Director: Raoul Walsh
I think movies used to rest more on acting than on anything else. Older movies usually don't have interesting visuals or clever writing - it is up to the actors to make the film compelling. While this film had to be shocking at the time, featuring a mother-son crime duo, this gimmick is well-known to anyone who saw Kindergarten Cop. So it's on the actors' shoulders to make it work, and James Cagney certainly succeeds as the protagonist. Still, this movie's difficulty is where its sympathies lie, because it's not really with Cagney, but it's also not really with those who oppose him either. The climax is certainly inspired, though - and, actually, I thought of Mann's Heat. Los Angeles is full of great shooting locations like this, it's a shame we don't see them more often.
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