''Frisco Kid'' is a 1935

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film starring

James Cagney James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor and dancer. On stage and in film, he was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He won acclaim and maj ...

and directed by

Lloyd Bacon Lloyd Francis Bacon (December 4, 1889 – November 15, 1955) was an American screen, stage, and vaudeville actor and film director. As a director, he made films in numerous genres, including westerns, musicals, comedies, gangster films, and c ...

. Set in San Francisco in the 1850s, it traces the rise and fall (and possible redemption) of a sailor who achieves wealth and success on

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Barbary Coast The Barbary Coast (also Barbary, Berbery, or Berber Coast) were the coastal regions of central and western North Africa, more specifically, the Maghreb and the Ottoman borderlands consisting of the regencies in Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, a ...

but is spurned by the woman he loves ( Margaret Lindsay). The supporting cast also features

Ricardo Cortez Ricardo Cortez (born Jacob Kranze or Jacob Krantz; September 19, 1900 – April 28, 1977) was an American actor and film director. He was also credited as Jack Crane early in his acting career. Early years Ricardo Cortez was born Jacob K ...

, Lili Damita, and

Barton MacLane Barton MacLane (December 25, 1902 – January 1, 1969) was an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He appeared in many classic films from the 1930s through the 1960s, including his role as General Martin Peterson on the 1960s NBC ...

. Writing for Turner Classic Movies, Richard Harland Smith observes: “While hewing closely to the crime-shouldn't-pay maxims of the newly minted

Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as th ...

, the violence is often disarmingly brutal, with a double hanging late in the film being as disturbing as it is coyly elliptical.”

Plot

in the 1850s, a city where gold fever has left shipowners short-handed, Bat Morgan, a sailor come ashore, is robbed and nearly shanghaied aboard another ship. Managing to escape, he sticks around town to pay back those responsible and then to take a cut in the action in the vice district. He organized the various gambling houses (and other forms of vice implied but, for Code reasons, not explicitly shown) into a consolidated enterprise in alliance with a corrupt city boss, Jim Daley, and thereby comes into conflict with a crusading newspaper run by Jean Barrat, the daughter of the recently murdered publisher, and idealistic editor Charles Ford. Loyal to his friends, even when they are on the other side, Bat Morgan protects the editor when Jim Daley orders him eliminated. He also falls in love with Jean, but his way of life and lack of faith in any morality beyond looking out for number one make a permanent relationship all but impossible. When his best friend, Solly Green, takes a bullet for him, Bat mourns him, but when Jean points to Solly as an example of people helping others, he observes that Solly would be alive today if he hadn't met Bat. Riled at a judge's snub, he determines to bring his

crowd to the opening night at the

Opera House An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

, which the Judge has opened as an alternative place of amusement to the gambling dens. A gambler, Paul Morra, shoulders his way into the judge's box and murders him on a flimsy excuse. The resulting outrage provokes a public outcry, and when Morra is arrested and jailed, a lynch mob gathers, crying for his blood. Bat arranges Morra's release, not so much because he likes him as because he owes him a debt of gratitude for starting him on his upward rise. Soon after, Ford is murdered by Jim Daley in a bar-room fight. Jean blames Bat, holding him responsible for all the evil done by those who work with him. A vigilance movement sets out to clean up the town, rounding up Morra and Daley and hanging them both. When the lowlife of the Barbary Coast determine to take revenge by wrecking the press and burning the city, Bat Morgan convinces them to do otherwise. Trying to keep them from fighting back as the vigilantes come to destroy the Coast, he is shot in the back by one of the underworld thugs and is captured by the vigilantes. Jean saves him from hanging and he is permitted to go free, on her

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

Cast

References

External links

The Frisco Kid
at TCM * {{Authority control 1930s historical drama films 1935 films American historical drama films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films directed by Lloyd Bacon Films set in the 1850s Films set in San Francisco Films produced by Samuel Bischoff 1935 drama films 1930s American films Films scored by Bernhard Kaun English-language historical drama films Warner Bros. films