Gangs of Chicago

The term 'B-movie' is often misunderstood. Specifically, B-movies were short, quickly made films from the 1930s into the 1950s and were intended to be the lesser film in a double-feature. Nowadays, some take it to mean a cheap film...which Bs were but some were occasionally quite good despite their humble roots.

One such good B is Lloyd Nolan in "Gangs of Chicago". It begins with Matty (Nolan) in law school. However, he's a mighty peculiar student. It seems that THE reason he entered this school was to learn how to twist the law and abuse it in order to help hoods escape justice. His plan is to create a sort of insurance policy for crooks--he helps spring them and does ANYTHING to do so. However, after he's a lawyer he not only does this but actually helps plan criminal activity. Even for a lawyer, he's very unethical!

One odd thing about Matty is that despite being rotten, he's got a soft spot for one of his old classmates and his family. These people are very decent and the father is a judge! Yet try as he might, Matty likes them. So, he leads a double life as a crooked attorney in the city and a nice, respectable guy when he visits the country. Later, however, the law visits this family when they learn about them...perhaps they can use these people to get the goods on Matty and his crooked friends.

This film is very gritty and jaded. It also has better than average acting, a dandy script and lots of excitement. The only part that didn't quite work for me was the nice ending...it just seemed a bit too good to be true. Despite this, it's still an outstanding B...one to watch.

Lloyd Nolan stars as a young lawyer who uses his knowledge of the legal system to aid criminals. The top man receiving Nolan's information is one of the city's underworld kingpin's, played by Barton MacLane. Nolan thinks nothing of using his skills to thwart justice.

It's all a game to him. Lola Lane stars as a young woman who hopes that Nolan will come around and see the error of his ways. Ultimately, Nolan will come face to face with what his work has led to and that will leave a bitter taste in his mouth. A solid Republic crime film that borders on film noir.

The print I saw ran only 52 minutes and is the edited TV print.

Gangs of Chicago (1940)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Matty Burns (Lloyd Nolan) attends law school and quickly becomes one of the brightest of his class. The only catch is that he isn't going to become a good guy but instead he wants to learn the law so that he can become a great criminal as well as help a big shot crime lord (Barton MacLane).

GANGS OF CHICAGO is a "B" movie from Republic, which tries to be a throwback to the gangster pictures that Warner was throwing out during the 1930s. There's some hard hitting bits on crime and there's no question that it's well-made and especially when you consider the budget wasn't that high.

Another thing the film has going for it is the terrific cast with Nolan doing an extremely good job as the wise-cracking crook. I liked how Nolan made him a rather smart character who knew what to say and how to say it. MacLane was always fun to watch and he gets to soak up the villain role here. Both Lola Lane and Ray Middleton are good in their roles and fans of Universal's horror movies will be happy to see Dwight Frye towards the very end.

At just 66 minutes the film flies by without any issues and for the most part it's an entertaining picture.