Hollywood’s Golden Age: WWII Dramas and Gangster Film Classics

Posted on Sep 24, 2025 in Arts and Humanities

World War II and Hollywood Cinema

America’s studio system played a significant role during wartime, producing films that both entertained and supported the war effort. Some of the most acclaimed movies, however, came after the war, reflecting on its impact and consequences. Notable examples include:

The Best Years of Our Lives
Stalag 17
From Here to Eternity
Patton
Saving Private Ryan

Frank Capra’s Why We Fight series served as powerful propaganda, while Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator offered a satirical spoof of Hitler.

John Wayne’s War Film Legacy

John Wayne, best known for his Westerns and war movies, starred in several iconic wartime productions. His first war film was Flying Tigers (1942), followed by others such as:

The Fighting Seabees
Back to Bataan
They Were Expendable

Many actors served in the war, including Clark Gable, Gene Kelly, and Jimmy Stewart, who notably flew bombing missions in Europe.

Casablanca: A Timeless Classic

Casablanca (1942) remains one of Hollywood’s most beloved films. Based on the unproduced play Everybody Comes to Rick’s, it was an A-list production with surprisingly minimal initial expectations.

Production and Accolades

The film garnered significant critical acclaim, winning Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. Director Michael Curtiz, known as ‘The Mad Hungarian,’ was a prolific Warner Bros. studio director whose other works include Yankee Doodle Dandy and White Christmas. Casablanca is often hailed as the greatest romantic drama of all time. Interestingly, the film was shot in sequence because only the first half of the script was ready for shooting.

Iconic Lines and Misconceptions

Casablanca is famous for its memorable lines, though some are often misquoted. For example, the exact phrase ‘Play it again, Sam’ is never spoken, but ‘Here’s looking at you, kid’ and ‘We’ll always have Paris’ are iconic. The misquoted line ‘Play it again, Sam’ also inspired the title of a Woody Allen film.

Key Cast of Casablanca

Humphrey Bogart: A quintessential Warner Bros. tough guy star of the 1940s, married to Lauren Bacall. He won an Oscar for The African Queen, and Rick Blaine was one of his first romantic leading roles.
Ingrid Bergman: The acclaimed Swedish actress.
Paul Henreid: The Austrian actor.
Claude Rains: Known for his role as Senator Paine in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
Conrad Veidt
Sydney Greenstreet
Peter Lorre: Known for Fritz Lang’s first sound movie, M (1931).
Dooley Wilson: A drummer, not a pianist, who famously performed ‘As Time Goes By.’ The iconic song itself was written by Herman Hupfeld.

Behind the Scenes of Casablanca

Hal Wallis, the film’s producer, later became known for discovering Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and bringing Elvis Presley to Hollywood. Casablanca was the 7th highest-grossing film of the year, and film critic Leonard Maltin famously called it ‘the best Hollywood movie of all time.’ Insights into its creation also come from a Julius Epstein interview.

Classic Hollywood: Gangster Films and White Heat

Review: Highlights from World War II Cinema

Before delving into gangster films, let’s briefly revisit some key points from our discussion on World War II cinema:

Director Michael Curtiz, ‘The Mad Hungarian’
Casablanca: The best romantic drama ever?
A classic melodrama
Bogart’s transition from tough guy to leading man
Casablanca: The perfect studio film
John Wayne: A major star of war movies and Westerns
Other notable war movie examples

Warner Bros. and the Golden Age of Gangster Films

Warner Bros. was undeniably the king of gangster films during Hollywood’s Golden Age. The studio cultivated a stable of stars synonymous with the genre:

Edward G. Robinson
George Raft
James Cagney
Humphrey Bogart

These actors starred in seminal gangster movies:

Little Caesar (Edward G. Robinson)
Public Enemy (James Cagney)
Scarface (George Raft)
High Sierra (Humphrey Bogart)

During the Depression, musicals were waning, including those by Busby Berkeley. Warner Bros. capitalized on the era’s anxieties by embracing the gritty realism and social commentary offered by gangster films.

Raoul Walsh: A Director’s Vision

Raoul Walsh, who began his career as a stage and silent film actor, became a prolific director. He helmed many silent films, including What Price Glory? (1926), his most successful. His later works include The Roaring Twenties, They Drive By Night, High Sierra, and White Heat.

Walsh’s Cinematic Philosophy

In Walsh’s movies, life is an adventure, often beginning as an escape from shame, crime, or life itself. Walsh’s own life mirrored this, as he left home at 15 after his mother died, embarking on an odyssey through Cuba, Texas, Mexico, and Montana, punching cattle and toughening himself. He stumbled into show business because of his riding skills, and D.W. Griffith eventually guided him into filmmaking, where he met Miriam Cooper.

For 50 years, Walsh crafted films reflecting his Irish fantasies. His heroes, and even his female characters, possess neither formal education nor distinguished ancestry, relying solely on their youth, themselves, and boundless bravado. Families and children are rarely central, and mothers are scarce. Whether in soaring epics like The World in His Arms or hardscrabble tragedies like The Roaring Twenties (1939), Walsh’s protagonists embody the dreams and struggles of first-generation Irish-Americans like himself—parvenus with something to escape from.

Walsh’s women are portrayed as strong and resilient; they never cry. They appreciate seeing their men endure beatings, get knocked down, face comeuppance—and then rise from the canvas to win. Their world is rife with outrageous injustice, mutilated bodies, and innocent lives destroyed. As John Wayne declares in The Big Trail (1930), ‘You gotta fight. That’s life. And when you stop fightin’, that’s death.’ (From a Peter Bogdanovich interview)

James Cagney: The Iconic Tough Guy

James Cagney (1899-1986) was a stage actor who shot to fame in Public Enemy (1931). The iconic grapefruit scene with Mae Clarke in that film was originally intended to feature an omelet. An Irish-American, Cagney was known for his short stature, tough demeanor, and distinctive voice and cadence. A hoofer at heart, he preferred his few musical roles, although he was often typecast as a tough guy. Yankee Doodle Dandy earned him his only Oscar. Other great films include Angels with Dirty Faces, Mister Roberts, and Love Me or Leave Me. He viewed acting as just a job, famously coming out of retirement for Ragtime.

White Heat and its Legacy

White Heat (1949) is often described as ‘centrifugal noir,’ deviating from true film noir conventions. It is considered one of the last great Warner Bros. gangster films. Cagney initially thought it was run-of-the-mill but added personal touches, such as the cluster headaches suffered by his character. The film is notable for its extensive location filming around Los Angeles. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranks it as the 4th best in the gangster genre, and it has even been referenced in a Madonna video. The grapefruit scene, though from Public Enemy, remains a memorable moment in cinema history, showcasing Cagney’s raw intensity.