一世之雄 Angels with Dirty Faces (1938),剧情/犯罪/黑色电影,迈克尔·柯蒂斯,詹姆斯·卡格尼/帕特·奥布莱恩/亨弗莱·鲍嘉/安·谢里登/乔治·班克罗夫特,John Wexley/Warren Duff. LATEST HEADLINES ‘Doctor Who': BBC Reveals New Companion for Peter Capaldi’s Time Lord 5 hours ago ‘Jungle Book’ Dominating ‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War. Angels with Dirty Faces (1. Rocky. slaps their faces too, but he also teaches them not to terrorize. You. kids got a lot to learn," he tells them, as only Jimmy Cagney. Maybe so, but Fr. Jerry doesn’t want Rocky teaching them. The. priest has enormous affection for his old friend, who as a boy. Two lads named Frankie. Burke and William Tracy are well- cast as youthful versions of. James Cagney and Pat O’Brien.) Rocky went to reform school and. Jerry went free and became a priest. Fr. Jerry. is well aware that he owes the whole course of his life, in a. Rocky; but he is also coldly clear- eyed about what his. Rocky’s footsteps. Yet who can blame the Dead End Kids for wanting to do so? Who’s ultimately more interesting, Pat O’Brien or Jimmy Cagney? Whose performance still brings all sorts of viewers back to this. Warner Brothers crime story, even those who aren’t much. To be sure, Fr. Jerry is a right enough guy, a man familiar. Kids’ lives, and who even now isn’t above punching out some mug. Kids’. indifference. But Rocky Sullivan is riveting. His movements are quick and. He is all attitude and style. Humphrey Bogart (back.
Dead End, the film that introduced the. Dead End Kids [but later as the Bowery. Boys]) is Rocky’s enemy, and we quite understand why he is so. And when Ann Sheridan. Rocky’s interest in her with a curt retort, and he. You could do worse," it’s easy to feel that. In short, the film’s burden is that Rocky is a more compelling. Fr. Jerry. And Fr. Jerry knows it. He can’t. Rocky for the Kids’ attention; and, despite his. Rocky, who still bears. Jerry the same affection that the priest has for him. He’s magnanimous enough to try to drum up interest. Kids prove to need sterner. Fr. Jerry can provide. But, as Rocky’s renewed. Kids in awe, Fr. Jerry. There is something very human and poignant about the way Rocky. Fr. Jerry. and even support his ministry to society on the one hand, while. The priest, however, will not compartmentalize; and inevitably. What earthly good is it. As the conflict escalates, both men. Angels with Dirty Faces is perhaps best known for its. I will not reveal in the body of this review. What I can say here is this: In the end, Rocky is. Fr. Connolly and the Dead End Kids. This is meant to be a morally. But as the story plays out, it’s impossible to avoid the. Christian moral tradition. Immoral means are proposed to bring about noble ends. This. unfortunate misstep diminishes the film, even if it doesn’t. There’s a point in the film where Fr. Connolly receives a. That’s a principle that’s better than the end of this movie. Readers who don’t wish to know more about what happens should. Arrested after a dramatic standoff with. Rocky is sentenced to death, but remains uncowed and. Fr. Jerry, realizing that ongoing media coverage of. Rocky’s brave front is only further cementing the gangster’s. Dead End Kids, visits his friend on Death Row. If at the last minute Rocky will make. Furiously affronted, Rocky adamantly refuses, insisting that. Fr. Jerry never stops. Still. defiant and sullen as the guards come to escort him to his death. Rocky ultimately relents, and, in his last tortured act, gives. Rocky Dies Yellow."Stunned by the newspaper’s account of Rocky’s cowardly death. Dead End Kids turn to Fr. Jerry for confirmation: "Did Rocky. The priest’s words are the. It’s true, boys. Every word of it. He died like. they said. All right, fellas. Let’s go and say a prayer for a boy. I could."Christian tradition teaches that direct lying is never morally. Of course, there are important qualifications. God is truth. and Satan is the father of lies; it is never justifiable to use. Devil’s tools in God’s service. Does Fr. Jerry urge Rocky to lie? Does Rocky lie? Perhaps not. Rocky begs for mercy, but never says in so many words "I’m afraid. His intent is to create an impression that will mislead. Whether it is in. But about Fr. Jerry’s own words to the Dead End Kids there can. It’s true, boys. Every word of it." This. Rocky died yelling, but not "yellow" as. Such a small thing, but the whole climax of the film turns on. It could easily have been. What. if the paper had been more objective and less interpretive? What. if it had simply reported the empirical facts: that Rocky died. Or, granted the. newspaper as it was written, what if Fr. Jerry had answered. Boys, he died fighting and screaming. A third alternative: What if Fr. Jerry, pressed by the boys. Rocky put on a. show to dissuade the boys from following in his footsteps? What. effect might it have had upon them to learn that their hero’s. Perhaps their very admiration of the man would have led to the. Rocky himself wanted to discourage. The film’s flawed ending doesn’t mean that Christian viewers. It does mean. that, as with most films, Angels with Dirty Faces must be.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2016
Categories |