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Simply A Masterpiece

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This surprising, refreshing, neat and outstanding Republic movie has no cheapness at all; it belongs to the age of the gangster movies and should be reputed as a classic, the style is '30s and ageless. Its cast means a lot to the buffs. Bickford, Ann Dvorak, Wynne Gibson are worthies; the girl with the Byzantine physiognomy was a very good actress, glamorous, classy, passionate, believable, a compelling performance, in a welcome and appropriate contrast to the leading character.Sam Fuller is one of the scriptwriters.The leading actor gives one of his career's highlights, there's a manly joy in his performance, and his part is not (only) of a racketeer, but of an agent who impersonates a racketeer; he was a bit like Rourke, and like other rebels. The scenes are strongly and carefully played, the phony Rocky's meetings with the dog or with his henchman's sister (and his own future wife). His role impressed me the way the great players' roles do.Ann Dvorak's role required humbleness, because of the ingrate, unusual character she got, the expressing of jealousy, discontent, anxiety, mistrust, disappointment, which she conveys realistically; the still young actress plays here against the type. The appeal belongs to the brunette.There's not much gun-play (and despite the title, the movie isn't an epic, but a drama). The suspense is mostly psychological, moral. An undercover agent allows being scarred by a surgeon, to gain a complete resemblance to a racketeer.A very cool hour for both the director and the studio, one of the zeniths deserving another reputation, way higher; the direction is assured, no-nonsense and intelligent. It's not a good cheap movie, it's a great movie.

Sometimes when you watch an old movie, you just have to suspend disbelief just a bit—and if you can't, you probably won't enjoy the film. "The Gangs of New York" is exactly such a film. It uses one of the oldest clichés in movie—the identical stranger. But, providing you can look past this, it's a dandy and entertaining picture.When the film begins, you learn that although the evil mobster, Rocky, is in prison, he's still running his criminal empire—and the police seem unable to stop them. But, when it just happens that there is an identical copy of Rocky and he works for the police, they decide to release the fake Rocky and have him infiltrate the mob and get evidence on their actions. However, because he doesn't know everything the real Rocky is supposed to know and because he doesn't act like the old Rocky, some of the gang becomes suspicious. But, when the REAL Rocky escapes , you know that something bad will happen…and fast!Yes, I know it's impossible to have a man look EXACTLY like another as well as sound EXACTLY like him, but it works. Much of it is because Charles Bickford was great in the leading roles. He was fun to watch and his gangster ways were pretty funny because they were so extreme. Also, the writing (despite the clichéd plot) was quite good—especially the dialog. It's actually one of the better Republic B-movies from the era. Well worth seeing because it's so much fun.

This little film reminds me another Republic film I saw several weeks ago: GANGS OF THE WATERFRONT, with the very same topic. A police officer impersonates a big shot who is jailed for a long time. He takes his place so that he can break up his organization. But when he meets the gangster's henchmen, his wife and his dog, some of those begin to be suspicious about the changes in the boss...So, for our cop, things will not be so easy.Efficient little programmer, even a little foreseeable for an old movie buff like me. But a very rare gem, as I said before. And James Cruze's films are not so usual to let this one go without seeing it.