocky is captured and sent to reform school. As adults, Rocky turns to a life of crime, while Jerry becomes a priest in their old neighborhood. Eventually, Rocky is arrested and makes a deal with his crooked lawyer, James Frazier, to take the fall for his gang in exchange for $100,000 upon his release. When Rocky returns to the neighborhood after his release from prison, Jerry hopes Rocky will go straight, but Rocky plans to join a criminal organization and collect the $100,000. Meanwhile, Rocky befriends a gang of troubled kids, using their admiration of him to get them involved in the wholesome activities that Jerry runs at the neighborhood gym. Rocky starts dating another childhood friend, Laury Ferguson, who is now a social worker for the parish. Unknown to Rocky, Frazier plans to kill Rocky, rather than give him his due. When Rocky discovers what he has in mind, he kidnaps Frazier and steals the contents of his safe, which include all the information Frazier and his cohort, Mac Keefer, have been using to blackmail powerful men around town. Frazier finally pays Rocky his money, $10,000 of which Rocky tries to give to Jerry for his gym. Fed up with corruption, Jerry begins a campaign to reform the city government. When Rocky finds out that Frazier and Keefer plan to kill Jerry in order to stop his work, he kills them and flees to a nightclub. Before he can get away, the police surround the nightclub, and Rocky is arrested and sentenced to death. Just before Rocky is to die, Jerry visits him on death row. He begs Rocky to die "yellow," so the gang kids won't idolize him. Rocky refuses outright, but as the guards start to strap him down in the electric chair, he begs them not to let him die. Later, when the kids read the paper's report of Rocky's death, Jerry reluctantly confirms his cowardice and asks the kids to join him in a prayer for the boy who "couldn't run as fast as I could." (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
![James Cagney](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/164/348/164348332_0d2b75.png)
James Cagney
USA
Best movies:
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
One, Two, Three (1961)
White Heat (1949)
![Pat O'Brien](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/316/316842_50a47a.jpg)
Pat O'Brien
USA
Best movies:
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The People Against O'Hara (1951)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
![Humphrey Bogart](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/164/186/164186707_30a2c4.jpg)
Humphrey Bogart
USA
Best movies:
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Casablanca (1942)
![Ann Sheridan](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/169/128/169128236_s0lith.jpg)
Ann Sheridan
USA
Best movies:
Edge of Darkness (1943)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Dodge City (1939)
![George Bancroft](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/496/496872_524dca.jpg)
George Bancroft
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Underworld (1927)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
![Bobby Jordan](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/193/160193911_4a45ed.jpg)
Bobby Jordan
USA
Best movies:
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Dead End (1937)
Spooks Run Wild (1941)
![Billy Halop](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/193/160193912_ef4b95.jpg)
Billy Halop
USA
Best movies:
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Dead End (1937)
Too Late for Tears (1949)
![Leo Gorcey](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/027/436/27436960_48208f.jpg)
Leo Gorcey
USA
Best movies:
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Dead End (1937)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
![Gabriel Dell](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/560/160560951_f3a30a.jpg)
Gabriel Dell
USA
Best movies:
The Name of the Game (1968) (series)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Dead End (1937)
![Huntz Hall](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/843/159843088_146226.jpg)
Huntz Hall
USA
Best movies:
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Dead End (1937)
A Walk in the Sun (1945)
![Bernard Punsly](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/188/160188556_48310c.jpg)
Bernard Punsly
USA
Best movies:
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Dead End (1937)
![Edward Pawley](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/893/159893446_5f572d.jpg)
Edward Pawley
USA
Best movies:
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
'G' Men (1935)
The Oklahoma Kid (1939)
![Adrian Morris](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/726/159726555_a8a36b.jpg)
Adrian Morris
USA
Best movies:
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
If I Were King (1938)
![William Tracy](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/120/455/120455745_e41165.jpg)
William Tracy
USA
Best movies:
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Strike Up the Band (1940)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
![John Harron](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/021/353/21353532_abea5f.jpg)
John Harron
USA
Best movies:
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Dark Victory (1939)
![Earl Dwire](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/505/505379_0f29e7.jpg)
Earl Dwire
USA
Best movies:
King Kong (1933)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
His Girl Friday (1940)
![Lane Chandler](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/779/158779807_e6a2b4.jpg)
Lane Chandler
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Reap the Wild Wind (1942)
Laura (1944)
![Jack Mower](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/332/160332802_ec610a.jpg)
Jack Mower
USA
Best movies:
Miracle of Fatima (1952)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
![Emory Parnell](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/000/159000040_e29276.jpg)
Emory Parnell
USA
Best movies:
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
You Gotta Stay Happy (1948)
Sabrina (1954)
Charles Sullivan
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Great Dictator (1940)
Fury (1936)