Product Details

• Actors: Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson
• Format: Box set, Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: March 25, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00114XLUU
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #15,983 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• For more information about "Warner Gangsters Collection, Vol. 3 (Smart Money / Picture Snatcher / The Mayor of Hell / Lady Killer / Black Legion / Brother Orchid)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

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The third volume of the Warner Gangsters Collection can be heartily endorsed--just so you emphasize the "Warner" and go light on the "Gangsters." Warner Bros. was the feistiest studio in 1930s Hollywood and these movies exemplify its street savvy, proletarian gutsiness, and drive. Warners was also home to the classic gangster cycle, from Little Caesar and The Public Enemy through The Roaring Twenties (all included in Volume 1)--but none of the six films in Volume 3 bears more than a tangential connection to that cycle. Yes, every picture boasts one or more of Warner Bros.' "Murderers Row" stars: Edward G. Robinson toplines in two of the half-dozen films, Humphrey Bogart is featured in two, and James Cagney skitters through no fewer than four. And there's lashings of lawbreaking, raffishness, and tough talk--albeit a lamentable shortage of tommy guns. But Brother Orchid is a gangster spoof, the Cagney vehicles feature scalawags rather than mobsters, and the "gang" in Black Legion, although dangerous and despicable, has nothing to do with organized crime.

The best movies of the bunch fall farthest from the gangster family tree. Picture Snatcher (1933) is exemplary early Cagney, 77 hard-charging minutes with the favorite son of the Lower East Side as a brash ex-con determined to go straight. How straight is a delicate question, since his job is scoring sensational photos for a raunchy tabloid. Picture Snatcher was made before the Production Code cast its puritanical shadow over Hollywood, and the script features two memorably morbid sequences--Cagney's debut as a literal picture snatcher, and the snapping of a clandestine prison-death-house photo--as well as abundant opportunities for risqué byplay, gallows humor, and freewheeling amorality. Lloyd Bacon (soon to direct Cagney in Footlight Parade) makes yeoman work of it all, even getting away with scenes in the newspaper's restroom, and staging a last-reel shootout ferocious enough to be worthy of a real gangster movie.

Humphrey Bogart wasn't yet a star when he appeared in Black Legion (1937), but among his pre–High Sierra assignments at Warners, here's a rare one in which he doesn't play second or third fiddle to Robinson, Cagney, and/or Pat O'Brien. It's a surprisingly powerful social-consciousness fable, in the muckraking tradition of I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. Bogart plays a working-class family man with his eye on promotion to factory foreman; when the job goes instead to a co-worker with a foreign-sounding name, Bogart's character--basically a decent guy--gets drawn into a secret, Ku Klux Klan–like organization espousing "America for Americans" and ready to stomp anyone deemed less than "real 100-percent American." (Such groups weren't exactly rare at the time, as the commentary track details--nor are their sentiments unfamiliar today.) Robert Lord's original screen story was Oscar nominated, and the screenplay is careful to make Bogart's actions understandable and also to create a whole community of characters affected by the Black Legion's atrocities. The finale is uncompromising, with a last shot like a fist to the chest. Archie Mayo directed; Bogart's fellow name-below-the-title players include Erin O'Brien-Moore (impressive as his wife), Dick Foran, Joe Sawyer, and future star Ann Sheridan in her first Warners film.

Edward G. Robinson spent a lot of his Warner years resisting Little Caesar typecasting, and Smart Money (1931) is a fascinating case in point. Although the story of "Nick the Barber" recalls elements of Robinson's starmaking hit, the actor insisted on script modifications so that Nick, a compulsive gambler, emerges as a sympathetic character--and a fatally soft touch where women are concerned. His itinerary takes him from small-town barbershop with an after-hours game in the back to operating his own swank casino in the big city, but he never comes off as a criminal except by prissy legal technicality. Directed by Alfred E. Green, the movie marks the sole occasion of Robinson and Cagney working together. Really, it's Robinson's picture--though Jimmy the Gent outshines him in a classic scene where they discuss a woman's attributes ... in mime.

