It's high time this movie is released on DVD, it was never released before on VHS. This is one of my favorite Warner Bros. gangster films that stars both George Raft & Humphrey Bogart. I'm a fan of both actors & the gangster genre. But this isn't just another typical "knock down, drag out, car chasing, gun blasting gangster film, it's also a social commentary on just how tough it really was to live in depression era 1930's America. In the early 1930's public enemies like Al Capone, John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, Machine Gun Kelly etc. were celebrated folk hero's & the public had no respect for law & order until G-men like Melvin Purviss, Elliot Ness & Thomas E. Dewey cracked down & stopped these colorful characters dead in their tracks. Only then the tide turned & the people had a new found respect & admiration for law & order.
Invisible Stripes opens in Sing Sing prison with Cliff Taylor (Raft) & Chuck Martin (Bogart) on their way out of prison. Raft chooses the straight & narrow path while Bogart chooses to take up where he left off as a criminal. Both men have justifiable reasons for their paths. Bogie reasons that the odds are stacked up too high against them to go straight because of the economic hardship & the way the system is set up. A paroled convict only has a short time to get a job or end up back in jail. Raft soon finds out just how tough getting a job is & how cold & unfair the outside world is to an ex-con. He is greeted with suspicion, distrust & joblessness, his girlfriend quickly rejects him as soon as he gets out. Because Raft is an ex-con now he's not good enough for her anymore.
Raft has a kid brother named Tim played by a young & "very different" William Holden, Tim is a grease monkey & dreams of a better life & wants a garage of his own. When the going gets tough he starts to become rebellious but Raft discourages him from following in his convict footsteps & beats some sense into him. Raft needs to get from "Rags to Riches" quickly & looks up Bogart & decides to join Chucks gang in a series of bank robberies just to get enough jack saved up to buy an auto shop for him & his kid brother (Holden) to keep him straight.
After Cliff quits the gang in a subsequent botched up heist Chuck uses Tim's garage as a hideout until the heat cools off. Chuck lies to Tim by making him think that Cliff was in on the armoured car heist to assure his silence. After helping Chuck & his gang escape Tim is later arrested by the police & thrown in jail, placing Raft in the middle between a loyalty to Chuck & his kid brother Tim. But Cliff will not let his kid brother take the rap for Chuck & his gang & convinces him to rat on Chuck & the other gangsters by identifying them at the police station.
Chuck helps Cliff anyway against the other gangsters out to shoot Raft for betraying them & Bogart even takes a bullet for Raft as both are shot & killed. Bogart is a likable bad guy in this movie unlike his other gangsters during this period like "Angels With Dirty Faces" & "The Roaring Twenties" We all sympathize with Raft's character as he suffers much hardship, injustice & humiliation from the outside world because he's wearing invisible stripes.
Bogart's role as Chuck Martin is also sympathetic in a way because of the bond & close friendship that grew between the 2 men while they were in prison. It was tragic to see both actors getting killed in the end. If you're a fan of Raft & Bogart & the gangster genre this is a good watch. Recommended !
Invisible Stripes opens in Sing Sing prison with Cliff Taylor (Raft) & Chuck Martin (Bogart) on their way out of prison. Raft chooses the straight & narrow path while Bogart chooses to take up where he left off as a criminal. Both men have justifiable reasons for their paths. Bogie reasons that the odds are stacked up too high against them to go straight because of the economic hardship & the way the system is set up. A paroled convict only has a short time to get a job or end up back in jail. Raft soon finds out just how tough getting a job is & how cold & unfair the outside world is to an ex-con. He is greeted with suspicion, distrust & joblessness, his girlfriend quickly rejects him as soon as he gets out. Because Raft is an ex-con now he's not good enough for her anymore.
Raft has a kid brother named Tim played by a young & "very different" William Holden, Tim is a grease monkey & dreams of a better life & wants a garage of his own. When the going gets tough he starts to become rebellious but Raft discourages him from following in his convict footsteps & beats some sense into him. Raft needs to get from "Rags to Riches" quickly & looks up Bogart & decides to join Chucks gang in a series of bank robberies just to get enough jack saved up to buy an auto shop for him & his kid brother (Holden) to keep him straight.
After Cliff quits the gang in a subsequent botched up heist Chuck uses Tim's garage as a hideout until the heat cools off. Chuck lies to Tim by making him think that Cliff was in on the armoured car heist to assure his silence. After helping Chuck & his gang escape Tim is later arrested by the police & thrown in jail, placing Raft in the middle between a loyalty to Chuck & his kid brother Tim. But Cliff will not let his kid brother take the rap for Chuck & his gang & convinces him to rat on Chuck & the other gangsters by identifying them at the police station.
Chuck helps Cliff anyway against the other gangsters out to shoot Raft for betraying them & Bogart even takes a bullet for Raft as both are shot & killed. Bogart is a likable bad guy in this movie unlike his other gangsters during this period like "Angels With Dirty Faces" & "The Roaring Twenties" We all sympathize with Raft's character as he suffers much hardship, injustice & humiliation from the outside world because he's wearing invisible stripes.
Bogart's role as Chuck Martin is also sympathetic in a way because of the bond & close friendship that grew between the 2 men while they were in prison. It was tragic to see both actors getting killed in the end. If you're a fan of Raft & Bogart & the gangster genre this is a good watch. Recommended !