This is a tough gritty intense crime film that stars Humphrey Bogart & Billy Halop both getting top billing even though Halop has more screen time & is the real star & main focus. This time he's without the Dead End Kids. The Dead End Kids appeared in 3 other films with Bogart in "Dead End" (1937), "Crime School" & "Angels With Dirty Faces" both in 1938. Halop plays Johnny Stone who admires & looks up to small time gangster Frank Wilson (Bogart), Frank shows Johnny the ropes on how to be a criminal.
First they steal a car & then they stick up & rob a gas station & then Johnny steals his sister Madge's (Gale Page) boyfriend's Fred Burke's (Harvey Stephens) gun from his apartment while they go out on the town. Johnny teams up again with Frank to rob a pawnshop but Frank takes the gun away from Johnny & sticks up the pawnshop owner while Johnny plays watchdog outside. Frank tells him to open the safe but the pawnshop owner sets the alarm off & attacks Frank. Bogart shoots the pawnshop owner dead with the gun Johnny stole from Burke.
Frank leaves the gun on the floor & subsequently their fingerprints leads the police right to their doorstep & Frank & Johnny are arrested & sentenced to Sing Sing prison. Circumstantial evidence incriminates Fred Burke as he doesn't have a strong enough alibi to clear himself of the murder & prove his innocence. Burke lands on death-row awaiting the electric chair.
Most of the film takes place in the big house as Johnny gets torn between the good & evil forces. He's given a job in the prison library working with Pop ( Henry Travers) who senses that Johnny's conscience is bothering him & tries to convince him to do the right thing by telling the truth as Burke's fate lies in Johnny's hands. Will he keep silent to protect Frank Wilson or will he talk & spill to save Burke from the hot seat ??
It's quite suspenseful wondering what Johnny Stone will do & I will not reveal what his decision is & what eventually happens. There is an exciting prison break with Bogart, Halop, Joseph Sawyer, Harold Huber & Joe Downing which ends in disaster & a violent shootout with the prison guards eventually trapping Frank & Johnny in a freight car. George E. Stone is also one of the inmates. Bogart is typically cast in his familiar tough guy role he so often played in the 1930's. This is Bogart at his meanest & nastiest with no redeeming qualities he's all bad in this movie. Billy Halop gives a great solo performance in this movie & it should've skyrocketed him to solo stardom. Too bad it didn't because after the Dead End Kids series ended in the early 40's he descended to a bit player.
Bogart as we all know went on to become a major star 2 years later with "High Sierra" & "The Maltese Falcon" cementing & solidifying his new status in 1941. Before this he was a supporting actor & a minor star. But this film " You Can't Get Away With Murder" really has a lot going for it & is really worth seeing & needs a DVD release. In the meantime there is a site you can download rare obscure Bogart movies including this one. I love watching these old Warner Bros. gangster prison crime films of the 30's. They're timeless classics.
First they steal a car & then they stick up & rob a gas station & then Johnny steals his sister Madge's (Gale Page) boyfriend's Fred Burke's (Harvey Stephens) gun from his apartment while they go out on the town. Johnny teams up again with Frank to rob a pawnshop but Frank takes the gun away from Johnny & sticks up the pawnshop owner while Johnny plays watchdog outside. Frank tells him to open the safe but the pawnshop owner sets the alarm off & attacks Frank. Bogart shoots the pawnshop owner dead with the gun Johnny stole from Burke.
Frank leaves the gun on the floor & subsequently their fingerprints leads the police right to their doorstep & Frank & Johnny are arrested & sentenced to Sing Sing prison. Circumstantial evidence incriminates Fred Burke as he doesn't have a strong enough alibi to clear himself of the murder & prove his innocence. Burke lands on death-row awaiting the electric chair.
Most of the film takes place in the big house as Johnny gets torn between the good & evil forces. He's given a job in the prison library working with Pop ( Henry Travers) who senses that Johnny's conscience is bothering him & tries to convince him to do the right thing by telling the truth as Burke's fate lies in Johnny's hands. Will he keep silent to protect Frank Wilson or will he talk & spill to save Burke from the hot seat ??
It's quite suspenseful wondering what Johnny Stone will do & I will not reveal what his decision is & what eventually happens. There is an exciting prison break with Bogart, Halop, Joseph Sawyer, Harold Huber & Joe Downing which ends in disaster & a violent shootout with the prison guards eventually trapping Frank & Johnny in a freight car. George E. Stone is also one of the inmates. Bogart is typically cast in his familiar tough guy role he so often played in the 1930's. This is Bogart at his meanest & nastiest with no redeeming qualities he's all bad in this movie. Billy Halop gives a great solo performance in this movie & it should've skyrocketed him to solo stardom. Too bad it didn't because after the Dead End Kids series ended in the early 40's he descended to a bit player.
Bogart as we all know went on to become a major star 2 years later with "High Sierra" & "The Maltese Falcon" cementing & solidifying his new status in 1941. Before this he was a supporting actor & a minor star. But this film " You Can't Get Away With Murder" really has a lot going for it & is really worth seeing & needs a DVD release. In the meantime there is a site you can download rare obscure Bogart movies including this one. I love watching these old Warner Bros. gangster prison crime films of the 30's. They're timeless classics.