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James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Priscilla Lane, Jeffrey Lynn, Gladys George ... see more see more... , Paul Kelly , Frank McHugh , Elizabeth Risdon , Edward Keane , Joe Sawyer , Joseph Crehan , George Meeker , John Hamilton , Robert Elliott , Eddy Chandler , Max Wagner , Vera Lewis , Eddie Acuff , Murray Alper , Raymond Bailey , Wade Boteler , Harry C. Bradley , Al Bridge , Nat Carr , Clay Clement , Ann Codee , Ray Cooke , Maurice Costello , Joe Devlin , James Flavin , Fred Graham , Creighton Hale , Sam Harris , John Harron , Lew Harvey , Al Hill , Stuart Holmes , George Humbert , Donald Kerr , Milt Kibbee , Arthur Loft , Frank Mayo , Philip Morris , Jack Norton , Pat O'Malley , Oscar O'Shea , Emory Parnell , Lee Phelps , Paul Phillips , John Ridgely , Cyril Ring , Jeffrey Sayre , Elliott Sullivan , Billy Wayne , Dick Wessel , Frank Wilcox , Lotta Williams , Norman Willis , Abner Biberman , Bert Hanlon , Raymond Harvey , James Blaine , Harry Hollingsworth , John Deering

Based upon an idea by Broadway columnist Mark Hellinger, The Roaring Twenties opens during World War I as doughboys Eddie Bartlett (James Cagney), Lloyd Hart (Jeffrey Lynn), and George Hally (Humphrey... read more read more... Bogart) discuss what they will do when the war is over. Bartlett wants to go back to repairing cabs, and Hart yearns to be a lawyer, but it becomes clear that Hally has less reputable plans in mind for himself. Come the end of the war, things are not as easy for veterans like Bartlett as they should be. He is unable to get his old job back and ends up driving a cab for little money. One night he is asked to deliver a package (which turns out to be whiskey) to an address that turns out to be a speakeasy. This starts him on a life of crime, as he gets deeper involved as a bootlegger. Things are not made easy by a rival bootlegger -- who turns out to be Hally. The two join forces and prosper. Hart shares in their prosperity, as Bartlett engages him to take care of his legal matters. Unfortunately, Hart is also interested in Jean Sherman (Priscilla Lane), a young woman that Bartlett has had an eye on for quite some time. He loses her to Hart at about the same time that his criminal empire crumbles, and he is reduced to driving a cab again while Hally continues to prosper with his ruthless ways. Eventually, Hart -- now a crusading prosecutor -- runs afoul of Hally, who tells Jean that he will kill him if he doesn't change his ways. Jean begs Bartlett to intercede with Hally; because he still is carrying a torch for her, Bartlett agrees -- but by doing so, he may have signed his own death warrant. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

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87% liked it

4,761 ratings

Critics

100% liked it

11 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 46 min.

Directed by: Raoul Walsh

Release Date: January 1, 1939

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DVD Release Date: January 25, 2005

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Stats: 254 reviews

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Poster Priscilla Lane, Jeffrey Lynn Gladys George and Humphrey Bogart The Roaring Twenties The Roaring Twenties Poster Priscilla Lane, James Cagney Gladys George and James Cagney The Roaring Twenties The Roaring Twenties Priscilla Lane and James Cagney Priscilla Lane, James Cagney The Roaring Twenties Bogie and Jimmy Priscilla Lane and James Cagney Jeffrey Lynn, Priscilla Lane, James Cagney The Roaring Twenties The Roaring Twenties
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Flixster Reviews (254)

  • kenstachnik
    August 27, 2011
    kenstachnik
    Not my favorite Cagney, Bogart or Walsh, but still a solid gangster flick.

