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• End of an era

  • Mike
  • 10/17/11

  This film looks back to the Public Enemy but also anticipates Citizen Kane, from the other side of the tracks. Nice contrast between the full of life Cagney, and the 30's no wasted effort Bogie.

• The Roaring Twenties

  • Mark Sutch
  • 4/14/11

  ****

• No Respect for a Fine Actor

  • Mike Dudnikov
  • 1/25/10

  Just read through the cast list here, and the IMDb as well, and both list the outstanding character actor Abner Biberman as simply Henchman. In the movie, and more than once, he is referred to as Lefty. I hope this will soon be corrected. He deserves a little respect. Though maybe his agent was Rodney Dangerfield. Biberman did consistently fine work. Probably his best rememberd role was that of Chota (young Toad Face) in Gunga Din.

• Prohibition Lesson

  • Jerry Bob
  • 11/16/09

  Not only one of the greats of all time, as others have mentioned, with one of the greatest ending lines in Hollywood history, but also the narration points out the devastating results of prohibition. Perhaps something to be learned today.

• Cagney Outdoes Cagney!

  • Steve S
  • 7/15/09

  Jimmy Cagney takes us on a tour de force roller coaster ride as his portrayal of the didactic Eddie Bartlet from a fox hole in France to the steps of a church and Raoul Walsh & Gladys George are right there with him all the way. The Roaring Twenties is just another great example of why 1939 was and still is Hollywood's Greatest Year!

• The Roaring Twenties (1939)

  • Jay
  • 4/13/09

  Solid crime thriller with an unforgettable cast. It has an interesting approach with the use of some narration. Well acted, great writing.

• Cagney at His Best

  • Bob Hendrick
  • 2/15/09

  1939: What a year for movies! Timing is everything; especially in films. If this one had been released in any other year it would have gotten more attention than it did. Cagney takes center stage and holds it. I think it's possibly his best performance. I can recall no other of his films where the character he is portraying changes so much as the film progresses. Soldier, hack driver, booze runner, bootlegger, mobster, and finally down and out drunk. Bogart as a cruel, scheming hood is great, as is Gladys George as Cagney's moll. Priscilla Lane's performance is solid, and she is gorgeous as ever. The ending is a classic; Cagney's character comes full circle.

• Comparable to Public Enemy

  • theresa
  • 5/1/08

  The Roaring Twenties is comparable to The Public Enemy in many ways: same time frame (prohibition), girl trouble, memorable death scene, and each time, you don't want the lead actor to die... One of Cagney's "goodies" is the scene where he tries to get a date with pretty Priscilla Lane and she continually rebuffs him. He recalled many years later that he borrowed the improv lines from a true account of a friend's rejection story - "Do you mind if I honk as I drive by?" Great stuff.

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