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Warner Gangsters Collection, Vol. 2 (Bullets or Ballots / City for Conquest / Each Dawn I Die / G Men / San Quentin / A Slight Case of Murder) (1936)
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| Starring: | James Cagney, Edward G Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Dvorak, Barton MacLane, Margaret Lindsay, Robert Armstrong |
| Director: | William Keighley |
| Genre: | Drama, Crime, Gangsters, Crime Drama |
| Year: | 1936 |
| Studio: | Warner Home Video |
| Length: | 519 minutes |
| Released: | July 18, 2006 |
| Rating: | NR |
| Format: | DVD |
| Misc: | NTSC, Black & White |
| Language: | English(Original Language), French(Subtitled), Spanish(Subtitled), English(Subtitled) |
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SYNOPSIS:
Bullets or Ballots (1936)
"They rule by the fear of their guns. They must be stopped by the power of your ballots." They refers to Bugs Fenner and other mobsters whose illicit rackets will be smashed to smithereens by undercover cop Johnny Blake.
When Warner Bros.' Depression-era gangster movies began to draw protests, the studio reinvigorated the genre with stories emphasizing law enforcers instead of lawbreakers. The swift, sturdy Bullets or Ballots reflects that, with Edward G. Robinson (as Blake) siding with the good guys for the first time in a gangland saga. Humphrey Bogart plays the short-fused Fenner. And Joan Blondell and Louise Beavers, in an unusual story element for the times, are thriving numbers operators whose grift is usurped by the mob.
BONUS FEATURES:
- Commentary by Film Historian Dana Polan
- Warner Night at the Movies 1936
- Vintage Newsreel
- Musical Short George Hall and his Orchestra
- Classic Cartoon I'm a Big Shot Now
- Trailers of Bullets or Ballots and 1936's The Charge of the Light Brigade
- New Featurette - Gangsters: the Immigrant's Hero
- How I Play Golf by Bobby Jones No. 10: Trouble Shots
- Breakdowns of 1936: Studio Blooper Reel
- Audio-Only Bonus: Radio Show with Robinson, Bogart and Mary Astor
A Slight Case of Murder (1938)
Prohibition's ban on booze is over, and that means bootlegger Remy Marco must make some changes. Don't go calling his beer-peddling enterprise a racket. It's now a business. Employees are no longer lugs or palookas, they're associates. And don't refer to Marco as da boss. Use sir. He's gone legit, see?
Edward G. Robinson plays Marco, spoofing his Little Caesar persona in a comedy spree based on Damon Runyon and Howard Lindsay's Broadway play. Lloyd Bacon, director of Robinson's gangster sendups Brother Orchid and Larceny, Inc., guides with screwball flair as corpses, creditors, the swellest of swells and more mayhem descend on Marco. Allen Jenkins, Edward Brophy and Harold Huber - with 340+ career credits between them - are among the lugs-cum-associates. You're about to open a major case of laughter.
BONUS FEATURES:
- Commentary by Film Historian Robert Sklar
- Warner Night at the Movies 1938 Short Subjects Gallery:
- Vintage Newsreel
- Oscar-Nominated Drama Short Declaration of Independence
- Classic Cartoon The Night Watchman
- Trailers of A Slight Case of Murder and 1938's The Dawn Patrol
- New Featurette Prohibition Opens the Floodgates
Each Dawn I Die (1939)
Framed for manslaughter after he breaks a story about city corruption, reporter Frank Ross is sure he'll prove his innocence and walk out of prison a free man. But that's now how the system works at Rocky Point Penitentiary. There, cellblock guards are vicious, the jute-mill labor is endless and the powers Ross fought on the outside conspire to keep him in. Frank's hope is turned to hopelessness. And he's starting to crack.
Two of the screen's famed tough guys star in this prison movie that casts a reform-minded eye on the brutalizing effects of life in the slammer. James Cagney "hits a white-hot peak as (Ross,) the embittered, stir-crazy fall guy" (Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide). And George Raft (Cagney's friend since their vaudeville days) portrays racketeer Hood Stacey, who may hold the key to springing Ross.
