City Streets
Tags: melodrama

Plot synopsis:
Nan Cooley (Sylvia Sidney), the daughter of racketeer Pop Cooley (Guy Kibbee), is in love with The Kid (Gary Cooper), a shooting gallery showman. Cooley tries to urge him to join the gang, in order to earn enough money to support her in the lifestyle she is accustomed to, but The Kid refuses. Soon her father kills bootlegging chief Blackie (Stanley Fields), at the urging of Big Fella Maskal (Paul Lukas), because Blackie was against Maskal's involvement with Blackie's gun moll Aggie (Wynne Gibson).
After Pop shoots Blackie, he passes the gun to Nan, thus implicating her in the murder. She naïvely takes the rap, believing the mob will arrange for her acquittal, but is sent to prison. Pop Cooley tries to convince The Kid to join the gang to free Nan, and he does so out of love for her. However, her attitude had changed since she was railroaded to prison. When The Kid visits Nan in prison in a fur coat, she becomes terrified of his involvement with Pop's gang after witnessing a fellow inmate's mobster boyfriend being gunned down outside the prison gate. When Nan is released, having served her term, she wants nothing more to do with the mob. She tries to persuade The Kid to quit the gang, but he refuses. Things go downhill from there. She finds that her father is unrepentant and involved with a loose, gold-digging woman named Pansy (Betty Sinclair). Maskal soon takes a strong liking to Nan and throws her a homecoming party, forcing her to dance with him all evening. When The Kid finally asserts his claim over Nan, Maskal threatens him, then later sends his thugs to kill him, but The Kid successfully disarms them, then goes after Maskal.
Terrified her lover will be killed, Nan goes to Maskal to warn him and offers herself to him in exchange for The Kid's life. Aggie, now Maskal's mistress, shoots him with Nan's gun after he leaves her for Nan, and Nan is accused of murder. The Kid then names himself mob chief and escapes with Nan in a car with three of Maskal's men, who aim to kill him. Thus events culminate in The Kid and Nan being taken "for a ride" by rival thugs. By racing a train and maintaining high speeds, The Kid keeps himself alive until Nan pulls a gun on the men and disarms them. Dropping the thugs off with "no hard feelings", The Kid tells them he has quit the beer business, and he and Nan drive off.

Review: I saw this film last night at a "pre-Code" film festival, and I have to tell you that when Gary Cooper turned his head for his introductory close-up, the entire audience gasped.
He was just that beautiful.Cooper's looks aside, this film displays Rouben Mamoulian's directorial artistry to perfection.
Wonderful scene-fades, creative camera angles, symbolic allusions--Mamoulian just keeps exploring the directorial medium and coming up with innovation.This was Sylvia Sidney's first role in Hollywood, after her success on the New York stage, and she is just as lovely as a Gary Cooper leading lady ought to be.
It's nice to see her in a role with a harder edge than many she was given--so often she looks like she's afraid she's about to be hit by someone.There are lots of familiar faces in this film, including the wonderful Wynne Gibson.
Most striking is Guy Kibbee, best known for playing fatuous rich men, as a grinning and mendacious hit-man.There aren't nearly enough of these pre-Code films available on VHS or DVD, so if you can't find a pre-Code festival near you, try campaigning Turner Classic Movies for a broadcast!
As for the reviewer who believes Gary Cooper was too stupid to have dialogue more complex than "Yep" or "Nope," he should perhaps consider Coop's performance in films such as "Mr Deeds Goes to Town" or "Meet John Doe." Although heaven knows anyone who looked that good shouldn't have to be smart as well..
Although not quite in the same league as the previous mentioned classics, it has a powerful performance by young Sylvia Sidney.She's magnificent and delivers her lines more natural than perhaps anyone did at the time.Gary Cooper is better than usual at this stage in his career and shows signs of what would follow the next few years when he rose to the top.
The movie has some fascinating villains in Paul Lukas (never seen him this detestable) and Guy Kibbee (what a shock to see him act the hoodlum).The direction of Rouben Mamoulian is very inventive,probably the first voice-over to show a persons thoughts appear in this movie.
