The cafeteria at Warner Brothers must have been one tough place. How could a contract actor not be intimidated carrying their tray past Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, George Raft and James Cagney? They’d be less nervous as fresh fish lunching at Alcatraz. It was a studio made for tough guys. Warner Gangsters Collection Vol. 4 keeps up the dirty work with thugs and classic mugs. These five films aren’t considered landmarks of crime, but they are all gems of the genre. Four of them star Edward G. Robinson and twice he battles Bogart to the death.
The Little Giant (1933 – 75 minutes) allows Edward G. Robinson to play with his tough guy persona. The star of Little Caesar unleashed machine-gun laughs from an audience. Before Robert DeNiro made Analyze This, Robinson established that a mobster could kill with comedy. Robinson plays the bootleg beer king who gets out of the brewing business when Prohibition is repealed. Legal beer kills the profit margin. He’s set for life with stashed away millions. Unfortunately the life he choose involves a vacation in the high society playground of Santa Barbara. He falls in love with a socialite daughter (Helen Vinson). After years of dealing with mobsters, Robinson finds himself being suckered and swindled by the posh crowd as he pays to fit into their world. They want to drain his bank account. What’s he going to do when he realize they’ve been making them their stooge? What will the rich folks do when they discover how he made his money? There’s more laughs than bodies.
Kid Galahad (1937 – 102 minutes) delves into the underworld’s control of boxing. Robinson is a promoter whose prize fighter takes a dive after being paid off by Bogart, a rival promoter. Robinson still has his girlfriend (Bette Davis). During a hotel party, Robinson discovers raw talent in the form of a bellhop (Wayne Morris) that knocks out Bogart’s champ. It’s up to Robinson to turn this hotel employee into a boxing sensation. Davis knights him “Kid Galahad.” Love turns weird with a four way affection wreck between Robinson, Davis, Morris and Robinson’s sister. Besides this confusion of the heart, there’s the issue of Bogart not being happy about Kid Galahad’s meteoric rise in the boxing world. The film ends with a victory celebration that resembles a rap music award show. Twenty-five years later this film would be remade with Elvis Presley as the boxer. The original works better with the stellar cast.
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938 – 87 minutes) sounds like it should have been playing Times Square in the late ‘70s. But don’t let you imaginations get too far fetched. Robinson is the title physician. He wants investigate the criminal mind, but not by studying the captives inside prison. He wants to observe them in the wild. After pulling off a few jewel thief heists, he gets enough of a rep to join a real robbery gang. Bogart isn’t happy at the new guy’s scientific work. Once more only one of these two tough guys can survive. Robinson does delicate work balancing the mad scientist with the gangster attitude. He knows the score and keeps this from devolving into camp.
Invisible Stripes (1939 – 81 minutes) reminds us how hard it is for a convict to go straight. George Raft and Humphrey Bogart get sprung from prison. Raft wants to go legit while Bogart is returns to the rackets. As hard as Raft tries live an honest life, he can’t find anyone willing to trust him knowing his criminal background. He wants to be good for the sake of his brother (William Holden). Down on his luck, he meets up with Bogart. Only bad things can come from this reunion. Raft is completely overshadowed by the hungry Bogart. This is the only non-Edward G. Robinson flick in the set.
Larceny, Inc. (1942 – 95 minutes) shows that criminal intentions can make you go straight. After getting out of prison, Edward G. Robinson decides to pull a sneaky bank heist. Instead of kicking in the doors with guns blazing, he wants to dig underneath the vault. He buys a failing luggage store and hires ex-cons Broderick Crawford (Highway Patrol) and Edward Brophy to help him dig the hole. But the plan gets scuttled when the shop becomes a success despite his best efforts. Former prison pal Anthony Quinn arrives during the third act to get them back on track. This is the plot that Woody Allen swiped for Small Time Crooks. Robinson proves once more that he has comic timing along with mad dog skills. Jackie Gleason has a bit part as an annoying soda jerk.
