Crime paid quite nicely for Warner Bros. bosses

Warner Bros. Pictures Gangsters Collection

Warner Home Video, $69 for the set; $20 each

During the 1930s and ‘40s, Warner Bros. was the king of the gangster film. These controversial, violent dramas, which were usually based on novels or plays, attracted such top-notch directors as Mervyn LeRoy, William Wellman, Michael Curtiz and Raoul Walsh and made stars out of cinema icons such as James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson. Warner Home Video is releasing six of the studio’s seminal gangster films, all beautifully restored and digitally remastered: 1930’s “Little Caesar,” 1931’s “The Public Enemy,” 1936’s “The Petrified Forest,” 1938’s “Angels With Dirty Faces,” 1939’s “The Roaring Twenties” and 1949’s “White Heat.”

Each disc contains a “Warner Night at the Movies” segment hosted by film historian Leonard Maltin that attempts to re-create the moviegoing experience of days gone by with coming attractions, newsreels, comedy, dramatic or musical shorts and cartoons.

Little Caesar

The granddaddy of all the Warner gangster flicks starred then-unknown Robinson as the vicious Caesar Enrico Bandello, a.k.a. Rico, a bantam-sized Chicago gangster with a huge chip on his shoulder and a total disregard for human life.

Tautly directed by LeRoy, the film also stars Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as Caesar’s young cohort in crime.

LeRoy makes innovative use of the then-new film medium of sound, especially in an opening sequence in which Caesar robs a gas station.

Extras: The dramatic short, “The Hard Guy” starring a young Spencer Tracy and a bouncy cartoon, “Lady Play Your Mandolin.” Also included: the forward from the 1954 rerelease; a documentary, “Little Caesar: End of Rico, Beginning of the Antihero” and accessible commentary from Richard Jewell, film historian and professor at USC’s School of Cinema and Television.

*

The Public Enemy

Cagney, a bright light on Broadway, had come to Hollywood the year before he became a sensation with his searing performance as the streetwise gangster Tom Powers in this William Wellman classic. Among the indelible scenes: Cagney pushing a grapefruit into his moll’s (Mae Clark) face or a wounded Powers falling into a gutter, proclaiming “I’m not so tough.”

Cagney had originally been cast as Powers’ best friend, and Edward Woods, who appears as his buddy in crime, was cast as Powers. Thankfully, production chief Darryl F. Zanuck noticed Cagney’s indelible screen presence early in the production and switched the roles.

Extras: The comedy short “The Eyes Have It” and a cartoon, “Darn Ya, Smile.” There’s also the forward to the rerelease, the featurette, “Beer and Blood: Enemies of the Public” and compelling commentary from film historian Robert Sklar.

*

The Petrified Forest

When Humphrey Bogart starred opposite Leslie Howard as the maniacal gangster Duke Mantee on Broadway in the 1935 production of Robert E. Sherwood’s “The Petrified Forest,” his movie career was at a standstill. Though he received rave reviews for his John Dillinger-esque, world-weary gangster on stage, studio chief Jack Warner wasn’t interested in Bogey repeating his role for the movie. But Howard, who plays the disillusioned writer Alan Squier, who encounters Mantee at a rundown diner in Arizona, controlled the movie rights. He told Warner that he wouldn’t do the movie unless Bogart appeared with him. And Bogart more than met the challenge, giving a terrifying, menacing performance as Mantee, turning his movie career around.

Extras: The bizarre musical short, “Rhythmitis,” with Toby Wing, and a cartoon spoof of Warner Bros. stars, “The Coo Coo Nut Grove.” Rounding out the disc are a 1940 radio version of “Forest”; the documentary “The Petrified Forest: Menace in the Desert” and inspired commentary from Bogart biographer Eric Lax.

*

Angels With Dirty Faces

Cagney received his first Oscar nomination for this snappy drama, which marked the sixth pairing between the actor and his good friend Pat O’Brien. Directed by Curtiz (also an Oscar nominee), “Angels” finds Cagney absolutely riveting as Rocky Sullivan, an almost mythical tough guy from New York’s Hell’s Kitchen who returns home after 15 years. O’Brien plays his good friend, now a priest, who wants to stop Cagney’s influence on the youth (the Dead End Kids) of his parish. Bogart and Ann Sheridan also star.

Extras: The “Lux Radio Theater” version of the film, the featurette “Angels With Dirty Faces: Whaddy Hear? Whaddy Say?” and commentary from USC film professor Dana Polan.

*

The Roaring Twenties

Walsh directed this nostalgic look at the 1920s that stars a superb Cagney as a basically decent guy who is forced to turn to bootlegging after World War I, Bogart as the bad guy who double-crosses Cagney and Jeffrey Lynn as a good-guy attorney. Priscilla Lane and Gladys George also star.

Extras: The musical short, “All Girl Revue,” with a young June Allyson, the cartoon spoof, “Thugs with Dirty Mugs,” the featurette “The Roaring Twenties: The World Moves On” and fact-filled commentary from film historian Lincoln Hurst.

*

White Heat

“Made it, Ma! Top o’ the World!” shouts Cagney at the conclusion of Walsh’s exceptional gangster drama. Cagney, who made no bones about being tired of gangster roles, returned to the genre after several years’ absence, playing Cody Jarrett, a brutal gangster obsessed with his hard-nosed ma (Margaret Wycherly) who suffers from blinding headaches. Virginia Mayo and Edmond O’Brien also star.

Extras: The comedy short “So You Think You’re Not Guilty,” the Bugs Bunny comedy “Homeless Hare” and the featurette “White Heat: Top of the World.” Plus rather dry commentary by veteran USC film professor Drew Casper.