A by-the-book patrolman who cares more about the letter of the law than justice feels guilty when his inflexibility sends a family man to prison.A by-the-book patrolman who cares more about the letter of the law than justice feels guilty when his inflexibility sends a family man to prison.A by-the-book patrolman who cares more about the letter of the law than justice feels guilty when his inflexibility sends a family man to prison.
Frieda Inescort
- Mrs. Phillips
- (as Frieda Inescourt)
Joseph Allen Sr.
- Warden
- (uncredited)
Granville Bates
- Jake - Bar Proprietor
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe name of an Italian woman in an article read aloud is given as Signora Bacciagalupe. This is an Italian-American slang word meaning "moron."
- GoofsO'Malley frequently refers to a small book, about the size of a an address book, which he says contains the penal code of New York City. An actual such book would be much larger and would be several hundred pages long, as indeed is shown when the judge consults his own copy.
- Quotes
Captain Cromwell: [Referring to O'Malley] That guy's brains run with nothing but city ordinances. He spends all his time studying his manual. He picks laws out of the air from wastebaskets, from graveyards! He thinks of things that were enacted when Times Square was a hog ranch.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Breakdowns of 1937 (1937)
- SoundtracksAmerica
(1831) (uncredited)
aka "My Country 'tis of Thee"
Melody from "God Save the Queen"
Traditional
Words by Samuel Francis Smith
Sung a cappella by the schoolchildren
Featured review
unlikely
James Aloysius O'Malley (Pat O'Brien) is a by-the-book beat cop. After another petty crime shows up in court, the judge complains to the Captain and O'Malley is told to stop with the minor city ordinances. One day, he stops John Phillips (Humphrey Bogart) to give him a ticket on a minor automobile infraction and John loses a job due to being five minutes late. John's life spirals and he ends up in prison. O'Malley is ridiculed as turning a good man into a criminal. He is relegated to being a crossing guard for little kids at a school. That's when he befriends a little girl named Barbara who happens to be John's crippled daughter.
Mostly, I don't buy this movie. I don't buy that a strict police office is looked down upon by the rest of the department. He has to be more than that. He has to be cold-hearted and maybe arrest a kid or two. A cop, who writes a lot of tickets, is celebrated by his comrades. It's hard to start a movie with a premise that I can't believe in. As for the rest of the movie, there is some good convenient poetic tragedy possibilities. Then there is the ending which is another unlikely situation. A cop gets shot and somebody has to pay. It's too easy which makes the turn less easy. Quite frankly, it would be more compelling to have a tragic ending. Here's the thing. I like the idea of the story but I have some difficulties.
Mostly, I don't buy this movie. I don't buy that a strict police office is looked down upon by the rest of the department. He has to be more than that. He has to be cold-hearted and maybe arrest a kid or two. A cop, who writes a lot of tickets, is celebrated by his comrades. It's hard to start a movie with a premise that I can't believe in. As for the rest of the movie, there is some good convenient poetic tragedy possibilities. Then there is the ending which is another unlikely situation. A cop gets shot and somebody has to pay. It's too easy which makes the turn less easy. Quite frankly, it would be more compelling to have a tragic ending. Here's the thing. I like the idea of the story but I have some difficulties.
helpful•14
- SnoopyStyle
- Jun 4, 2020
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- The Making of O'Malley
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 11 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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