City Streets

Visually striking pre-code gangster picture starring Gary Cooper as a carnival sharpshooter who wants nothing to do with girlfriend Sylvia Sidney's father's bootlegging business until she is sent to prison and he needs money to help get her out. Cooper uses his "aw shucks" persona well here. Sidney is absolutely gorgeous and does a great job as the naive girl who grows up fast when she's betrayed by her own father. Paul Lukas and Guy Kibbee are probably two of the more unlikely gangsters to ever appear on screen, but both make their parts work to their strengths. Based on a story by Dashiell Hammett, with characters who have names like The Kid and Big Fella. But the story isn't the main selling point. That would be Lee Garmes' camera-work and Ruben Mamoulian's direction. It's a beautiful-looking picture with some interesting techniques on display that are very impressive when you consider this was released in 1931. Mamoulian's jogging at a time when other directors are still learning to walk. One of the best gangster pictures not released by Warner Bros., who pretty much had the market cornered on that genre during the 1930s.