BONUS FEATURES:
- Warner Night at the Movies 1939 Short Subjects Gallery:
- Vintage Newsreel
- Documentary Short A Day at Santa Anita
- Oscar Nominated Classic Cartoon Detouring America
- Trailers of Each Dawn I Die and 1939's Wings of the Navy
- New Featurette Stool Pigeons and Pine Overcoats: The Language of Gangster Films
- Commentary by Film Historian Haden Guest
- Breakdowns of 1939: Studio Blooper Reel
- Bonus Cartoon Each Dawn I Crow
- Audio-Only Bonus: Radio Show with George Raft and Franchot Tone
G Men (1935)
In 1931, James Cagney helped jump-start the gangster genre as The Public Enemy. In 1935, he waged on-screen war against the nation's public enemies. Outcries against movies that glorified underworld criminals put Cagney on the side of the law in "G" Men.
Emphasis may have changed but elements are the same. "G" Men builds to a fury of bold escapes, siren-wailing pursuits and frenzied shootouts. "Anything worth newspaper space is worth a movie," Warner Bros. executive Lou Edelman declared. Here, a punchy hot-off-the-presses account of the pursuit and capture of John Dillinger provides the story inspiration as tough-guy Cagney gives it to 'em good in a movie that's "fast, gutsy, as simplistic and powerful as a tabloid headline" (Geoff Andrew, Time Out Film Guide).
BONUS FEATURES:
- Warner Night at the Movies 1935 Short Subjects Gallery:
- Vintage Newsreel
- Comedy Short The Old Grey Mayor Starring Bob Hope
- Classic Cartoon Buddy the Gee Man
- Trailers of "G" Men and 1935's Devil Dogs of the Air
- New Featurette Morality and the Code: A How-to Manual for Hollywood
- Commentary by Film Historian Richard Jewell
- How I Play Golf by Bobby Jones No. 11: Practice Shots
- Things You Never See on the Screen: Breakdowns of 1935 Studio Blooper Reel
San Quentin (1937)
Do the crime, do the time. But what happens during the long years spent behind the walls of San Quentin? The penitentiary's new yard captain wants to make those years a time of rehabilitation rather than punishment. But not everyone's buying it. "He's just another copper to me," snarls inmate Red Kennedy.
Humphrey Bogart portrays Red, continuing his climb to stardom in this brisk film that's one of a string of Depression-era works combining gangster-movie elements with a Big House setting. Studio mainstay Pat O'Brien plays Steve Jameson, whose carrot-and-stick reforms begin to change Red's thinking. An inmates' strike and a scripture-quoting con who swipes a rifle are among the troubles Jameson faces. And Red is another as he reverts to his old ways and makes a violent break for freedom.
BONUS FEATURES:
- Warner Night at the Movies 1937 Short Subjects Gallery:
- Vintage Newsreel
- Oscar-Nominated Broadway Brevity Short The Man Without a Country
- Classic Cartoon Porky's Double Trouble
- Trailers of San Quentin and 1937's Kid Galahad
- New Featurette Welcome to the Big House
- Commentary by Film Historian Patricia King Hanson
- Breakdowns of 1937 Studio Blooper Reel
City for Conquest (1940)
Ex-Golden Gloves fighter Danny Kenny has it all worked out. He'll turn pro to bankroll his brother's dream of writing a symphonic paean to the teeming city where they both live: New York. But life pulls the sidewalk out from under Danny when he's blinded during a brutal 15-round welterweight title bout.
James Cagney plays Danny in this heart-tugging melodrama co-starring Ann Sheridan, Anthony Quinn, film-debuting Arthur Kennedy and in a rare acting turn before becoming a director, Elia Kazan. Among familiar studio players, there's an unbilled one: a vivid backlot and rear-screen Manhattan. "Sometimes we wonder," The New York Times' Bosley Crowther wrote, "whether it wasn't really the Warner brothers who got New York from the Indians, so diligent and devoted have they been in feeling the great city's pulse."
BONUS FEATURES:
- Warner Night at the Movies 1940 Short Subjects Gallery:
- Vintage Newsreel
- Oscar-Nominated Short Service with the Colors
- Classic Cartoon Stage Fright
- Trailers of City for Conquest and 1940's The Fighting 69th
- New Featurette Molls and Dolls: The Women of Gangster Films
- Commentary by Richard Schickel
- Breakdowns of 1940: Studio Blooper Reel
- Audio-Only Bonus: Radio Show with Alice Faye and Robert Preston
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