City Streets

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Alec B It's certainly an underrated entry in the gangster genre. It has serious emotional stakes and I like the slower pace which let's a lot of character moments more time. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/09/25 Full Review bao s Beautifully shot with many memorable scenes that I have seen represented in mnay movies that followed. Cooper at his best. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 07/12/23 Full Review Audience Member The best gangster movie ever made! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Rouben Mamoulian adds a dose of style to this otherwise ordinary gangster picture - but that style makes all the difference. Instead of simply plot mechanics (girl whose stepfather is a racketeer tries to persuade her boyfriend to join the gang but then regrets it later when he does and her eyes are opened to the brutality), we have something more poetic. Some of this is montage and some of it is inserted shots and some of it is a more natural approach to the settings and events (the couple have a rendezvous at the beach and we and they watch the waves). In any event, the flow of the picture seems different, even if there is still rough stuff among the hoods and some dirty double-crossing familiar to fans of the genre. Reviewers of the time didn't like Paul Lukas as the big boss, but his lilting accent and sophisticated manner inject a little more weirdness to the proceedings. Sylvia Sidney (young!) is captivating as the girl who wants to escape the gangster life (after a stretch in jail) and Gary Cooper (young!) is charismatic as her man who falls in and then falls out with the gang. Mamoulian would later direct "Love Me Tonight" and, while City Streets is not a musical, the director's flair for romance is clearly evident. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member This film is likely the first thing I've ever seen Gary Cooper in, and he's charismatic enough, but most of what I recall about the film is how casually the racketeer father of Cooper's love interest allows her to take the fall for him and do ACTUAL TIME in jail, which is just freaky to think a parent could be so callous. Worth a rental. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member City Streets (1931) Gary Cooper as an urban gangster? Yep! It's hard to believe, but City Streets is a gangster picture with a very young Gary Cooper. If you get a chance to see this pre-code movie, catch it, because, it hasn't been released on DVD yet. The movie is based on a Dashiell Hammett story. Nan Cooley (played by beautiful Sylvia Sidney, in her first film) is the daughter of bootlegger under-boss Pop Cooley (Guy Kibbee), who works for Big Fellow Maskal (Paul Lukas). Nan has enjoyed the extravagant gangsta lifestyle, and has gotten accustomed to covering for Pop. Nan has fallen in love with a young carnival worker who works at a shooting gallery. The Kid (Cooper) used to be a circus cowboy, and is content with his small-change (but honest) life, where Nan wants him to work for her Dad and afford the big cars, nice clothes, etc. She knows that The Kid is a crack shot and would be good at it. Then one night Nan gets caught with the murder weapon that her Dad used and has to go to prison. Pop tells the Kid that he needs his help to afford to get Nan out of prison early. All the time, a reforming Nan is thankful that she didn't talk The Kid into this life of crime. Director Rouben Mamoulian, did an excellent job of filming this with artful camera angles, close-ups, and even an inner (voice-over) monologue that was revolutionary for its time. While Nan ponders her life of crime and the fact that The Kid is now in "the Beer Business" you're thinking and worrying along with her. This is an excellent little movie, and I highly recommend it. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews

City Streets

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