The Roaring Twenties (1939) Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: The Roaring Twenties
Year: 1939
Director: Raoul Walsh
Country: US
Language: English

Ah, a Warner Bros/James Cagney picture. The Roaring Twenties has the plot you'd expect from the old gangster pictures starring Cagney; he's a good man trying to make something of himself, but faces disappointment before joining the mob. You've seen this in Public Enemy, White Heat and countless others. It's not unique, infact somewhat formulaic, but its great actors, great writer and great director make this quite an intriguing experience.

In this film, three men (Cagney, Bogart and Jeffrey Lynn) attempt to make a living in Prohibitionist America after returning home from fighting together in World War I.

When The Roaring Twenties was released in 1939, the United States was in a state of simultaneous confusion and limbo about their place in the world. Cagney's character comes home from the first world war, hoping to get away from the death and destruction that occurred abroad, but only finds himself victimized. He attempts to re-enter society, only to find the broken promises of an American Dream that perhaps never actually existed. His experience is only one of hundreds of thousands.

Director Raoul Walsh gives an honest approach to how crime is created in society. Confronting America's problems head on, The Roaring Twenties doesn't have an overt moral discussion about crime, but rather gives an objective documentary-like approach. Course this was made during the Hay's code so we can't go too far with the character (Cagney's gangster here is rather tame compared to White Heat) and we do need to be presented with a "crime doesn't pay" kind of ending.

Gangster pictures after the production code were a bit too "safe" in terms of what the characters were allowed to do. Every action is intentionally made to please the censors. Despite this The Roaring Twenties is a very entertaining film that gives fascinating insight into the shape of society in Pre-WWII America.