Michael
Curtiz (CASABLANCA) directs James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, and Pat
O'Brien in one of the greatest gangster melodramas made during the
Hollywood studio era. William "Rocky" Sullivan (Cagney) and Jerry
Connolly (O'Brien), partners in mischief as boys, are separated when
only Jerry is fast enough to get away from the cops after the duo steals
fountain pens from a railroad car. Rocky, refusing to give the name of
his friend, is sent off to a reform school where he falls under the
influence of criminal elements. The grown-up Rocky's triumphant return
to the neighborhood complicates the efforts of Jerry, now a parish
priest, to keep a local group of boys (the Dead End Kids) out of
trouble. When the gang begins to idolize Rocky, Connolly fears his good
works may come to nothing. Meanwhile, Rocky vies for control of the
criminal rackets in the neighborhood with mob boss Mac Keefer (George
Bancroft) and a corrupt, double-crossing lawyer, James Frazier
(Bogart).Curtiz's taut, suspenseful, yet suprisingly sensitive handling
of the gritty urban morality play turned ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES into
the first unqualified masterpiece of his stunningly prolific career. The
archetypal gangster thriller, brimming with the magnetism and explosive
dramatic energy supplied by the three male leads, was nominated for
three Academy Award Nominations: Best Director, Best Actor (Cagney), and
Best Original Story.