City for Conquest (1940)

Saw this the other night, thanks to Netflix. Incredible story, a symphony of New York. Starring Jimmy Cagney, Ann Sheridan, Anthony Quinn--and Elia Kazan as "Googie," a mobster with a heart. Directed by Anatole Litvak, photography by James Wong Howe, music by Max Steiner. Incredible--especially for New Yorkers and former New Yorkers... Had no idea that Kazan was such a good actor. No wonder he did great things with Brando and James Dean, among others....You can watch a clip from YouTube here: And you can order the DVD from Amazon.com here: Here's what DVD Savant has to say about it:

City for Conquest is an ambitious James Cagney movie given the full Warner treatment. Although it doesn't quite hit the mark on any of its four or five themes it gives them all a college try; it's become a favorite of Cagney fans. It is a gangster picture, a boxing picture, a "poetic" symphony-of-the-city epic, a starstruck show-biz career picture --- and for a finale it even tries to graft on the end of Charlie Chaplin's City Lights. Until this DVD release, City for Conquest was also a movie with a mysterious missing element -- an entire wrap-around framing story. I'll be scratching my head about that mystery a little further into the review. The bottom line is that City for Conquest is a unique end-of-the-Depression-years thriller with special performances from James Cagney and Ann Sheridan.