In Lloyd Bacon's Brother Orchid (1940), it's Bogart who's relegated to supporting status while Robinson plays "Little John" Sarto, a comic variant of guess-who who decides to retire as mob boss and pursue "class" by collecting art in Europe (an inside joke on Robinson's real-life standing as art connoisseur?). After blowing his fortune, Sarto attempts to reclaim his old job, which his former lieutenant (Bogart) isn't about to give up. Taken for the proverbial ride, Little John escapes and finds shelter among the Floracians, a monastic order devoted to "beautifying the lives of men with flowers." Thus is "Brother Orchid" set on the path to spiritual rebirth--after settling some old business, of course. Robinson agreed to make this gangland comedy if Warners let him star in a pair of historical biopics, Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet and A Dispatch from Reuter's--his own pursuit of class, perhaps. It was a good deal all around. Brother Orchid also features Ann Sothern as Sarto's patient moll, Ralph Bellamy in one of his trademark amiable-sap roles, Donald Crisp and Cecil Kellaway among the horticultural monks, and a funny, Runyonesque screenplay by Earl Baldwin.

The final entries, two more from Jimmy Cagney's busy year of 1933, both suffer from weak scripts. Archie Mayo's The Mayor of Hell focuses on the plight of inner-city youth sent to reform schools where they're more likely to be destroyed than rehabilitated. We get a full two reels of setup (featuring troubled lad Frankie Darro, soon to star in Wild Boys of the Road) before Cagney shows up 24 minutes in, as a political hack whose newly won sinecure of "deputy commissioner" includes token responsibility for Peakstown State Reformatory. A former slum kid himself, he evolves from "What do I have to do to make things look regular?" to taking an active interest in his charges, at the mercy of a warden (Dudley Digges) who's both corrupt and sadistic. An absurdly pain-free revolution reforms Hell for a fleeting moment, till a subplot involving Cagney's larcenous interests sidelines him and opens the way for a violent and anarchic climax. Roy Del Ruth's Lady Killer is much lighter fare, with Cagney as a movie-theater usher who falls victim to a con game, then joins in the scam and soon is running the outfit. When one ornate caper results in a bystander getting hurt, Cagney has to hop a train two steps ahead of the law. At the other end of those train tracks is Hollywood, where he catches the eye of someone from Central Casting who thinks he'd make a good gangster type in the movies. Full-fledged stardom is only a reel change away--whereupon that old gang of his comes sniffing around. Some of this is diverting, some is just sloppy; the film gives the impression of having had different writers assigned from scene to scene. However, the satiric jabs at Hollywood are fun, and Cagney, as always, has his lyric moments.

All the films in the set look spiffy, and each comes with a "Warner Night at the Movies" package of cartoons, trailers, and sometimes other short subjects. The full-length commentary tracks range from fanboy blither (Picture Snatcher, alas) to authoritative testimony, with Anthony Slide and Patricia King Hanson offering socio-historical insights on Black Legion and veteran noiristes Alain Silver and James Ursini paying close attention to matters of style and nuance on Smart Money (though one of them twice misstates that the Hawks-Hughes Scarface was made at Universal). --Richard T. Jameson

