At first glance, this is a simple tale of a good cop trying to take down a mob boss in the days of Prohibition. But it manages to pack a surprising amount of depth and hints at systemic corruption into its short runtime. While the pacing doesn't quite hold up and everything seems pretty cliche, I can definitely see this one being hip and fresh at the time. There were a few moments that I still found pretty darned cool - two rival gangs circling each other in public place, guns openly hidden in their jacket pockets like kids pretending to have guns; the lackey from the corrupt D.A.'s office turning on the main villain before he can expose them. Again, it's a little slow, but a strong film from the silent era.
17 to go...
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