I've got to say that "City Streets" has the distinction of being a movie with the strangest casting decisions I can think of...aside from having John Wayne play Genghis Khan in "The Conqueror" or Katharine Hepburn playing a Chinese woman in "Dragon Seed". In this film, Guy Kibbee of all people plays a cold-hearted gangster. Usually in films he plays sweet dim-witted characters or, at worst, bumbling crooks (like in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"). Yet, oddly, the cherub-faced Kibbee plays a horrible soul-less sort of fellow in "City Streets"! For fans of classic Hollywood films, this is quite a shock. But this is not the only shock. Gary Cooper is cast as a gangster as well as was Paul Lucas!! Not a single one of these fine actors seemed right in these roles--mostly because their later screen personas were so different. Plus, imagine Hungarian-accented Lucas as an American gangster--he sounded almost like Bela Lugosi (a fellow Hungarian)! I guess Paramount was trying to play catch-up with Warner and their recent gangster epics ("Little Caesar" and "The Public Enemy").

So, aside from the bizarro casting, is the film worth seeing? Well, yes and definitely no. The film is pretty good in some ways. Like the two aforementioned films, it is tough--Pre-Code tough! The gangsters are truly awful people and the film is quite gritty. I liked this a lot. However, and here is the big problem, the ending is just awful...really, really awful. While it doesn't totally ruins the film, it sure takes away significantly from the enjoyment value!

Wanna know how it ends? Well, after becoming a big-wig in the mob and a cold-hearted galoot, Gary Cooper just announces that he's quitting and the film ends!! Seriously....it ends exactly like this! Uggh!

Did not know anything about, or even heard of, 'City Streets' until fairly recently. It immediately intrigued me, with a great concept for a story. Had also heard about how innovative the camera work and direction was and that it introduced the world to the great Sylvia Sidney. Gary Cooper is very good in the right role and it did interest me seeing that Paul Lukas and Guy Kibee were playing villains, atypical types of roles for them while worrying a little as to how they would pull their roles off.

'City Streets' sounded like it would be a great film and it was also exactly that. Among the better films (old and new) seen recently, one of the better films of its type at the time and to me it actually has held up very well. When it was the sort of film at the time to face the risk of being out of date. Thanks to the direction, the performances and the film's themes being hardly old-fashioned or non-existent now. After seeing some films with stories that has overdone silliness, too many convenient coincidences and forced contrivances, amongst other things, it was great to see a film like 'City Streets' treating the audience with respect and mostly made sense without resorting to any of the aforementioned.

There is very little wrong with 'City Streets'. It does start off a bit too slowly and slightly, but once it gets into full gear it is a non-stop thrill ride.

It looks fantastic, with some of the most atmospheric and most inventive photography for any film seen by me in a while. The shots were not only striking to look at but they were also varied and interesting, doing really well at opening up the story without going too far on trying to do too much. The editing is fluid and cohesive, really enhancing the atmosphere, while the direction is a big selling point. Being some of the most innovative direction of the 30s, this is visual mastery of the highest order and the tension never slips. To have next to no music wasn't a bad move, that way it wouldn't have over-beared things and let the dialogue and direction do the talking which they do quite brilliantly. It may have made things a little more atmospheric though if used correctly.

At the time it was very easy for a film to be too talk-heavy and stage-bound, so there was the danger of it being too dull and confined. Saw these problems with a number of films in the 20s and 30s and in melodramas. Just to say this is coming from somebody that loves older films, am merely saying that not every pre-70s film was great (many though are and more) and that every genre had a good deal of traps fallen into quite a lot (but not always). 'City Streets' doesn't ramble though and is not too much of a filmed play or anything, didn't feel it too wordy either. It is taut in the right places while allowing some breathing space, and not many other films in the 30s used voice over and inner thoughts, and 'City Streets' was one of the earliest uses, this cleverly or effectively. Actually adding to the characters, helping us understand the storytelling and motivations and moves things forward rather than bogging it down, nothing's over-explanatory either which is a pet hate of mine.

On paper, 'City Streets' does sound conventional and it is not as innovative as the visuals and direction admittedly. The story though is still elevated by the growing suspense (there is plenty of it),that it doesn't become too predictable or confusing, that it is easy to invest in the leads and their chemistry and the evilness of the villains. All the performances are great, Cooper giving one of his better and more appealing performances and Sidney's nuanced and movingly expressive acting style can be seen here and this is only her debut. They have a lovely chemistry together which is what also helps hold the film together. Lukas is at his most evil and it was a shock to see him this chilling, while Kibee is a big surprise in a good way. This is a completely different role for him and there was the worry as to whether he would be too lightweight or the presence for such a sinister character, but he gives an unnerving performance that one is shocked that he had it in him.

Summing up, great. 9/10

I was lucky indeed to come up with a copy of this classic that is sadly not available. This was Rouben Mamoulian's first screen hit after the critical misfire of his first film Applause.

This was Gary Cooper's one and only film in the gangster genre though he did run into a few gangsters in Ball Of Fire. Of course his western persona is not one you would think would fit into the gangster film, but his character of a rodeo cowboy who was stranded in the big city and was now making a living at a shooting gallery, presumably in Coney Island rings true enough.

Coop's skill as a marksman is noticed by his girlfriend Sylvia Sydney who tries to interest him in going into the beer racket. But her own stepfather Guy Kibbee gets her involved in the murder of Stanley Fields and she takes a two year fall as an accomplice. In the meantime while Sylvia ponders the error of her ways in the joint, Cooper who was reluctant when she was out has now joined with Kibbee and is now a confidante of the big boss Paul Lukas.

Lukas is a suave and menacing gangster in one of his earliest sound roles. Guy Kibbee who usually played buffoons in later films at Warner Brothers and MGM will be quite the revelation as a really slimy character. Later on Kibbee was so typecast he could never have been given a part like this which he performs so well.

Mamoulian gets top flight performances from his whole cast. Cooper and Sydney are great in the leads. Mamoulian had great help from Dashiell Hammett who wrote his only original screenplay for City Streets. And special phrase must also go to Wynne Gibson who plays Lukas's moll and when she's scorned, she takes a terrible vengeance.

Paramount was not a studio known for gangster films, later on they did get their own gangster star in George Raft and Gary Cooper was not known for this genre. But in this case Paramount gave him one of his best early sound features. Do not miss this and demand that TCM broadcast it.