Movie

The Roaring Twenties

1939 · 104 min

A sweeping, bittersweet rise-and-fall saga that mixes gangland violence with a melancholy sense of lost chances and changing times.

Tagline: The land of the free gone wild! The heyday of the hotcha! The shock-crammed days G-men took ten whole years to lick!
Overview: After World War I, Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver. Eddie builds a fleet of cabs through delivery of bootleg liquor and hires Lloyd as his lawyer. George becomes Eddie's partner and the rackets flourish until love and rivalry interfere.

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How it feels

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Tone: melancholicstrength 2 of 3
tensestrength 2 of 3
cynicalstrength 1 of 3
romanticstrength 1 of 3
Pacing: measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: ambition
betrayal
love
crime
redemption
Places: big city
Era: period
Audience: adult
Form: nonlinear
Content intensity: Gore mild
Language mild
Violence strong
Sex mild

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	6
Horror	2
Humour	3
Realism	7
Romance	5
Tension	6
Darkness	7
Complexity	6
Emotional weight	7

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Where to watch in the UK

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Details

Genres: crime, drama, thriller
Directed by: Raoul Walsh
Written by: Jerry Wald, Richard Macaulay, Robert Rossen
Starring: James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart, Gladys George, Jeffrey Lynn, Frank McHugh, Paul Kelly, Elisabeth Risdon
Music: Ray Heindorf, Heinz Roemheld
Cinematography: Ernest Haller
Runtime: 104 min
Country: United States of America
Languages: English

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The Roaring Twenties

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