City Streets 1931-Gary Cooper

Never one to hide his talent under a bushel basket, director Rouben Mamoulien proudly proclaimed that, while there were ten killings in his 1931 gangster drama City Streets, the audience never sees any of them. This was not the only innovation in this fascinating early talkie, in which straight-arrow movie hero Gary Cooper is cast as a racketeer known only as The Kid. He has chosen a life of crime out of love for Nan (Sylvia Sidney), the daughter of mob henchman Pop Cooley (Guy Kibbee). Eventually railroaded into prison by her crooked cohorts, Nan implores The Kid to give up the rackets, but he refuses. Things go downhill very rapidly after that, culminating with The Kid and Nan being taken "for a ride" by rival thugs. Cast in a role originally intended for Clara Bow, Sylvia Sidney does a magnificent job and was soon typecast as a downtrodden Depression victim, born with two strikes against her. Conversely, Gary Cooper never again played anything quite like "The Kid."

Production Credits :



Rouben Mamoulian - Director

E. Lloyd Sheldon - Producer

Oliver H.P. Garrett - Screenwriter

Max Marcin - Screenwriter

Lee Garmes - Cinematographer

Sidney B. Cutner - Composer (Music Score)

Viola Lawrence - Editor

William Shea - Editor

Jack A. Goodrich - Sound/Sound Designer

Story by Dashiel Hammett

Cast:



Gary Cooper - The Kid

Sylvia Sidney - Nan Cooley

Paul Lukas - Big Fella Maskal

Guy Kibbee - Pop Cooley

Stanley Fields - Blackie

Betty Sinclair - Pansy

William "Stage" Boyd - McCoy

Terry Carroll - Esther March

Allan Cavan - Cop

William "Wild Bill" Elliott - Dancer

Norman Foster - Extra on Midway

Wynne Gibson - Agnes

Bert Hanlon - Baldy

Robert E. Homans - Inspector

Matty Kemp - Man Stabbed With Fork

Bob Kortman - Servant

Ethan Laidlaw - Killer at Prison

Kate Lawson - Bit part

Barbara Leonard - Girl

Edward J. Le Saint - Shooting Gallery Patron

W.J. O'Brien

Bill O'Brien - Waiter

Hal Price - Shooting Gallery Patron

George Regas - Machine Gunner

Willard Robertson - Detective

Nick Thompson

Leo Willis - Henchman



Long review:



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