The Roaring Twenties : Best of the 30s?

I think this is the best of the warner gangster films of the 30s anyone dissagree? I love Angels with Dirty Faces as well as The Public Enemy,Little Caesar and Universals Scarface (1932)

"I like the stink of the streets. It cleans out my lungs. And it gives me a hard-on."

I definitely think this was James Cagney's best gangster film, of any decade. His acting was incredible in White Heat, but for whatever reason, The Roaring Twenties is my favorite.

Watching these late 30s films is so exciting to me, because you know that in just a few years the entire medium would be changed by films like THE MALTESE FALCON, CASABLANCA, WHITE HEAT, etc. Seeing Bogart in a supporting role that hints at the great roles to come is very exciting. Looking at Raoul Walsh's more personalized approach to filming the material, adding some of his favorite themes into the story, anticipates his great work of the following decade.

Many people lump the "Studio Era" under one giant umbrella, but in many ways this film is part of a transitional period at the end of the decade bridging the early 30s studio film model with the slightly more personal films that came in the following decade from people like Walsh, Welles, Huston, Wyler, Wilder, etc.
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Well White Heat is a different kind of film with a different kind of Cangey. He seems to have been an actor that really changed over time replacing his youthful enthusiasm with experience that led to him focusing more on demonstrating his inner conflict. I think looking at Public Enemy in 1931 then Angels with Dirty Faces/Roaring twenties in 38/39 and White Heat/Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye in 49/50 you really see that development. I think Roaring Twenties was the film when he was at his most charming. Although I think Bogart helped out there by being such an irredemably bad person to compare with him and it is possibly the most likable gangster role he has been given (although Angels gets close). For me White Heat is my favorite Cagney film, but I do think this is perhaps my favorite Cagney performance. He was just a joy to watch every moment he was on screen.


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I think Scarface is overall the best gangster movie of the 30s but my personal favorite is Roaring 20s. It was the first Warners gangster flick that I ever saw and it almost leaves me in tears whenever I watch it. It's amazing how Cagney's various death scenes provoke different responses: Public Enemy is twisted and disturbing, Angels With Dirty Faces is more chilling (and then sad and uplifting all at once), White Heat simply flat out "Whoa that was cool!" Roaring 20s though is the one that hits me the hardest since it's Cagney's most enjoyable role. It's the most nostalgic and sentimental of the Warner gangster movies.

As a great fan of films of this period, I don't like absolutes. This is a wonderful film. I believe it is superior to any other gangster film of the 30's. It is also my personal favorite.