Bullets or Ballots

Solid crime picture sees Robinson as an undercover cop bringing down racketeers. It's interesting to see how the formula had to rejiggered for the Production Code age, and there are so many great Warner Brothers stars here playing to the hilt that it's hard not to enjoy. Bonus points for making the real villains not racketeers, but the white collar bankers who support them. Too few movies take that tack.

Need more Joan much much more

Subpar Edward G. Robinson gangster film that never really gets going. Humphrey Bogart steals every scene he's in as the sadistic killer out for Robinson's head.

Hero cop saves local businesses from the Great American Menace of racketeering. Per William Hays, it glosses over municipal and capitalist corruptions in favor of depicting Ed Robinson roughing up a bunch of hoods. Moralist and boring.

New Deal-era politics cannot save an exciting plot turned into a dull script. Great value as a window into 1930s big-city life, though.

A rather dark programmer where Robinson gets to have his cake and eat it too: an undercover cop destroying the Mob from the inside like a Trojan Horse, using only his mug and a cigar, see. I'm a sucker for Joan Blondell, but where this really shines is lifting the veil on the real racketeers: the big bankers bankrolling blackmail! Ballsy.

Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson in the same gangster drama! Bogart is a cold killer in with Barton MacLane's gang and Robinson is sent in as an undercover cop to break down the pack of criminals! It's an all serious and very pro-cop gangster film right in line with the Hays Code demands. The movie lacks a little in the suspense department for such a dark and dangerous thriller and could have used better comedy portions to lighten things up a little.

Really dull crime drama. It came a bit of surprise seeing that Bogart and Robinson have the lead roles. Both of their characters are completely humorless, as the film itself.