OK, you'll think this story is stupid, contrived and manically preachy. You'll think the acting is over the top, unrealistic and trying too hard to make a point......you're right but even so, when this craziness ends, you'll find yourself quite moved with your bottom lip starting to tremble.
It is a self indulgent, overacted sermon of a picture but it's so 'in your face' it's hard to ignore. This isn't the sort of film you'd watch simply for entertainment. Its storytelling style is firmly stuck in the past and unlike many old movies, is watchable more as a documented reflection of life in 1931 than as an alternative to what's on the tv tonight.
A year after making this, Eric Linden stared in YOUNG BRIDE doing a third rate Cagney and surprisingly he was excellent. (Yes, I know!) In this, his first starring role he's even more Cagney than Cagney ever was and most of the time he comes across as an aspiring young actor trying far, far, far too hard to pretend to be the big I Am, the toughest bad-ass on the block, the meanest, rootinest , tootinest most arrogant big shot in town. Watching this gangly gauche wannabe gangster swaggering around becomes almost comical.....but that's point! His character Eddie, is pretending to be someone he isn't. He's meant to be false and trying too hard to be a Cagney but not getting it quite right.
Contemporary reviews of this picture suggested that his character and those of his mates were actually quite representative of kids at the time so what seems like unrealistic acting might be weirdly genuine. Despite YOUNG BRIDE revealing that he could actually be a really good actor, he's still however Eric Linden. His character has also got to be one of the biggest idiots ever committed to celluloid which doesn't help endear him to you.
This is a pretty big budget RKO big picture. Wesley Ruggles pulls out all the stops with this: there's some very interesting and innovative camerawork, some not very subtle imagery and we've even got a full score from Max Steiner! It's a lot flashier than what Warner Brothers were doing but even so it lacks the integrity, the emotional punch and the authenticity which the likes of Wellman, Hawks, LeRoy etc at Burbank were achieving.
One thing this has got however is that explosive firecracker bursting with charisma, Arline Judge. She's certainly no Joan Blondell nor even Clara Bow but she definitely has screen presence. Being a loud, wild nineteen year old Brooklyn girl makes her perfect for playing a loud, wild nineteen year old Brooklyn girl. Like Linden however she seems to be trying too hard to be the bad girl but like Linden, she's pretty representative of the kids of the time trying to be something they aren't. Also like Linden, this isn't her best film either ....to be fair, most of her films were pretty awful with one notable exception: 1932's AGE OF CONSENT.
As you're watching this, you'll be wishing you weren't but by the end you'll find that you've enjoyed it a lot more than you think you would have and indeed should have done.
