The Roaring Twenties [1939] [DVD]

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SYNOPSIS: The speakeasy era never roared louder than in this gangland chronicle that packs a wallop under action master Raoul Walsh's direction. Against a backdrop of newsreel-like montages and narration, it follows the life of jobless war veteran Eddie Bartlett (James Cagney) who turns bootlegger, dealing in bottles instead of battles. Battles await Eddie within and without his growing empire. Outside are territorial feuds and gangland bloodlettings. Inside is the treachery of his double-dealing associate (Humphrey Bogart). It would be 10 years before Cagney played another gangster (in 'White Heat'), a time in which gangster movies themselves became rare. He used to be a big , Panama Smith (Gladys George) says at the finale, marking Bartlett's demise... and signalling the end of Hollywood's focus on the gangster era. ABOUT THE DVD: This is a release by WARNER HOME VIDEO for the UK market (Region 2 PAL format - which will play on all standard DVD players in the UK and the rest of Europe - buyers outside of Europe will need a multi-region player in order to view it) - The film is presented in its original BLACK & WHITE and FULL SCREEN format (1.37:1 aspect ratio) and runs for a total of 102 minutes - the AUDIO is the original ENGLISH language and MONO (there is also an Italian dubbed soundtrack on the disc) - SUBTITLES are in English, English for Hearing Impaired, French, Italian, Italian for Hearing Impaired, Dutch, Arabic, Bulgarian and Romanian - SPECIAL FEATURES are an Introduction by Leonard Maitlin with vintage newsreel, Warner Bros Shorts 'The All Girl Revue' and 'The Great Library Misery', plus the cartoon 'Thugs With Dirty Mugs' * the film's original Theatrical Trailer * a featurette 'THE ROARING TWENTIES: THE WORLD MOVES ON' * an Audio Commentary by Lincoln Hurst.