The year 1939 is often cited as Hollywood’s finest moment, as proof positive that mercantilism (the studio system) and aesthetics (good movies) are mutually compatible. Give a casual movie-goer half a ...

Raoul Walsh’s style achieved maturity with the magnificent use of deep-focus images and spatial metaphors in this 1939 film, conceived as a nostalgic look back to the brutal Warners gangster films ...