Product Description

PICTURE SNATCHER (1933): An admirably tough B-picture enlivened by an energetic James Cagney performance, Picture Snatcher stars Cagney as Danny Kean, a former gangster who has decided to go straight after a stretch in the big house. Danny has fallen for Patricia (Patricia Ellis), the daughter of the cop who put him away (Robert Emmett O'Connor). Dad isn't convinced that Danny has left his life of crime behind him, and he isn't too impressed with his new career taking pictures for a sleazy tabloid newspaper. Between getting a lurid photo of a fireman in front of a burning building (where his wife and her lover met their fate) and a daring shot of a woman being executed (based an actual incident when a New York Daily News photographer got a photo of Ruth Snyder in the electric chair), Danny's work is selling papers but hardly making Officer O'Connor think his daughter is in good hands (especially since he was in charge of press security for the execution). Short, sweet and sassy, Picture Snatcher is the sort of gutsy fare Warner Bros. did best in the 1930's; Ralph Bellamy turns in a great supporting performance as Danny's boozy editor LADY KILLER (1933): Based on the novel by Carson McCullers, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter stars Alan Arkin as John Singer, who is deaf. Singer moves from a small town in order to be close to his institutionalized deaf and mentally impaired friend Antonapoulos (Chuck McCann). Singer rents a room with a family whose father, Mr. Kelly (Biff McGuire), is unable to earn a living due to a serious injury. His teen-aged daughter Mick (Sondra Locke, in her film debut) is at first resentful of Singer's presence, but he ingratiates himself by introducing her to classical music (which he can "feel," if not hear). Singer likewise tries to brighten the lives of such unfortunates as alcoholic Blount (Stacy Keach Jr., also making his first film appearance), dying black doctor Copeland (Percy Rodriguez), and Copeland's poverty-stricken daughter (Cicely Tyson). SMART MONEY (1931):Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney were teamed for the only time in their careers in Smart Money. Robinson has the larger part as a small-town barber who fancies himself a big-time gambler. He travels to the Big City in the company of his younger brother Cagney, who wants to make sure that Robinson isn't fleeced by the high-rollers. Unfortunately Robinson has a weakness for beautiful blondes, most of whom take him for all his money or betray him in some other manner. The cops aren't keen on Robinson's gambling activities, but they can pin nothing on him until he accidentally kills Cagney in a fight. The incident results in a jail term for manslaughter, and a more sober-sided outlook on life for the formerly flamboyant Robinson. Watch closely in the first reel of Smart Money for an unbilled appearance by Boris Karloffas a dope pusher. BLACK LEGION (1937): Factory worker Frank Taylor believes that he has missed out on a deserved promotion when it is instead given to a Polish immigrant. Angry and looking for a scapegoat, he is an ideal mark for the Black Legion, an underground group who want to get rid of immigrants and racial minorities through violent means. Frank joins the Legion, and with his new friends, he dons black robes and drives the Polish family from their home. His aim achieved, Frank gets his job, but soon the Legion begins to take up more of his time and money, and turns his character darker and darker. He leaves his wife, begins to drink heavily, and soon is on a downward spiral. MAYOR OF HELL (1933): Five members of a teen-age gang, including leader Jimmy Smith, are sent to the State Reformatory, presided over by the melodramatically callous Thompson. Soon, Patsy Gargan, a former gangster appointed Deputy Commissioner as a political favor, arrives complete with hip flask and blonde. Gargan falls for activist nurse Dorothy and, inspired by her, takes over the administration to run the place on radical principles.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Six Classic Films - With Cagney, Bogart, and Robinson, January 15, 2008

By	Erik Rupp (Southern California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Warner Brother's Gangsters Collection, Vol. 3 is a really nice set filled with classic movies starring some of biggest movie legends of all time. While none of these movies have the reputation of a Public Enemy or The Roaring Twenties they are still quite good and very entertaining movies all the same. One of these films is a welcome surprise, even if it really isn't a "Gangster" movie; Black Legion.

Black Legion was an early starring role for Humphrey Bogart, one that showed that he could play someone other than a gangster, and play the part well. It might be another 3 or 4 years before Bogart shook off the reputation as a supporting player in Gangster movies, but this movie helped get him there. It is well written, well directed, and well acted by all involved. (And it features one of my favorite actresses of the 30's and 40's - Ann Sheridan!)

Now, maybe Kid Galahad would have been more appropriate for a "Gangsters" Box Set, but Black Legion is a fantastic movie, and I'm very glad to see that it will finally be released on DVD. (And maybe Kid Galahad will see the light of day as a DVD in the next Gangsters set.)

As for the other movies in the set, since there are other reviews with synopses and opinions I won't repeat that information, but I will note that they are all worthy of inclusion (well, we could debate Brother Orchid, but with Robinson AND Bogart it's easy to understand why it was included), and despite most of these films not being particularly well known they are all good to nearly great!

