Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

clvlkenpo I think everyone in this film was really wonderful. This kind of result is why we had movie stars, and such great films in the 1940s. Cagney is top notch as usual, and I fell in love with this movie on late night TV as a young teenager.I always love Ann Sheridan! Think how many great performances she gave in different roles. Sometimes I didn't even realize it was her because of her variety of roles. I really like this era because as a history buff, you get to see how people lived in a different era, the scenery, and little bits of Americana. Another thing missing from so many films today even in great films, is how the old screenplays and directors allowed you to get to know the characters more and allowed the plot to slowly develop rather than quickly jumping ahead of the plot development. See this movie!!

classicsoncall Dedicated to his craft, Jimmy Cagney underwent a grueling twelve week training regimen to lose weight and get into shape as a prize fighter. At forty two, his weight had gone up to a hefty one hundred eighty pounds, but his enthusiasm for the film motivated him to drop thirty five pounds for the role. Apparently the film recognized his actual weight in fight posters in which he's listed as a hundred forty five pound welterweight."City For Conquest" was one of three pictures teaming Cagney with feisty Ann Sheridan. Both actors are personal favorites of mine, and "Angels With Dirty Faces" earns a spot in my personal Top Ten film list. Like 'Angels' this one will tug at your heartstrings at the finale, although the situations presented are significantly different. Reduced to selling newspapers after a vicious fight in which he loses his eyesight, Danny Kenny (Cagney) is overcome with joy at hearing a symphony his brother (Arthur Kennedy) wrote. Equally moving, Danny is reunited with his childhood sweetheart Peggy (Sheridan).The picture is non stop in terms of action and dialog. From the opening scenes, there's always a sense of hustle and bustle emanating from the streets and neighborhoods of the picture's locale, New York City. In that respect it's vintage Warner Brothers, brought to life by the crisp black and white photography of James Wong Howe and Sol Polito.Backing up the principal actors are veteran Warner contract players Donald Crisp and Frank McHugh along with a couple of casting surprises. Anthony Quinn appears as the suave but seedy dance partner who guides Sheridan's character to stardom, and future director Elia Kazan pops up in a small but significant role as one of Danny's friends who goes the gangster route as time goes by. I have to say, his performance seemed pretty natural to me and had he stayed with it, might have made his mark as an actor with the same success he achieved on the other side of the camera.As good as the film is, and as well as it was received by the public when it was released, this turned out to be a picture Cagney didn't like at all. Part of that stems from his relationship with director Anatole Litvak with whom he argued constantly over the story's interpretation. So much so that he even wrote a letter of apology to Aben Kandel, the writer of the novel on which the film was based. Whether true or not, Cagney swore at the time never to watch another one of his movies. I don't think I would have bet the ranch on that one.Cagney's last professional work occurred in the 1984 TV movie "Terrible Joe Moran", in which he portrays a retired boxer. That picture offers up a number of scenes in which Cagney is shown mixing it up in the ring and for the longest time I couldn't figure out where the footage came from. Now I know that those clips were inserted from the boxing scenes appearing in "City For Conquest".

stareyes24 Wow, is all that I can say about this film. What a wonderful movie. Even though I missed the first ten minutes, I was caught the tail end of Frank Craven's character in the beginning giving a prologue. At first, I was hesitant to watch this movie, because a long time ago, I saw the cut version of this movie, which excised most of Frank Craven's scenes. However, when I found out this was the restored version, I was excited, because I love to watch the original versions of movies. After watching this movie, I was truly moved. Everyone gave excellent performances and Frank Craven as the narrator, gave the movie more depth. I highly recommend this film and as I watched Elia Kazan's performance, I couldn't help but think that another Warner Brothers contract player, Ross Alexander, who died four years before this film was even made or released would have been excellent in Elia Kazan's role as "Googi". It was a very bittersweet experience.

chuckbloom2003 A piece of trivia for all you movie and TV buffs: The symphony created by legendary Warners Bros. Max Steiner for the Arthur Kennedy character (Edward Kenny) did find fame beyond the film's release. It became the main theme for the 1950s television series, "Naked City," where there were a million stories and each week featured one of them. This is one of Cagney's six best movie roles (along with "White Heat." "Angels with Dirty Faces," "Yankee Doodle Dandy," "The Roaring 20s" and "The Public Enemy") and earned him an Oscar nomination. Also, not named in the music credits here is "42nd Street," which is played by the orchestra at the street dance. And unlike other boxing movies where the star looked out of place in the rung (size-wise), Cagney's character was listed as a featherweight because, in his halcyon days, that was all Cagney was - a rather short, slight former dancer with the perfect New York Irish attitude.