I thought I'd witnessed every wrinkle the crime/gangster flick had to offer, but the Garrett-Marcin-Hammett combination pull off some genuine thrills and surprises here, thanks to the inventively forceful direction by Mamoulian, the atmospheric photography by Lee Garmes, plus remarkably sharp film editing and flawless special effects.
Only two years after the introduction of sound, "City Streets" combined innovation and expressionism into one of the most riveting gangster movies of the era.
Fortunately, Turner Classic Movies has a pristine print which showcases the ingenuity of Rouben Mamoulian's direction (and his brilliant establishing shots,) the genius of Lee Garmes' shadowy camera-work and the suspense of the screenplay based on a Dasheill Hamlett story.
Heading the cast are two relative newcomers (at the time,) Gary Cooper as an ambitious sharpshooter known only as "The Kid" and Sylvia Sydney as his gullible young girl friend who swears that the mob will protect her -- until she winds up in the prison sweat shop.
If you're a movie buff or simply want to see just how good (and ahead of its time) a movie from 1931 can be, catch "City Streets.".
Great actors: Gary Cooper, Sylvia Sidney and the this time not so lovable Guy Kibbee.
Of course his western persona is not one you would think would fit into the gangster film, but his character of a rodeo cowboy who was stranded in the big city and was now making a living at a shooting gallery, presumably in Coney Island rings true enough.Coop's skill as a marksman is noticed by his girlfriend Sylvia Sydney who tries to interest him in going into the beer racket.
In the meantime while Sylvia ponders the error of her ways in the joint, Cooper who was reluctant when she was out has now joined with Kibbee and is now a confidante of the big boss Paul Lukas.Lukas is a suave and menacing gangster in one of his earliest sound roles.
Guy Kibbee who usually played buffoons in later films at Warner Brothers and MGM will be quite the revelation as a really slimy character.
Mamoulian had great help from Dashiell Hammett who wrote his only original screenplay for City Streets.
And special phrase must also go to Wynne Gibson who plays Lukas's moll and when she's scorned, she takes a terrible vengeance.Paramount was not a studio known for gangster films, later on they did get their own gangster star in George Raft and Gary Cooper was not known for this genre.
I've only seen a couple of Sylvia Sidney's early films, but they all seem to feature at least one closeup of her face that reveals what's really going on in the picture.
And here, in "City Streets," the director dollies in and lingers on her face for a full minute while Hollywood cinema's first "voiceover" tells us what's going on in her thoughts.
Dashiell Hammett, who wrote "City Streets," said she was the best part of the movie.
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.
Based on a story by Dashiell Hammett, with characters who have names like The Kid and Big Fella.
I watch a lot of pretty bad contemporary movies, partly because I want to be there when something new happens.
Its one of the biggest thrills in life to be there when a new way to dream appears.This would have been such an experience for someone watching this movie seventy or so years ago.
The sound effects of everything going on in the movie would have been relatively new technology at the time of filming, increasing the overall quality of the production.
All around the movie was excellent, especially knowing that many of the issues faced by the characters can be easily compared and likened to current gang and crime families..
City Streets is a wonderful film, beautiful to watch and surprisingly "modern" for a film of its era.It's a film that transcends its genre: I pretty much never watch gangster movies as I dislike the theme/violence, but this was very enjoyable.
Unlike modern gangster movies where protagonists tend to be all male with a token female, this is very much the story of Nan, more so than the Kid. Watching it I was struck how gendered many movies are these days in terms of being solely targeted to women or men.
I watched it online and didn't find this a problem.I would highly recommend this to others who aren't major movie buffs but are interested in vintage cinema.
I thought the movie City Street was a very well put together film, especially considering the time period it was made in.
In this 1931 film by Rouben Mamoulian and Gary Cooper as "The Kid", this gangster picture by Paramount Studios which won NBR Award for Top Ten Films.
The story is cliched and a bit vague (good guy and good girl get corrupted and sucked into the criminal world around them), but director Rouben Mamoulian isn't very interested in the story; this is really an art movie that follows the surface guidelines of a gangster movie.
This film was slower and calmer than I expected from a gangster flick, especially one that was pre-Code, but it was very good nonetheless.