Warner Brothers does as good of a job as anyone (better than most) when it comes to cleaing up and releasing good looking prints of their classic movie catalog on DVD, so you can rest assured that this set will look and sound great (for movies of that era).

This set is well worth buying for anyone with any interest in classic movies - especially classic Gangster movies! (At this price you can't go wrong!)

(And hopefully next time we'll see Kid Galahad in the set...)

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars yeah yeah, December 18, 2007

By	R. C. "the_BottlePisser" (ny) - See all my reviews

i cant wait march 25 will be like xmas. yeah yeah now lets get an hd release on blu ray....... Picture Snatcher (1933)
James Cagney portrays Danny Kean, a gangster looking to reform himself -- after a stretch behind bars -- with a new career as a tabloid newspaper photographer. He's also fallen for Patricia Nolan (Patricia Ellis), the daughter of the cop who put him away (Robert Emmett O'Connor). Dad is less than impressed with Kean's new career and none too happy about his daughter's budding relationship. Danny and his editor (Ralph Bellamy) may be selling papers, but is Danny able to sell Dad? Some of the photographs featured in the movie were recreated from sensational images of a 1928 electrocution that were printed in the New York Daily News.

Special Features:
Vintage theatrical trailer: I Loved A Woman
Classic WB short: Plane Crazy
WB cartoon: Wake Up The Gypsy In Me

Lady Killer (1933)
In one of his more comedic efforts, Cagney plays Dan Quigley, a former con artist who goes to Hollywood to hide out and ends up becoming a star. Making it in show business may have its perks, but it also puts him in the spotlight and in jeopardy of being recognized by the thugs he ran away from. By turns, Lady Killer is a filmmaking spoof, a crime thriller and a character study. With Cagney's vitality out front, it's definitely greater than the sum of its parts. The likable cast includes Mae Clarke, his co-star from Public Enemy (part of the first Warner Bros. Gangster Collection) and the recipient of the famous grapefruit.

Special Features:
Two exclusive WB shorts: The Camera Speaks and Kissing Time
Original theatrical trailer
WB cartoon: The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives

Smart Money (1931)
Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney were teamed up for the only time in their careers in Smart Money. Robinson has the larger part of a small-town barber who fancies himself a big-time gambler. He travels to the Big City carrying ten grand from backers at home with his younger brother (Cagney), who comes along as his bodyguard. Unfortunately Robinson has a weakness for beautiful blondes, which means trouble with a capital T. Watch closely in the first reel for an unbilled appearance by Boris Karloff as a dope pusher. Smart Money was Oscar® nominated for Best Original Screenplay.

Special Features:
Theatrical trailer: Other Men's Women
Two WB shorts: George Jessel and His Art Choir and The Smart Set-Up
WB cartoon: Big Man From the North

Black Legion (1937)
Factory worker Frank Taylor (Humphrey Bogart in one of his early starring roles) believes that he has missed out on a deserved promotion when it is instead given to a Polish immigrant. Angry and looking for a scapegoat, he is an ideal mark for the Black Legion, an underground "Pro American" group that wants to get rid of immigrants and racial minorities through violent means. Frank joins, and with his new friends, he dons black robes and drives the Polish family from their home. His aim achieved, Frank gets his job, but soon the Legion begins to take up more of his time and money, and turns his character darker and darker. Co-starring Ann Sheridan, Black Legion was inspired by a real case and was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Original Screenplay.

Special Features:
Theatrical trailer: The Perfect Specimen
Two WB shorts: Hi De Ho and Under Southern Stars
Authentic newsreel
WB short: Porky and Gabby

Mayor of Hell (1933)
Five members of a teen-age gang, including leader Jimmy Smith (Frank Darro), are sent to the State Reformatory, ruled with an iron fist by a callous warden. Soon, Patsy Gargan (James Cagney) - a former gangster - arrives, having been appointed Deputy Commissioner as a political favor. Gargan falls for activist nurse Dorothy (Madge Evans) and, inspired by her, takes over the administration to reform the reformatory and institute some formerly ignored basic Roosevelt-era principles, like humane treatment and democracy.

