The Angels Wash Their Faces
The Angels Wash Their Faces is a 1939 Warner Bros. film directed by Ray Enright and starring Ronald Reagan and The Dead End Kids.
| The Angels Wash Their Faces | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ray Enright |
| Produced by | Max Siegel |
| Written by | Michael Fessier Niven Busch Robert Buckner |
| Starring | Ann Sheridan Billy Halop Bernard Punsly Leo Gorcey Huntz Hall Gabriel Dell Bobby Jordan Ronald Reagan Bonita Granville Frankie Thomas Henry O'Neill Eduardo Ciannelli |
| Music by | Adolph Deutsch |
| Cinematography | Arthur L. Todd |
| Edited by | James Gibson |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 86 minutes |
| Language | English |
Plot
Gabe Ryan is released from reform school and is taken to a new house by his sister Joy to start a new life where no one knows of his past. However, Gabe immediately joins a local gang, the Beale Street Termites, where he meets up with William Kroner, a local gangster. William accuses him of starting a fire at one of his properties, and Alfred Martino, the actual arsonist, uses this opportunity to frame Gabe for any fire. He decides to torch one of his apartment complexes so that he can collect the insurance money. Unfortunately, one of the kids, Sleepy is killed in the fire.
Patrick Remson, the Assistant District Attorney, tries to prove Gabe's innocence. His motives are not only to prove Gabe's innocence, but also to get closer to his sister. Joy has devoted her life to helping Gabe and neglects her other interests, which was rallying against city government corruption, which pleases Martino. However, it is all for naught as Gabe is found guilty and sentenced to prison.
The other boys, led by Billy, decide to do something to help Gabe. Billy runs for "boy mayor" and wins. He has Kroner arrested for a small infraction and sends him to jail. While there, Billy and the rest of the gang interrogate him and try to make him admit that Gabe is innocent. He does not cave in, that is until he is shown proof that his accomplices, Martino and the fire chief, are planning to skip the country. He confesses and Martino and the chief are arrested and sent to prison.
Cast
The Dead End Kids
- Billy Halop as Billy Shafter
- Bobby Jordan as Bernie Smith
- Leo Gorcey as Leo Finnegan
- Gabriel Dell as Luigi Batteran
- Huntz Hall as Huntz Gartman
- Bernard Punsly as Luke 'Sleepy' Arkelian
Additional cast
- Ronald Reagan as Patrick Remson
- Ann Sheridan as Joy Ryan
- Frankie Thomas as Gabe Ryan
- Margaret Hamilton as Miss Hannaberry
- Marjorie Main as Mrs. Arkelian
- Grady Sutton as Gildersleeve (mayor's secretary)
- Aldrich Bowker as Turnkey
- Cy Kendell as Hynes
- Henry O'Neil as Ramson Sr.
- Eduardo Ciannelli as Martino
- Burton Churchill as Mayor Dooley
- Minor Watson as Maloney
- Jackie Searle as Alfred Goonplatz
- Bernard Nedell as Kramer
- Dick Rich as Shuffle
- William Hopper as Photographer (uncredited)
Production
The Angels Wash Their Faces was filmed under the title, The Battle of the City Hall.[1] It was changed to reference the title of the unrelated movie Angels with Dirty Faces.[2]
Reception
Variety wrote that although Ray Enright sacrificed "plausibility for action", he had "directed with an eye for the spectacular, including a thrilling fire scene and a dramatic courtroom sequence" and never let "the swift pace ease" while the "screenplay holds no voids in the rapid-fire plot tempo."[1]
Home media
The film was released on DVD by Warner Brothers on November 10, 2010.
References
- "Angels Wash Their Faces". Variety. September 1939: 14.
- Hayes, David and Brent Walker (1984). The Films of The Bowery Boys. Secaucus, NJ: Citadel Press.