
He was most often a brass-knuckled sprite inhabiting the concrete jungles of an urbanizing America. But in Raoul Walsh’s potent portrayal of a criminal gang roving backroads America, he permanently redefined psychopathic criminality in the movies. There’s no charm in Cagney’s work here—just a touch of pathos, as he squawks the unchained melodies of a murderously unbridled id.