Rating: NR
Genre:
Crime
Release Date: 01/25/2005
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD1
Run Time: 106 Minutes
Flags: Mild Violence, Questionable for Children
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
Based upon an idea by Broadway columnist
Mark Hellinger,
The Roaring Twenties opens during World War I as doughboys
Eddie Bartlett (
James Cagney),
Lloyd Hart (
Jeffrey Lynn), and
George Hally (
Humphrey Bogart) discuss what they will do when the war is over.
Bartlett wants to go back to repairing cabs, and
Hart yearns to be a lawyer, but it becomes clear that
Hally has less reputable plans in mind for himself. Come the end of the war, things are not as easy for veterans like
Bartlett as they should be. He is unable to get his old job back and ends up driving a cab for little money. One night he is asked to deliver a package (which turns out to be whiskey) to an address that turns out to be a speakeasy. This starts him on a life of crime, as he gets deeper involved as a bootlegger. Things are not made easy by a rival bootlegger -- who turns out to be
Hally. The two join forces and prosper.
Hart shares in their prosperity, as
Bartlett engages him to take care of his legal matters. Unfortunately,
Hart is also interested in
Jean Sherman (
Priscilla Lane), a young woman that
Bartlett has had an eye on for quite some time. He loses her to
Hart at about the same time that his criminal empire crumbles, and he is reduced to driving a cab again while
Hally continues to prosper with his ruthless ways. Eventually,
Hart -- now a crusading prosecutor -- runs afoul of
Hally, who tells
Jean that he will kill him if he doesn't change his ways.
Jean begs
Bartlett to intercede with
Hally; because he still is carrying a torch for her,
Bartlett agrees -- but by doing so, he may have signed his own death warrant.
~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
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