City Streets (1931) and More

[moira finnie]

A dark premiere on TCM this evening, along with some other great gangster movies. You can click on the title of each film to see more about the background of the movie. City Streets even features one of my favorite actresses of the '30s, Sylvia Sidney. Would you like to add your impressions of these films here too?

8:00 PM

City Streets (1931)
A racketeer must choose between his criminal life and love. Cast: Gary Cooper, Sylvia Sidney. Dir: Rouben Mamoulian. BW-82 mins,

9:30 PM

Scarface (1932)
A murderous thug shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life. Cast: Paul Muni, Karen Morley, Ann Dvorak. Dir: Howard Hawks. BW-94 mins, TV-PG, CC

11:15 PM

Little Caesar (1930)
A small-time hood shoots his way to the top, but how long can he stay there? Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Glenda Farrell. Dir: Mervyn LeRoy. BW-79 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS

12:45 AM

The Mayor Of Hell (1933)
A racketeer goes straight to run a reform school. Cast: James Cagney, Madge Evans, Allen Jenkins. Dir: Archie Mayo. BW-90 mins, TV-PG, CC

[ken123]

In Scareface i don't think Paul Muni is protecting Ann Dvorak at all, hes saving her for himself YIKES !

[ChiO]

Aside from the Screen Directors Playhouse, CITY STREETS is what I've been most looking forward to this week. Mamoulian always provides something of interest. I plan on recording THE MAYOR FROM HELL as well. The other two -- what more can be said other than they set a standard that's been tough to surpass.

[feaito]

I saw "City Streets" last year thanks to a friend and it's indeed a feast for the eyes, due to Lee Garmes' awesome and elegant cinematography. Visually stunning from all perspectives: camera movements, lighting, glorious B&W et al. All this sets it appart from the Warner Gangster films of the same period. The cast is great all around: Cooper, Sidney, Lukas, Kibbee and Wynne Gibson.

Of the other films "Scarface" is by far on the top of my list of Gangster films, even above "Public Enemy" (2nd). When I first saw "Little Caesar" (1930) it disappointed me a bit, because, notwithstanding E. G Robinson's impressive performance, it pales in comparison with the two aforementioned films.

"Mayor of Hell" I have yet to see...

Great Line-Up Moira.

[moira finnie]

ChiO, I agree about Mamoulian. He had problems sometimes, but his movies always have something interesting, beautiful and sometimes revelatory. He doesn't get much ink either, for some reason.

My main reasons for watching Scarface are:
Boris Karloff

and

Ann Dvorak. And you're probably right, Ken. But I don't think that Cesca minds that much.
[youtube][/youtube]

Fernando,
If you liked City Streets, that's a real recommendation for me since I've never seen it. The Mayor of Hell is pretty hard-hitting Cagney, early in his career, when he was full of ginger.

[MissGoddess]

I forgot about this line-up and was going to catch my long, lost Jeff Chandler movie, Foxfire (which is finally turning up on Encore Westerns at but I guess I will have to wait and record the 3:05 am broadcast so I can watch City Streets instead. Even though I have it on DVD, I have never sat down to watch it, incredibly. Coop in a gangster movie? I have to see that.

[feaito]

Hi Moira, Thanks...I'll try to watch Mayor of Hell ASAP.

[Lzcutter]

M,

The lack of ink for Mamoulian has been one of the big mysteries for me. Thirty years ago, he was much better known among film students and film buffs than he has been for the last 15 years. I'm not sure what happened to move him to the background but it did happen.

[moira finnie]

City Streets (1931) was gorgeous to look at. Kudos to TCM for finding such a glorious print. Lee Garmes made the world shimmer, even putting water on the streets for reflective values in the day as well as the night. The framing of the images was also exceptional, notably when we saw Sylvia Sidney behind the chicken wire, the bars set against the sky as the seasons passed, and Wynne Gibson looking through the partially open door as Paul Lukas tries to put the moves on Sylvia Sidney. Sylvia was absolutely freaking stunning and so nuanced. It's been awhile since I've had a chance to see her in one of these Paramount "Sylvia has bad luck" movies. I'd forgotten how touching she was, and how very beautiful, while being fully expressive. What a face and those eyes are so sad and so merry, brimming with happiness one minute, desire and despair in another. Wish that TCM could pry Street Scene, An American Tragedy, Mary Burns, Fugitive, Pick-Up and the later The Searching Wind out of the copyright holders. She so deserves to be discovered anew.

That being said, I must admit that the script was not always the best. I did get the giggles when Gary Cooper claimed that he was going to give the orders to the mob from now on and everyone leaned forward simultaneously with their hands on their guns. Where was Mel Brooks when we needed him? Coop was beautiful (especially in the scene at the beach in early morning), and I noticed that Mamoulian used sound throughout the film (as he did so well in Love Me Tonight) to punctuate the action: the ka-klink of the beer bottles, the rush of the car engines, and the sound of the prison doors closing.

M,

The lack of ink for Mamoulian has been one of the big mysteries for me. Thirty years ago, he was much better known among film students and film buffs than he has been for the last 15 years. I'm not sure what happened to move him to the background but it did happen.

Lynn, which book or source about Mamoulian would you recommend about him? I know he wrote an autobiography, but I'm not sure if there is a critical assessment old or new that is worth finding? Thanks.