Directed by:
William KeighleyScreenplay:
Warren DuffCinematography:
Arthur EdesonComposer:
Max SteinerCast:
James Cagney, George Raft, Jane Bryan, George Bancroft, Maxie Rosenbloom, Alan Baxter, Victor Jory, John Wray, Edward Pawley, Willard Robertson, Emma Dunn (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
When Frank Ross, reporter for the Bantom newspaper, exposes District Attorney Jesse Hanley's involvement in graft, Hanley frames Ross on a drunk driving charge. Knocked unconscious and doused with alcohol, Ross is placed in a moving car, and when the car crashes into another vehicle and kills three people, he is convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to prison. There, Ross meets "Hood" Stacey, a notorious racketeer who is serving a life term, and the two become friends. Stacey makes a deal with Ross to implicate him in a prison killing, which would then be tried at the county courthouse where his mob can free him. In return, Stacey promises to track down the man who framed Ross. The break is successful, but Stacey feels betrayed when Ross tips off his reporter friends about the escape, and consequently, he refuses to help Ross. As Ross is sentenced to the "hole", his sweetheart, Joyce Conover, makes Stacey realize that Ross kept his word, thus winning Stacey's sympathy for the unjustly accused reporter. In the hole, Ross becomes embittered at the brutality of the guards and lack of justice, but Joyce pleads on his behalf with the warden, who then agrees to recommend him for parole. However, the parole board is headed by Hanley's man, Grayce, who takes great satisfaction in denying the reporter his freedom. Meanwhile, Stacey discovers that Polecat Carlisle, the man hired by Hanley to frame Ross, is in prison, and to repay his debt to Ross, Stacey returns to prison to find Polecat. During an abortive jail break, Stacey forces Polecat to confess to Ross's crime in front of the warden. Stacey dies in the break attempt, but Ross lives to be exonerated and to see Hanley and Grayce indicted. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
James Cagney
USA
Best movies:
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
One, Two, Three (1961)
White Heat (1949)
George Raft
USA
Best movies:
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Scarface (1932)
Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
Jane Bryan
USA
Best movies:
Invisible Stripes (1939)
Kid Galahad (1937)
The Old Maid (1939)
George Bancroft
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Underworld (1927)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Maxie Rosenbloom
USA
Best movies:
Follow the Boys (1944)
The Bellboy (1960)
I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)
Alan Baxter
USA
Best movies:
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
The Set-Up (1949)
Victor Jory
Canada
Best movies:
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)
Producers' Showcase (1954) (series)
Papillon (1973)
John Wray
USA
Best movies:
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Edward Pawley
USA
Best movies:
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
'G' Men (1935)
The Oklahoma Kid (1939)
Willard Robertson
USA
Best movies:
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
The Last of the Mohicans (1936)
To Each His Own (1946)
Emma Dunn
UK
Best movies:
The Great Dictator (1940)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
The Talk of the Town (1942)
Paul Hurst
USA
Best movies:
Edison, the Man (1940)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Louis Jean Heydt
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Thurston Hall
USA
Best movies:
Dodge City (1939)
Virginia City (1940)
The Black Room (1935)
William B. Davidson
USA
Best movies:
Scarface (1932)
Gentleman Jim (1942)
The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
Charles Trowbridge
Mexico
Best movies:
Edison, the Man (1940)
After the Thin Man (1936)
Captains Courageous (1937)
Harry Cording
UK
Best movies:
East of Eden (1955)
The Last of the Mohicans (1936)
The Song of Bernadette (1943)
John Harron
USA
Best movies:
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Dark Victory (1939)
John Ridgely
USA
Best movies:
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Leo White
German Empire
Best movies:
The Great Dictator (1940)
Casablanca (1942)
The Invisible Man (1933)