I found myself noticing creative usage of angles, one that especially comes to mind is when you see characters talking to someone out of the shot (which I had not seen in a movie from this era before).
City Streets 1931 Pre Code Film That's Worth the Watch.
"City Streets" (1931), Directed by Rouben Mamoulian was an interesting film, and very advanced for its time.
The two main characters Sylvia Sidney and Gary Cooper were very strong actors and portrayed their lines and scenes with great truthfulness.
Gary Cooper and Sylvia Sydney play magnificent roles in this gangster/romantic film.
"City Streets," shows a different side of Gary Cooper.
Every time I think I've seen my favorite of Gary Coopers' performances, I find yet another movie where he plays a stand-out character.
Maybe the earliest of his films I've seen thus far; there's a cockiness and confidence in his performance that is a bit grittier than one might expect coming from watching a handful of his newer movies.
The actress who plays his love interest, Sylvia Sidney or "Nan," also gives a very strong performance as a young woman who must save face and have nerves of steel to deal with the Gangster world she's been dragged into.
After spending time in jail and seeing all of the crime and what it can do to you, Nan has changed her mind about wanting "kid" to work with her father, but she may be too late.Once it gets going this film definitely keeps you on your feet.
Good Gary Cooper film.
In this movie the woman gets accused of murder and gets mad at the kid for not being racketeer like her step dad to make some money whos involved with the mob because he was just working in the circus but was really good with a gun.
And it was pretty good but not what I expected from a Gary Cooper film..
Rouben Mamoulian brought together my personal favorite genre a great film with City Streets.
Yet for me City Streets is a solid great movie all around.
Although this film is not by any means my favorite, I think that it does a fine job of showing where movies were at the time and brings to light the advances we have made throughout history..
It's this type of creative camera work that makes City Streets a highlight of the early 1930's.This is one of Slyvia Sidney's earliest roles, and it's also the only role I've seen of hers where she could be described as standoffish.
While she is in love with The Kid (Cooper), her attitude to everyone else is far colder than I have come to know her in her other films.
However this good guy seems out of place in the gangster world.City Streets is more than worth the watch.
The unconventional camera work and overall dark tone to this pre-code Hollywood crime film is what sets it apart..
"City streets" (1931) directed by Rouben Mamoulian introduced in the transition from silent movies to the era of talkies on the soundtrack the figure of style that was named as the so-called intern monologue, when a character thinks out of the frame composition of the shot, but supposedly inside the universe of the fiction, which we saw on the screen.
Gary Cooper is woefully miscast as The Kid in this 30s gangster flick directed by Rouben Mamoulian.
Festooned in natty threads and wearing what looks like the same eye shadow as love interest Silvia Sidney Cooper cuts a striking figure but is less than convincing as he makes his way up the pecking order past more established metro mugs and thugs.Working the shooting gallery concession at a carnival The Kid meets and falls for Nan (Sidney), daughter of mob connected Pop Cooley (Guy Kibbee in another example of poor casting).
I like watching movies about gang fighting and Mafia.
But this movie I feel like director wants to tell us a story about love among gang fighting.
These big wheels view and night time street together give us a heavy starting for this movie.
Gangster Rap. During Prohibition, bootlegging hit-man Guy Kibbee (as "Pop" Cooley) involves attractive step-daughter Sylvia Sidney (as Nan) as accomplice.
"City Streets" is notable for Rouben Mamoulian's showy direction, Dashiell Hammett's script, and Cooper's great eye make-up.***** City Streets (4/18/31) Rouben Mamoulian ~ Gary Cooper, Sylvia Sidney, Paul Lukas, Guy Kibbee.
Gary Cooper stars as a carny turned wise guy in this forgotten, unavailable on home video should-be-classic directed by the great Rouben Mamoulian.
Gal pal Nan (Sylvia Sidney) urges him to join the mob so he can earn some easy money, but The Kid isn't interested — even though Nan's father (Guy Kibbee, playing against type brilliantly) is a big-time hood who could make life easy for him.
I think the plot was way too basic, especially because most love story/gang movies all consist of a good person turning bad for someone they love.
