Who does the city belong to?
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Who does the city belong to? |
| Original title | Bullets or Ballots |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1936 |
| length | 78 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director |
William Keighley (with Edward G. Robinson ) |
| script |
Seton I. Miller , Martin Mooney |
| production |
Louis F. Edelman , Hal B. Wallis , Jack L. Warner |
| music |
Bernhard Kaun , Heinz Roemheld |
| camera | Hal Mohr |
| cut | Jack Killifer |
| occupation | |
| |
Who does the city belong to? (Original title: Bullets or Ballots ) is an American gangster film from 1936 with Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart .
action
New York cop Johnny Blake is fed up with gangsters taking over business in town . The newly appointed chief of police, who, with the help of the public and the newspapers, wants to dry up the criminal swamp that has gripped all areas of city life, dismisses (pretend) Blake - his best man, so that he can make the criminal organization of Al Kruger his likes to take in old opponents, can infiltrate them. His competitor Fenner there, however, does not trust him. While the police are picking up the syndicate more and more through Blake's information, Blake makes sure that Kruger does nothing about it. When Fenner then murders Kruger, Blake manages to take control, which finally gives him access to the real bosses in the background. These are a bank director, a corrupt politician and another respected businessman. The two of them meet in a shootout between Fenner and Blake, Fenner dies immediately, Blake pulls himself up, only to succumb to his gunshot wound at the end of the film after the underworld bosses are arrested.
backgrounds
The black and white film, directed by William Keighley , is based on a story by Martin Mooney and Seton I. Miller. Robinson had been committed to roles in the gangster film, which was very successful at the time , at least since Little Caesar . After the regulation of the Hays Code , however, this image was rather disadvantageous, so one tried to establish Robinson in the role of the law enforcement officer. It is the first in a series of films between Robinson and Bogart, who at the time was not yet among the first ranks of Hollywood stars. The film was also recorded as a radio play in 1939.
Reviews
- Lexicon of international films : Exciting crime and gangster film with an astonishingly differentiated drawing of the characters. No doubt is left as to the position of the “good” and the “bad” people, but within such a definition the characterizations are ambiguous and multi-layered, shady and ultimately imponderable.
Web links
- Who does the city belong to? in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Who does the city belong to? In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed September 26, 2016 .