After a roustabout sailor avoids being shanghaied in 1850s San Francisco, his audacity helps him rise to a position of power in the vice industry of the infamous Barbary Coast.
Acting
Cagney's kinetic physicality—he's a live wire in every frame.
Production
Rambunctious Barbary Coast sets built for Warner Bros. efficiency.
Writing
Rapid-fire Pre-Code banter that sidesteps later censorship.
Director
Lloyd Bacon
James Cagney
Bat Morgan
Margaret Lindsay
Jean Barrat
Ricardo Cortez
Paul Morra
Lili Damita
Belle Morra
Donald Woods
Charles Ford
Barton MacLane
Spider Burke
George E. Stone
Solomon "Solly" Green
Joe King
James "Jim" Daley (as Joseph King)
Addison Richards
William Coleman
Robert McWade
Judge Stephen Crawford
Joseph Crehan
McClanahan
Robert Strange
Graber
Joe Sawyer
Slugs Crippen (as Joseph Sawyer)
Fred Kohler
Shanghai Duck
Edward McWade
Tupper
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot in just three weeks on recycled sets from other Warner Bros. period pieces—classic 1930s studio efficiency.
One of Cagney's last Pre-Code roles before the Production Code clamped down on screen violence and moral ambiguity in 1934.
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