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Good concept, poorly executed.

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This was an extremely stylish film. The cinematography, while a bit amateurish and constrained by today's standards, does a good job of establishing a dreary yet slick feeling. Gary Cooper is very captivating as "The Kid," and the rest of the cast does an admirable job as well. I would say that some of the outdoor scenes weren't very well lit, which did detract from my enjoyment somewhat as I think it wasn't a style choice so much as poor shot composition. At other times, especially indoors or in nighttime scenes, the lighting is much better. Another complaint I have was that the ending was a bit abrupt and bland. Other than that, I enjoyed watching it.

The movie wasn't bad. The characters we alright but I wasn't too impressed with them. I guess it is because I have seen so many mob movies that I wasn't blown away by it. It did have some clever lines. What the director did do in this film was the interesting show of time with the clocks and going back and forth with different angles when shooting the scenes. The car scene at the end was really good with showing the car against the train, the person in the train, the conflict inside the car. The scene did a good job of balancing things leading up to the finally. The other notable scene was when Nan and Big Fella were in the room and the other woman was trying the listening on them but could only see. So you heard the city streets but not what was going on inside. Another scene I liked for the camera work was when Nan and Big Fella were dancing and the camera would follow them around the room so you could see the faces of Kid and the other women and how they were upset. Other than those scenes I wasn't too impressed with the movie. It was a mob movie and a had some quirky characters but their really wasn't much development of characters besides the Kid. I would recommend this movie to better appreciate the advancement of film in general. It wasn't a bad film, just a little underwhelming.

The movie is an absolutely wonderful piece. It was a great show of the truth behind the time period, including the degradation of women at the time. The emotion of the characters wasn't shown solely through the skills of the actors, but also the orchestrated soundtrack playing throughout. The sound effects of everything going on in the movie would have been relatively new technology at the time of filming, increasing the overall quality of the production. Lighting and camera angles also made many great shots possible, including the one of convoy barreling down the street(driving over the camera). Another is the shot in the prison where she could watch her cell mate get to the car to go home, that was an amazing shot that emphasized distance very well. All around the movie was excellent, especially knowing that many of the issues faced by the characters can be easily compared and likened to current gang and crime families.

Only two years after the introduction of sound, "City Streets" combined innovation and expressionism into one of the most riveting gangster movies of the era. So why isn't it as well known as "Scarface" or "Public Enemy," for example? Because the movie so outraged the Hayes office that Paramount was forbidden from re-releasing it for the next several decades. Fortunately, Turner Classic Movies has a pristine print which showcases the ingenuity of Rouben Mamoulian's direction (and his brilliant establishing shots,) the genius of Lee Garmes' shadowy camera-work and the suspense of the screenplay based on a Dasheill Hamlett story. That tale portrays gangland as a place where alliances are fleeting, where your best pal one moment is the same guy waiting to gun you down in an alley. Typical is Guy Kibbee, in a total turnabout from the affable old roue he so frequently played, as a smiling, sauntering hit man for hire. Heading the cast are two relative newcomers (at the time,) Gary Cooper as an ambitious sharpshooter known only as "The Kid" and Sylvia Sydney as his gullible young girl friend who swears that the mob will protect her -- until she winds up in the prison sweat shop. If you're a movie buff or simply want to see just how good (and ahead of its time) a movie from 1931 can be, catch "City Streets."