From James Cagney in "White Heat" and George Raft in "Each Dawn I Die" to Joe Pesci in "Goodfellas," Al Pacino in "Scarface," and Laurence Fishburn in "Hoodlum" the gangster has been a symbol of glorified defiance; a corrupt man with a latent sense of morality; an anti-hero handling his business the only way he knows how"from the barrel of a gun. Such characterizations were popularized in the 1930s and 40s and it will be that era that I focus on.
The "gangster movie" featured since screen stalwarts as Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson and George Raft. Popular crime kingpins of the 20s, like Al Capone and John Dillinger were glorified in film, as was one of the bloodiest events in the annals of true crime, the St. Valentine's Day massacre.(Albeit, not until 1967).
The most popular actor of this genre was the irascible, fast-talking charmer James Cagney. He was born July 17, 1899 in New York City. His gangster film resume includes, "White Heat" (1949), "Blonde Crazy" (1931), "The Roaring Twenties" (1939, co-starring with Humphrey Bogart), "Each Dawn I Die" (1939), "Angels with Dirty Faces" (1938, again with Bogart) and "Public Enemy" (1931). Known for his tough guy roles, it is ironic that he won his only Oscar in a song and dance role, 1950's Yankee Doodle Dandy, " in the role of George M. Cohan,
His most well known line was from the movie "White Heat," where he played an oxymoronic tough-talking mama's boy. During the final scene Cagney's character Cody Jarrett cries out, "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" However, with icon status comes myth and moreover, impersonators of his distinctive speech helped perpetuate it. Cagney dispelled it during his acceptance speech for the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1974. Cagney informed the audience that he never uttered the phrase, "You dirty rat!"
Cagney's memorable scene probably had nothing to do with guns. It appeared in "Public Enemy," where Cagney smashed a grapefruit into the face of his unsuspecting co-star Mae Clarke. According to Martin Hunt, "Mae Clarke's surprise was genuine; Cagney had promised not to actually hit her with the grapefruit, but got carried away during shooting.".
A little known fact about Cagney is that he was one of the founders of the Screen Actors Guild. And served as its president from 1942-44. Cagney's final role was in 1981, playing a racist sheriff in "Ragtime," his first role in twenty years. He died five years later on March 30, of a heart attack after being ill for several years.
Edward G. Robinson was born Emmanuel Goldenberg on the 12th December 1893 in Bucharest, Romania. He arrived in America at age 10. By 1913 he was a stage actor, he changed his name to Edward G., then adding "Robinson." His breakthrough performance came almost twenty years later when he played gangster Rico Bandello in "Little Caesar" uttering the timeless line, "Is this the end of Rico?"
Robinson was a dark eyed man with a bulldog's face and demeanor. He starred in such films as "Brother Orchid" (1940, which is one of the earliest films of the noir genre, Key Largo (1949, as abusive gangster Johnny Rocco), "I Am The Law" (1938) where he plays a special prosecutor out to stop the mob, "Bullets or ballots" (1936, with Humphrey Bogart), "Little Caesar" and (1931). His cigar-chomping, thick-lipped caricature was also immortalized in several Warner Brothers' cartoons.
He also appeared in the films, "The Ten Commandments" (1956) playing the sarcastic and two-faced Dathan and "Double Indemnity" (1944 ) with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck, Orson Welles' "The Stranger" (1946) and "The Sea Wolf" ( 1941), which was adapted from the novel by John Steinbeck. His final screen appearance was in the 1973 sci-fi thriller "Soylent Green." He died that same year of cancer.
Finally there is the less talented and lesser-known George Raft. He was born George Ranft in New York City on September 16, 1895. Raft earned his first starring role in 1932's "Night After Night,"which also marked the film debut of Mae West. That same year he played Guino Rinaldo in "Scarface." He also had the lead in the overlooked "Nocturne" (1946), and "Each Dawn I Die" (1939) and literally made Humphrey Bogart a star when he passed on the lead in "The Maltese Falcon." Earlier he and Bogart starred together in the 1932 film "They Drive By Night." But the studio he worked for considered him a poor actor and soon lost interest in trying to make him a star.
Raft's Wikipedia biography states, "(his) convincing portrayal led to speculation that Raft himself was a gangster. He was close friends of mobsters Owney Madden and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, and Raft encouraged the publicity that stimulated his early career." Excerpts from James Cagney's autobiography state that the mob planned to kill him, but dropped the idea at the insistence of Raft. He also had a reputation for living and spending lavishly, saying, "I must have gone through $10 million during my career. Part of the loot went for gambling, part for horses and part for women. The rest I spent foolishly."
Raft made numerous blunders in his career. In 1937, he turned down the role of Baby Face Martin in Dead End, supposedly this was because he disliked the idea of his character being slapped by his mother. Two years later he signed with Warner Brothers, who already had stars Bogart, Robinson and Cagney in their stable of stars. Two other roles he turned down (that were again filled by Bogart) was the role of Roy "Mad Dog" Earle in John Huston's "High Sierra" (1941), and the role of Rick in "Casablanca" (1942). Another role he nixed was the lead in Billy Wilder's "Double Indemnity" (the role was filled by Fred MacMurray). The major mistakes cost him his career and he fell out of favor with the public. He eventually moved to Europe and in 1980 made his last appearance in "The Man with Bogart's Face."
According to the article "How George Raft Made Humphrey Bogart A Star," the author contends, "Raft couldn't read, and it has been asserted that he turned down some scripts because he couldn't fully comprehend the character."
On November 24, 1980, Raft died of lukemia.
Martin Hunt, "Review of 'Public Enemy'," Edinburgh Film Society. http://xroads.virginia.edu/=UG02/gangsters/publicreview.html
George Raft profile, Wikipedia
"How George Raft made Humphrey Bogart A Star," author unknown
James Cagney profile, Wikipedia
Martin Connors and Jim Craddock, "The Videohound's Golden Movie retriever, 2000"
Edward G. Robinson profile, Wikipedia |
