Based on Bartlett Cormack's hit Broadway play of 1927, after some atmospheric night scenes noirishly lit by Tony Gaudio and a stirring shootout between cops and robbers on the streets, this film rather slows down to concentrate on talk, and its theatrical origins become a bit too obvious.
Made when Al Capone was still very much a force to be reckoned with, this expose of him not surprisingly failed to get a release in Chicago, and if it seems somewhat over familiar today, it's probably because it actually established so many of the conventions of the gangster genre that dominated the talkie era; notably its cynical depiction of the cozy relationship between gangsters with deep pockets and their lawyers, while tame politicians and judges soon have them back out on the streets, which eventually leads honest cop James McQuigg to declare himself "sick of the law".
Made when Al Capone was still very much a force to be reckoned with, this expose of him not surprisingly failed to get a release in Chicago, and if it seems somewhat over familiar today, it's probably because it actually established so many of the conventions of the gangster genre that dominated the talkie era; notably its cynical depiction of the cozy relationship between gangsters with deep pockets and their lawyers, while tame politicians and judges soon have them back out on the streets, which eventually leads honest cop James McQuigg to declare himself "sick of the law".