Special Features:
Four exclusive theatrical trailers: The Kennel Murder Case, The Mayor of Hell, Crime School, and Hell's Kitchen
WB Short: The Audition
WB Cartoon: The Organ Grinder

Brother Orchid (1940)
Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart made five films together and Brother Orchid is the only one in which neither is killed! In this gangster comedy, Little John Sarto (Robinson), returns from Europe where he was hoping to find some "class" and finds his old mob has been taken over by Jack Buck (Bogart). Barely escaping an attempt on his life by the new regime, Sarto takes refuge in the monastery of the "Little Brothers of the Flower," pretending he's interested in becoming a monk so that the Brothers will let him stay while he plots his revenge. However, the kindness of the monks gradually changes him and he resolves to turn over a new leaf and reject his violent past.

Special Features:
Theatrical trailer: It All Came True
WB short: Henry Busse and His Orchestra
Two exclusive WB cartoons: Busy Bakers and Slap Happy Pappy

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mainly second rung Warners which is still better than most., December 20, 2007

By	Douglas M - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Amazon Verified Purchase

Since the previous volumes in this series contained all of the best known films in this genre from Warner Brothers, it is inevitable that the third volume will include a number of lesser known titles. The stars, James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart, are the real draws. All of the films are set around crime, if not gangsters, and most contain some fast paced comedy. All are very good entertainment.

The good news is that we get 4 pre-codes (before 1934) when the Warner's product was at its most relentless and entertaining. Cagney stars in 3 and any Cagney is better than just about anyone else! His star rose very quickly and the studio churned out a series of fast moving modern stories to showcase him. He quickly balked at the treadmill and he slams his way through the cliches and is magnetic.

- First off is "Smart Money", released in 1931. Following the success of "Little Caesar", Edward G. Robinson stars as a barber involved in gambling. Cagney plays a supporting role but the film consolidated that he was a star in his own right, after his success in "The Public Enemy". The film is very well directed by Alfred E Green and shows an attention to detail not often visible in Warner's films of this period.
- "Picture Snatcher" is a beautifully made melodrama in which Cagney plays an ex-con who becomes a paparrazi for a crummy tabloid. The film has some great lines, an excellent narrative and Cagney is riveting. It is surprising that the film's themes are just as relevant today as they were in 1933.
- "The Mayor of Hell" is a reform school yarn, a story Warners remade later in the decade as "Crime School" and rich in familiar cliches. The film is pre-code so it is realistic but Cagney has a relatively small role, clearly starred for box office support of the less than starry teenage cast.
- "Lady Killer" is another farce with Cagney teamed with his grapefruit recipient from "The Public Enemy", Mae Clarke. He plays a thug who becomes a film star, of all things. The film is very funny in parts, particularly when Cagney sends himself up as a film star and there is the usual great supporting cast.
- "Black Legion", released in 1937, is a powerful film starring Humphrey Bogart as a worker who gets caught up in the Klu Klux Clan. All the characters are 2 dimensional but the film has a sensational subject and has some cogent things to say about mob rule and bigotry. It was controversial when it was released and represented a welcome change of pace for Bogart at a point when he was typecast on the Warner's treadmill in supporting gangster roles.
- The last film, "Brother Orchid" from 1940, is a comedy/drama in which Edward G. Robinson hides out in a seminary and transforms from a gangster to a monk who cultivates orchids. Ann Sothern plays his moll and she is terrific. Bogart plays one of the last of his supporting roles as a heavy before his stardom finally took off. The film is funny in spots because the supporting cast all have their moments but overall, it pales in comparison to "A Slight Case of Murder", Robinson's previous hilarious foray into comedy. The plot is unbelievable and does not work as farce.

The quality of the prints is outstanding and each disk contains Warner's Night at the Movies, that unbeatable combination of trailer, short film and cartoon prior to the main feature. Each film has a commentary too. "Smart Money's", in particular, is superb, full of information about pre-code Hollywood and cogent observations on the progress of sound films, for this was a very early talkie.

The package is fantastic value.