Public Enemies: The Golden Age of Gangster Films (2008 – 106 minutes) is an overview of mobsters on the Warner Brothers lot. Alec Baldwin narrates a tale that goes from silent robberies to The Departed. This is much better than that lame lecture your history of film instructor will blather on the subject. The long and winding career of what it took for Bogart to be a leading man is explored. For a long while he was the best death scene actor around.
The five features and documentary contained on Warner Gangsters Collection Vol. 4 will please the hardest con. Once more Edward G. Robinson is allowed to shine instead of having his career reduced to Little Caesar and characatures in Looney Tunes shorts. He was funny on his own without having Bugs Bunny pestering his animated version. He wasn’t merely a tough guys as exhibited in Kid Galahad. He could love and feel lost. If you don’t believe it, he’ll fly some boys done from Chicago to make you feel his pain.
The video is 1.33:1 full frame on the feature films. The black and white transfers are good although there are slight scratches on the image. Such is the fate of working with old movies. The documentary is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The recent interviews look like were shot in Hi-Def. The audio is Dolby Digital mono. Each film is given a commentary track featuring most of the talking heads from the documentary. The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse gets examined by Dr. Drew Casper and Richard Jewell. Invisible Stripes has Alain Silver and James Ursini. The Little Giant gets Daniel Bubbeo & John McCarty. Larceny, Inc. teams up Haden Guest and Dana Polan. Kid Galahad packs Art Simon & Robert Sklar on the track. The subtitles are in English and French.
Racket Busters Trailer (2:36) shows us the war blazing to smash the rackets. Lot of great rioting around Humphrey Bogart.
Newsreel (2:52) illuminates “Battle over G-Men stirs Congress!” J. Edgar Hoover has to cut his FBI staff to save on the budget.
Night Intruder (11:11) is a “Your True Adventures” installment featuring Floyd Gibbons, The Headline Hunter. Old women playing Bridge get a surprise.
Toyland Casino (19:07) is a live action musical about kids being busted for singing outside a cocktail lounge. Eventually they create a kiddie nightclub with a major floorshow to settle the case.
Count Me Out (7:24) is a Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton. Egghead gets into the boxing racket via a mail-order course.
Lady Esther Screen Guild Theater (28:09) is the audio version of Dr. Clitterhouse from Nov. 2, 1941. It has Edward G. Robinson, Claire Trevor and Lloyd Nolan.
Gulf Screen Guild Theater (27:52) is an audio play version of Clitterhouse from June 5, 1944. Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart and Marsha Hunt provide the voices. This must have been popular since the actors got to say, “Clitterhouse.”
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse Trailer (3:10) makes it feel like a mad scientist meets gangster film. The film promises to show how something “changed him from a genius of medicine to a terror of the underworld.”
You Can’t Get Away with Murder Trailer (2:17) has the great prison march sequence. It lets us know this Bogart film is based on the book by the warden of Sing-Sing.
Newsreel (1:05) of Jimmy Hines being released from Tombs pending his appeal. There’s as many photographers as when Paris Hilton was sprung.
The Monroe Doctrine (15:50) is a Technicolor tribute to government philosophy to keep Europe from reclaiming the Americas. George Reeves (Adventures of Superman) has a part.
Mr. And Mrs. Jesse Crawford at Home (11:02) has a couple that play tandem organs. They must have been big stars on radio.
Quiet, Please (18:02) is a Technicolor visit to Superb Pictures. They want to make another film with Marian Starr. It’s a musical about what it takes to wake up a diva.
Bars and Stripes Forever (7:44) is a Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Ben Hardaway & Cal Dalton. The action takes place in Alcarazz Prison. Lot of clean cellblock humor that wasn’t covered in Oz.
Hare-Um Scare-Um (7:40) is a Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Ben Hardaway & Cal Dalton. The price of meat is out of control so a frustrated guy goes rabbit hunting with his dog. He’s the precursor to Elmer Fudd. Naturally he finds an insane rabbit that isn’t quite bugs.
Invisible Stripes Trailer (2:20) lets us know that George Raft is “Marked by the Indelible Shadows of a Half-Forgotten Past!” They superimpose prison stripes over his suit.
Hard to Handle Trailer (2:24) has James Cagney running from a blonde. Instead of a grapefruit, he pushing beauty cream onto women’s faces.