    Worth seeing for the historical narrative montages.
  • ajv2688
    September 20, 2010
    ajv2688
    This is a good movie about the 1920s, and a good gangster movie, with a good cast. I liked this movie.
  • garyX
    February 16, 2010
    garyX
    The Roaring Twenties charts the rise and fall of prohibition racketeer James Cagney from the trenches of the great war to the stock market crash of 1929. It's amazing that only 8 short years separate The Roaring Twenties and the simplistic moralizing and two dimensional character... read moreisation of The Public Enemy. It is probably the blueprint for the modern gangster movie and is the equivalent of the likes of The Godfather or Goodfellas for its time. Cagney is at his very best as the morally "grey" but inherently decent mobster who finds himself caught up in the booze hungry fervor of the prohibiton years after returning from fighting for his country as part of a forgotten generation, unable to find any other way to earn a living. Things take a sinister turn when he makes an uneasy partnership with a brilliant Humphrey Bogart who makes such a fantastic asshole you end up wishing he played the bad guy a bit more often. A rather bland Priscilla Lane aside the cast are all spot on, and with the addition of some energetic shoot outs and a brilliant climax when Cagney finally has it out with a sneering Bogie, all set in historical context of the America at the time, you have a timeless crime classic.
  • rubystevens
    November 16, 2009
    rubystevens
    a little too much sentiment and the sickly sweet priscilla lane keep this from being a perfect gangster film. the final showdown between cagney and bogie is the best part
  • sanjurosamurai
    December 3, 2008
    sanjurosamurai
    another gangster classic that delivers. cagney was great as eddie bartlett and bogart plays a very convincing villian. although the film skips through the process of barletts rise to prominence, the story still flows well and satisfies as a rise and fall gangster story. great ... read morefilm.
  • jjnxn
    April 4, 2007
    jjnxn
    Great Warners Bros gangster flick. Gladys George is heartbreaking as an "off key canary"
  • mjgildea
    October 27, 2006
    mjgildea
    Bogart played a great prick and Cagney played a great... himself.
  • staindslaved
    March 7, 2012
    staindslaved
    A great Hollywood look-in on The Great Depression, Prohibition, Bootlegging and the beginning of organized crime syndicates in America. The Prohibition era is easily my favorite setting in American history (it's the clothes and the tommyguns!) with the classic cops vs. robbers, ... read moreswing music and speakeasy's it was one of the most exciting and dangerous times in the Country's history. The Roaring Twenties is like a rollercoaster ride through the decades finer points. It starts with James Cagney coming home from fighting in The Great War only to find he has no job to come back to and little opportunities or appreciation for his term of service. Forced to try and survive he gets in on the ground floor of the bootlegging industry and rapidly shoots up the ranks till he's a bonafided "Big Shot".
  • burgerstar
    December 19, 2011
    burgerstar
    Cagney AND Bogart. Enough said.
  • michaelcorleone
    June 23, 2009
    michaelcorleone
    One of the great American crime movies, The Roaring Twenties steers away from the easy mold of cautionary tale, providing a rich and multilayered character drama instead. Employing periodic segments of newsreel footage and narration, director Raoul Walsh gives the characters and ... read moresituations a sense of something larger. The technique lends itself to the time and place the picture intends to encompass. The performances are strong across the board, with James Cagney dominating in a somewhat complex lead role. Tightly directed and endlessly entertaining, this is a must-see for fans of gangster movies.

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Critic Reviews

Gabe Leibowitz
April 8, 2011
Gabe Leibowitz, Film and Felt

A powerful story of wartime bonds and their staying power through the most adverse of circumstances. Full Review

Michael E. Grost
July 17, 2009
Michael E. Grost, Classic Film and Television

Dynamic, quintessential gangster film, wonderfully stylized by director Raoul Walsh, Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
June 28, 2008
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

It has a good cast and the production values were first-class, allowing it to rise slightly above its hackneyed script. Full Review

Bob Bloom
June 2, 2006
Bob Bloom, Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

One of the last great gangster films of the 1930s. Cagney brings a touch of poignancy to the hood who time has passed by, and Gladys George is splendid as Panama.

Eric Henderson
February 3, 2005
Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine

An epochal rise-and-fall epic of the gangster cycle. Full Review

Tim Dirks
January 1, 2000
Tim Dirks, Tim Dirks' The Greatest Films

The Roaring Twenties (1939) is action director Raoul Walsh's first gangster film. This newsreel-like, semi-documentary film, Full Review

October 18, 2008
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Frank S. Nugent
January 28, 2006
Frank S. Nugent, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Lori Hoffman
August 17, 2006
Lori Hoffman, Atlantic City Weekly

No review available.

Chuck O'Leary
October 9, 2005
Chuck O'Leary, Fantastica Daily

No review available.

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Facts

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    • Eddie Bartlett: He can't be more than fifteen.
    • George Hally: He'll never be sixteen. [after shooting a young German soldier]
    • Policeman: What did he do?
    • Panama Smith: He used to be a big shot.
Submit a Fact | View All

The Roaring Twent... : Watch Free on TV

The Roaring Twenties Trivia

  • ****RAOUL WALSH DIRECTED JIMMY CAGNEY IN THIS FIRST RATE GANGSTER EPIC MADE IN 1939. CAGNEY PLAYED EDDIE BARTLETT, A BOOTLEGGER WHO FELL FOR THE WRONG DAME, PLAYED BY PRISCILLA LANE. GLADYS GEORGE AND HUMPHREY BOGART HAD SECONDARY ROLES. WHAT WAS THE FILM****  Answer »
  • In which gangster movie did Gladys George say of a dead James Cagney, 'He used to be a big shot'?  Answer »
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