Cagney & Humphrey

Of the three films that James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart made together, their final collaboration, The Roaring Twenties, stands out. This drama of booze, broads and bootlegging spans the years 1919 to 1939, and tells the tale of two down-on-their-luck WW I vets who slogged their way through the battlefields of Europe only to endure the hardships of the Great Depression, and turn to a life of racketeering. As Cagney's Eddie Bartlett rises through the ranks of mobland, his friendship with George Hally (Bogart) deteriorates, making them bitter rivals. Director Raoul Walsh's documentary style of filmmaking, combined with a Jazz Age soundtrack and gritty realism, makes it a quintessential gangster film. The noir thriller is part of the Webster University Film Series program A Century Through Cinema, highlighting a century of groundbreaking films that capture the social history of their times. The Roaring Twenties shows at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Webster University's Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood Avenue; 314-968-7487 or www.webster.edu/filmseries). Tickets are $4 to $6.
Fri., Oct. 17, 7:30 p.m., 2014