The beginning of the movie set a good platform for Nan and The Kid's relationship and showed their true love, which in my opinion helped develop and explain some of the choices made throughout the movie.
The character development in this movie is also impressive, given that The Kid was able to change his ways so quickly, while still displaying his true character behind the violence of the mob.
All the characters really played a role in making this movie what it was, and I feel as though the scenes, and what was said was very thought out, rather than places to fill space.
In stead of overtly dramatizing, the film cut those short while still maintaining a romantic storyline characterized by how Nan and Kid's love remained despite the events leading to the drastic character development and transformation of the two.
Audiences are eventually surprised by the "no hard feelings" line that pierce the film from beginning to the end, but not without viewing a rather confusing car scene.
Overall a solid crime film classic, especially so if you like to see the face and acting of Gary Cooper..
I honestly saw mostly as a romantic film as it focused mostly on a woman whom was already involved in mob activity due to her father, then turns into a love story between her and the "Kid" (not involved in the mob).
The way in which it was written shows the "Kid's" true side throughout the film even though his non-involvement is short lived.
The use of lighting was interesting, several times throughout the film I noticed many visual clues in the form of showing or lighting that set up the movie more.
I was most impressed by the jail-cell scene where Nan's conversation with Kid would not stop playing over and over in her head.
Overall, I really enjoyed the story and the love that Nan and Kid shared for each other.
Throughout the entire movie, I found myself rooting for Kid because in the end all he wanted was to be with Nan. I believe it was a classic mob movie with problems surfacing inside the gang itself in their competition and betrayal of one another.
What the director did do in this film was the interesting show of time with the clocks and going back and forth with different angles when shooting the scenes.
Another scene I liked for the camera work was when Nan and Big Fella were dancing and the camera would follow them around the room so you could see the faces of Kid and the other women and how they were upset.
It was a mob movie and a had some quirky characters but their really wasn't much development of characters besides the Kid. I would recommend this movie to better appreciate the advancement of film in general.
City Streets(1931) is an excellent Gangster film..
City Streets(1931)is not your typical gangster film.
I thought this movie was well done and the acting was great, especially Nan (Sylvia Sidney) and The Kid (Gary Cooper).
I didn't expect the love story aspect between Nan and The Kid to play such role in the story.
At the end of the movie there is a close up on The Kids face as he is driving and it really expresses how he has become a more powerful and respected person from joining the mob..
I also really liked the chemistry between the Kid (Gary Cooper) and Nan Cooley (Sylvia Sidney).
Love plays a role in this film with Gary and Sylvia.
Overall this movie was very thoughtfully filmed and acted and was a perfect example of a crime/gangster movie.
The use of lighting in this film plays a key role in movie's overall tone and atmosphere.
The characters were very interesting and well acted, Gary Cooper's performance was very impressive and was a perfect fit for the character and the movie.
In this film, Guy Kibbee of all people plays a cold-hearted gangster.
Well, after becoming a big-wig in the mob and a cold-hearted galoot, Gary Cooper just announces that he's quitting and the film ends!!
The two redeeming qualities I found in this movie were the use of the character's shadows in filming, and the way Big Fellow dies.
The shadows created this mood that kept me more interested than I would have been if they didn't film the movie the way they did.
Sylvia did say that Mamoulian always felt that Clara Bow would have been wonderful in it."City Streets" was a re-working of Clara's very successful "Ladies of the Mob" and Sylvia played Nan, daughter of a gangland underling (Guy Kibbee).
In reality he is the murderer and will do nothing to help her - Guy Kibbee plays a real low life, streets away from his bumbling, eccentric comedy characters.So when "The Kid", now all prosperous and pleased with himself, visits Nan, he finds her changed and wanting no part of the beer racket now.
Things look bad for Nan and "The Kid" volunteers to "take her for a ride" but it is not the ride the others think - the ride of a lifetime for the thugs in the back seat maybe!!!In his first Hollywood made film Mamoulian's love of symbolism abounded with cats, eagles and doves plus innovations such as overlapping sound.
But you might have written a more interesting and compelling plot, or at least one without a lame, copout ending.Granted, it wasn't your fault that several people were miscast - Gary Cooper is not a gangster type, nor is Guy Kibbee.