Newsreel (3:16) covers the end of Prohibition in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Utah. We get short history of the troubled times when my grandfather couldn’t buy a bottle of Old Granddad.
Use Your Imagination (17:33) is a musical with the Four Eaton Boys. A daydreaming elevator conductor gets into trouble for not answering the buzzer. He ends up shoeshining at the Majestic Hotel. The Eaton Boys will please LSU and Clemson fans with their rendition of “Hold That Tiger.”
The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon (7:30) is a Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Hugh Harman & Rudolf Ising. It gives more detail about the old nursery rhyme
The Little Giant Trailer (2:17) asks how a gangster can make an honest living with legalized beer.
The Big Shot Trailer (2:37) has Bogart talking to the audience. This one looks hot. Bogart made Casablanca after this film.
Newsreel (1:00) takes us to San Quentin for a baseball game. The inmates are betting smokes. There’s no audio.
Winning Your Wings (18:06) is a United States Army Airforce flick starring Jimmy Stewart in his Wartime gig. The man look suave in aviator sunglasses.
Porky’s Pastry Pirates (6:41) has the pig directed by Friz Freleng. A bee with a James Cagney attitude takes on Porky for his sweets.
The Wabbit Who Came to Supper (8:07) gives us Bugs Bunny as directed by Friz Freleng. The fat Elmer Fudd is hunting for Bugs.
Laceny, Inc. Trailer (2:31) opens with Edgar G. Robinson in a catcher’s mask and Santa suit. Can the audience recognize him?
It’s Love I’m After Trailer (2:56) claims it’s the “Romance of the Month” with Leslie Howard and Bette Davis snuggling on the sofa.
Newsreel (5:07) announces the reward for any tips to bust several gangsters. J. Edgar Hoover makes the order for the wanted posters.
Alibi Mark (13:18) is another “Your True Adventures” installment featuring Floyd Gibbons, The Headline Hunter. This one deals with desperate kids going bad in Chicago.
Postal Union (22:01) stars Georgie Price in a musical with the O’hea Sisters. Women are ordering up men from some sort of postal service.
Egghead Rides Again (7:25) is a Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Tex Avery. Egghead hits the wild west.
I Wanna Be a Sailor (7:03) is a Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Tex Avery. Little kid parrots practice saying, “Polly wanna cracker.” But the bad kid wants to be a sailor like his dad. Mom hates the old man.
Porky’s Super Service (7:16) has the pig directed by Ub Iwerks. He runs a state of the art gas station with gas at only 43 cents a gallon. Now that’s joke you that’ll make you cry.
Kid Galahad Trailer (3:28) opens with a Hollywood correspondent reporting live from the film set. Bette Davis and Edward G. Robinson are themselves to promote the film.
I Like Mountain Music (6:59) is a Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Hugh Harman & Rudolf Ising. The covers of magazines in a drugstore come alive. Mobsters from “Crime Stories” pull an inside job. Sherlock Holmes in on their trail.
She Was an Acrobat’s Daughter (8:35) is a Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. It spoofs a night at the movies including a take on Petrified Forest.
Racketeer Rabbit (7:52) is a Bugs Bunny cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. Bugs takes refuge in an abandoned house. Turns out the place is the hideout for mobsters that look like Edward G. Robinson and Peter Lorre.
Bugs and Thugs (7:12) is a Bugs Bunny Cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. Bugs gets taken for a ride by Rocky and Mugsy. This one has the oven gag.
Five gangster films and 13 cartoons makes Warner Gangsters Collection Vol. 4 a must see for fans of classic films. This is a treasure chest of riches with the ultimate prize of Edward G. Robinson revealing he wasn’t a one-note gangster actor. His battles with Bogart on these films will be legendary after a single viewing. If you’ve enjoyed the first three volumes, you’ll be thrilled with the forth installment.
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Warner Home Video presents Warner Gangsters Collection Vol. 4. Starring Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, George Raft & Bette Davis. Box set Contents: 6 films on 6 DVDs. Released on DVD: October 21, 2008. Available at Amazon.
