Les faubourgs de New York

In his new 20th Century Pictures Corporation which was at the time releasing its product with United Artists, Darryl F. Zanuck almost had an MGM trifecta for his stars. Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper came from MGM and Clark Gable almost did. But according to the biography of George Raft from James Parrish, Raft wanted very much to do this film and Zanuck accommodated him and got him from Paramount.

It was a wise move on Zanuck's part because Steve Brodie of the Bowery was a part Raft was born to play. And why not since Raft grew up in the Hell's Kitchen area of New York and knew the scene well.

As did Raoul Walsh who was born and raised in Rockaway Beach, New York and also knew the red light areas of the city well. The best thing that The Bowery has going for it was is the incredible detail in terms of creating the atmosphere of the Gay Nineties in one of New York's most colorful areas. In fact so much detail was presented that the film is rarely seen today for all the racial epithets it has. But that would be true of the era. Racial and ethnic stereotyping was the rule of the day. In fact Ragtime is also quite graphic in that, the difference being the point of view that film takes.

What The Bowery has in atmosphere with its sets, dialog with the idioms of the day, and costumes, it loses in accuracy. Set in 1897-98 before the Spanish American War it has the legendary Steve Brodie doing his jump off the Brooklyn Bridge at that time. In point of fact it was in 1886.

Raft as Brodie and Beery as Chuck Connors are a pair of friendly if caustic rivals of The Bowery area in lower Manhattan. The two are forever trying to top each other and that is given as the reason for Raft doing his famous dive off the Brooklyn Bridge and living to tell about it. Actually there is cause in real life to think Brodie never did the deed. And in fact some question is raised in Beery's mind which leads to the climax of The Bowery.

Jackie Cooper's well known antipathy to Beery has been documented, but in the Parrish book on Raft during a fight scene Beery got a little rougher than the script called for. Raft then responded with what is described as a roundhouse right into the family jewels. Beery reacted normally as one does when one is hit there.

If one values political correctness than do not see this film. But otherwise it is an all too accurate a look on a bygone era.

Such are the title-song lyrics to this 1933 frolic, directed by Raoul Walsh to be modest in story but long on atmosphere. Made at 20th, it has something of an MGM cast: Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper had been such a hit in "The Champ" two years earlier, the studio must have been anxious to reteam them. Cooper was a good little actor, but here, as.an unsympathetic little ruffian in the Lower East Side of the Gay '90s, he's just marking time, and Beery, whom practically everybody who ever worked with him appears to have loathed, tries and fails to be a charmer. The story's that of Steve Brodie and his alleged jump off the Brooklyn Bridge (it was also the basis for "Kelly," a one-night 1965 musical that was, up till then, the biggest money-loser in Broadway history); it's not much of a story, but it does allow for some lively set pieces, and George Raft, as Brodie, has a part that suits him well. There's also Fay Wray, who's warm and appealing, and Pert Kelton, expertly knocking out one of the sassy broads she did so well back then. Marred by phony-looking process shots and plot implausibilities and non-clear things (I'm still not sure, did they throw a dummy off the bridge or not?), and off-the-charts non-PC by today's standards, it's nevertheless rollicking, and you can be sure that under Walsh's watch you'll get hard-hitting fights, atmosphere galore, rude insult humor, and a setting where, like the song goes, they do strange things.

A favourite of mine,this movie tells of two feuding New York "characters", Steve Brodie(Raft) and "Chuck" Connors(Beery),who both strive to be the "Main Guy" in the Bowery in the late Nineteenth Century.

Brodie(1863-1901) and Connors(1852-1913),were real people,though this is a heavily fictionalized account of their antics(based on a play).Brodie's legendary(did he do it?- it's still a cause of argument!),jump from the Brooklyn bridge(1886),for which he became famous,is shown here as happening around the same time as the Spanish-American war(1898).Director Walsh clearly had a great affection for the period,so beautifully recreated here,and it includes a wild rumbustious ragtime number from saloon singer Trixie Odbray(a young Pert Kelton).Raft is at his slickest as Brodie,and Beery shows again what a clever actor he was,as tough, big hearted, and at times quite touching Connors.Pretty Fay Wray is the love interest both the boys are pursuing.

Full of life and energy,"The Bowery" moves at a fast pace(unlike many early "talkies").It is not an easy movie to find,but is well worth looking out for.

Four words account for why this film was made - "She Done Him Wrong". The huge commercial success of that Mae West vehicle convinced the studio brass that Gay '90s melodramas were a viable proposition. Here we are rewarded with a fast moving, well written romp which neatly targets the personalities of its stars.

Wallace Beery and George Raft are excellent as friendly rivals; Jackie Cooper is a little harder to take, but it is Fay Wray who steals the film with her stock-in-trade damsel in distress. With a strong director - as Walsh proves himself to be - Wray could carry a lot of punch, and she is utterly believable as the object of both Raft and Beery's affection.

Lots of atmosphere, beautifully designed, this is a forgotten film worthy of revival.

I love this freekin movie! Walsh is a true master of the cinematic form, his film have been sometimes in my opinion, overlooked. But this film is a favourite of mine because it really gives you the feel of the time the film was set in.\

All the wonderful characters that existed, the lifestyle, the mode of dress, the way they spoke, OK they might be exaggerated, but it is good to know that there were occasion when two men tried to outdo each other with insane stunts.

I just felt it was apiece of history thats should be wathced by many people and appreciated because of that fact.

Can I get it somewhere on DVD? I have only seen it on TV. But for anyone wanting a slice of life movie about that period of time this is the perfect one.