Angels with Dirty Faces is a 1938 American crime drama film directed by Michael Curtiz for Warner Brothers.

It stars James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, The Dead End Kids, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, and George Bancroft.

The film chronicles the relationship of the notorious gangster William "Rocky" Sullivan with his childhood friend and now-priest Father Jerry Connolly.

After spending three years in prison for armed robbery, Rocky intends to collect $100,000 from his co-conspirator Jim Frazier, a mob lawyer.

After pitching the film to a number of studios, he made a deal with Grand National Pictures, who wanted Cagney to star in the lead role.

Principal photography began in June 1938 at Warner's Burbank studios, and finished a week behind schedule in August, due mostly to the time it took to shoot Rocky's standoff with the police and eventual execution.

Angels with Dirty Faces is considered by some to be one of the best films of all time, and is widely regarded as a defining moment in Cagney's career.

"[5] In 1920, two Irish-American youths, Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connolly, attempt to rob a railroad car carrying fountain pens.

After leaving Frazier's casino, Rocky has his pocket picked by a gang of young toughs: Soapy, Swing, Bim, Pasty, Crab, and Hunky.

Rocky is arrested and sets about mocking the police for their lack of evidence, even goading them to ring his lawyer (Frazier).

He asks him to act like a coward and beg for mercy on his way to the death house, citing the impact it would have on the gang, potentially ruining the romantic image they have of the gangster lifestyle.

The gang no longer knows what to think about Rocky, or the criminal lifestyle and Jerry then asks them to accompany him to go say a prayer for "a boy who couldn't run as fast as I could".

He was known in Hollywood for writing and directing a number of crime films in the early 1930s, including The Doorway to Hell[N 1] and Quick Millions.

He presented the story to Mervyn LeRoy, who was keen to direct a "vehicle" starring the Dead End Kids, a group of young actors from New York.

[1] Brown then began pitching the film to other studios, and eventually made a deal with Grand National Pictures, who wanted James Cagney to star in the lead role.

After filing a lawsuit to "rectify the inequalities," Cagney started working for Grand National Pictures, a small studio compared to Warner.

His main inspiration was a drug-addicted pimp, who stood on a street corner all day hitching his trousers, twitching his neck, and repeating: "Whadda ya hear!

"[12][13] Cagney's other inspiration was his childhood friend, Peter "Bootah" Hessling, who was convicted of murder and executed by electric chair on July 21, 1927.

German scholar Winfried Fluck described Bogart's character, Jim Frazier, as an "entirely negative" and "thoroughly bad figure," in "contrast" with Cagney's antihero.

[2] Principal photography began in June 1938 at Warner's Burbank studios,[23] and finished a week behind schedule in August, due mostly to the time it took to shoot the scenes of Rocky's gunfight with police and his execution.

[25] While filming Rocky's shootout with the police, one scene called for Cagney to be "right at the opening" as machine-gun bullets took out the windows above his head.

At this point in his career, Cagney had experience with the unpredictability of using live gunfire and he later recalled that either "common sense or a hunch" made him cautious.

[29] For years, viewers have wondered if Rocky really turns yellow as he is being strapped into the electric chair, or if he is faking it in order to keep his promise to Jerry.

[33] The release was part of the "James Cagney Collection",[34] in which a number of special bonus features were made available, including: audio commentary by film historian Dana Polan, an "Angels with Dirty Faces: Whaddya Hear?

Frank Nugent, of The New York Times, attended the world premiere in Nevada, and called the film a "savage melodrama" offering "Cagney at his best".

In a review dated November 5, 1938, they called the film a "powerful gangster melodrama," and said it is "one of the most thrilling pictures produced in some time."

[39] On the other hand, Hobe Morrison of Variety was less enthused stating "On the strength of the Cagney–O'Brien combo, Angels should do fair business, but the picture itself is no bonfire.

and "Although the deathhouse scene itself is a harrowing one, that simulated cowardice angle, seems completely implausible...It's a novel twist to a commonplace story, but it's thoroughly hokey".

"[45] Angels with Dirty Faces is considered by some to be one of the finest films in Cagney's career, and a "true example of brilliant American cinema.

Frontman Jimmy Pursey was inspired to write the song after watching Cagney in the film one evening with his friend, Chrissie.