alexanderdavies-99382 "Bullets or Ballots" is a routine film with nothing being particularly outstanding. It has some good moments to be sure and I enjoy seeing Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart tussle with each other. They made five films together and they compliment each other. The plot is the usual thing about an undercover police officer who tries to smash a criminal organisation on his own. The script is pretty much what you would expect from a film like this. Robinson was soon to appear in some fine movies for "Warner Bros" where he would throw off his image as that of a gangster or tough guy. Joan Blondell makes one of her last film appearances after being quite a big star in the early 1930s.

SnoopyStyle Ward Bryant is an anti-corruption crusader making his newsreels denouncing racketeers who have taken over the city and stealing as much as $200 million. Crimelord Al Kruger (Barton MacLane) warns thug Bugs Fenner (Humphrey Bogart) to leave Bryant alone but Bryant is shot to death anyways. Uncorruptable Dan McLaren is hired as the new police commissioner and he starts to clean house. Streetwise Johnny Blake (Edward G. Robinson) gets discharged from the force. Lee Morgan (Joan Blondell) wants him to join her in her numbers game. Al Kruger hires Blake after he punches out his former friend McLaren in public, but Bugs is suspicious of the former cop. When more suspicions fall on him, he suggests to Kruger to take over the numbers game and make it bigger.This is not the hardest gangster movie despite having legendary Bogart and Robinson. It's cool to see them. The gun play is minimal. It's a hard talking gabfest. I really don't buy Kruger letting Johnny Blake into every aspect of his organization so quickly. Bugs should be the normal reaction. It would be fine if he's let into the organization but he shouldn't have a VIP pass.

JohnHowardReid The plot of this one has such a familiar ring (in fact it is probably the most commonly used ploy of the gangster film), we find ourselves hoping against hope that Robinson is really the disgruntled cop he seems. The fact that his word has been his bond for thirty years on the force, doesn't seem to worry him unduly except as it affects Kruger, but this moral dilemma is neatly removed from the script before it can be put to the test. Otherwise the film is a very stylish exercise in the genre, though fans may be a bit disappointed by the quick demise of the principal thugs and the film's downbeat ending.Keighley's use of camera-work is much more fluid here than usual with dizzying crane shots and a memorably fast tracking shot as Bogart's car speeds alongside an enormous line of freight wagons being raided by police. The film is also another example of Warner Brothers craftsmanship par excellence, with splendid montage routines of meticulously mocked-up newspaper headlines (quick readers will notice that the story continues below the headlines — there is nothing cheap about production values in a Warner Brothers film), lavish sets peopled with hundreds of extras, driving, fast-paced direction, atmospheric photography (love the way Bogart's face is often lit with vertical bars and shadows to make him see even more menacing), sharp film editing and some of the best and most proficient players in the business.Bogart in his first film after Petrified Forest, gives a memorable yet characteristic impression of a shrewd, sly, cynical, trusting no-one, ambitious yet not over-bright thug; while Barton MacLane holds up his end, helped by Miller's literate dialogue, to give a portrayal of some depth as the crime boss. Robinson is his usual bluff, free-wheeling self (though it's a bit hard to believe in his physical prowess, he is such a small man compared to Joseph King, William Pawley and Norman Willis!) Surprisingly, Despite her prominence in the cast list, Miss Blondell does not play a major part in the proceedings (she is none too flatteringly photographed either). Frank McHugh also, fortunately, has a minor role (his comedy routines are slow and unrealistically drawn out). The other roles are most competently played. Henry Kolker makes an impression as the glad-handing Hollister and George E. Stone is effective in a small role as one of Bogart's henchmen.

bsmith5552 "Bullets or Ballots" was affected by the new motion picture Production Code introduced in 1934. The Code stipulated, among other things, that gangsters could no longer be glorified in films as had been done with "Little Caesar" (1930) and "The Public Enemy" (1931). That meant that Warners resident gangsters Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney had to come over to the right side of the law.Cagney had done so in 1935 with "G-Men" but in 1936 was embroiled in a contract dispute with Warners and had left the lot. That left Robinson. You can just hear the brain trusts at Warners saying, "Let's put Eddie Robinson in a new crime picture only this time we'll have him go undercover so that he can ACT like a gangster while satisfying the Code by really working on the side of the law". "Bullets or Ballots" was the result.Gangster Al Kruger (Barton MacLane) is a new order of corporate type gangster that shuns the old violent ways of the 20s. He is controlled by unseen bosses well placed in the business community. His second in command Nick "Bugs" Fenner is of the old school. When crusading newspaper reporter Ward Bryant (Henry O'Neill) is murdered by Fenner, it sets off a cry for justice. Police Captain McLaren is appointed Special Commissioner charged with cleaning up the rackets.Detective Johnny Blake (Robinson) is a down on his luck policeman who has been exiled to an outer precinct. One day he learns that McLaren has fired him as part of his cleanup. But as we learn, Blake is really working undercover informing McLaren of the mob's plans. Blake then joins up with Kruger and rises quickly through the ranks. Fenner, meanwhile doesn't trust Blake and the two compete against each other.As the result of the crime crackdown, the mob's earnings have dropped. Blake suggests that they move into the numbers racket which was being run successfully on a small scale by Blake's girlfriend Lee Morgan (Joan Blondell) with the aid her pick-up man Herman (Frank McHugh) and Harlem contact Nellie (Louise Beavers).With the success of the numbers game, Fenner sees that Kruger has gone soft and is neglecting the mob's other businesses. Fenner murders Kruger and vies with Blake to take over. Blake succeeds and continues to inform McLaren of the mob's intentions. Fenner decides on a showdown and................Robinson, who was a well educated and classically trained actor wanted to get away from gangster roles and did so whenever he could. But in spite of that, he will always be best remembered for these types of roles. Barton MacLane for once doesn't play the brutish gangster. He plays Kruger as a businessman and not a thug. Bogey on the other hand, had just made his mark in "The Petrified Forest" (1936) and was typecast for the most part as a gangster for the next five years. Joan Blondell is wasted in her superficial role as Robinson's love interest and McHugh is just along for comedy relief.Still, "Bullets or Ballots" remains one of the all-time gangster classics.