Gangs of Chicago (1940) User Reviews

Effective B Crime Drama.

[nova-63 · 7/10 · 30 January 2010]

Lloyd Nolan stars as a young lawyer who uses his knowledge of the legal system to aid criminals. The top man receiving Nolan's information is one of the city's underworld kingpin's, played by Barton MacLane. Nolan thinks nothing of using his skills to thwart justice.

It's all a game to him. Lola Lane stars as a young woman who hopes that Nolan will come around and see the error of his ways. Ultimately, Nolan will come face to face with what his work has led to and that will leave a bitter taste in his mouth. A solid Republic crime film that borders on film noir.

The print I saw ran only 52 minutes and is the edited TV print.

A real gem.

[searchanddestroy-1 · 8 November 2009]

Two surprises. First, a film noir directed by Arthur Lubin, that's not so usual. And second, I did not know that Lloyd Nolan worked for Republic Pictures !!! I would have bet this feature made by, let's say, Paramount Pictures, as the other films where Nolan played in these times, late thirties and early forties, with J Caroll Naish, Akim Tamiroff or Anthony Quinn - The YOUNG Anthony Quinn - and directed by the likes of Louis King or Robert Florey.

Coming back to this one, we find a sort of MANHATTAN MELODRAMA. Two childhood friends, one who is implicated with mobsters and the other working for the district attorney. And the "good one" is forced to betray his pal, fulfilling an undercover mission to break him down.

A classic topic, but well done for this tiny and forgotten film.

While the very end is a tad far-fetched, it's a dandy B-movie.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 13 December 2015]

The term 'B-movie' is often misunderstood. Specifically, B-movies were short, quickly made films from the 1930s into the 1950s and were intended to be the lesser film in a double-feature. Nowadays, some take it to mean a cheap film...which Bs were but some were occasionally quite good despite their humble roots.

One such good B is Lloyd Nolan in "Gangs of Chicago". It begins with Matty (Nolan) in law school. However, he's a mighty peculiar student. It seems that THE reason he entered this school was to learn how to twist the law and abuse it in order to help hoods escape justice. His plan is to create a sort of insurance policy for crooks--he helps spring them and does ANYTHING to do so. However, after he's a lawyer he not only does this but actually helps plan criminal activity. Even for a lawyer, he's very unethical!

One odd thing about Matty is that despite being rotten, he's got a soft spot for one of his old classmates and his family. These people are very decent and the father is a judge! Yet try as he might, Matty likes them. So, he leads a double life as a crooked attorney in the city and a nice, respectable guy when he visits the country. Later, however, the law visits this family when they learn about them...perhaps they can use these people to get the goods on Matty and his crooked friends.

This film is very gritty and jaded. It also has better than average acting, a dandy script and lots of excitement. The only part that didn't quite work for me was the nice ending...it just seemed a bit too good to be true. Despite this, it's still an outstanding B...one to watch.

Nice "B" Picture

[Michael_Elliott · 23 July 2016]

Gangs of Chicago (1940)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Matty Burns (Lloyd Nolan) attends law school and quickly becomes one of the brightest of his class. The only catch is that he isn't going to become a good guy but instead he wants to learn the law so that he can become a great criminal as well as help a big shot crime lord (Barton MacLane).

GANGS OF CHICAGO is a "B" movie from Republic, which tries to be a throwback to the gangster pictures that Warner was throwing out during the 1930s. There's some hard hitting bits on crime and there's no question that it's well-made and especially when you consider the budget wasn't that high.

Another thing the film has going for it is the terrific cast with Nolan doing an extremely good job as the wise-cracking crook. I liked how Nolan made him a rather smart character who knew what to say and how to say it. MacLane was always fun to watch and he gets to soak up the villain role here. Both Lola Lane and Ray Middleton are good in their roles and fans of Universal's horror movies will be happy to see Dwight Frye towards the very end.

At just 66 minutes the film flies by without any issues and for the most part it's an entertaining picture.

Chicago gangsters

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 28 January 2022]

This programmer was shot on a "B" budget but it earns a B+ or A- from me. It's a swell picture, featuring Lloyd Nolan in the lead as a young mouthpiece for the mob. We learn that his character has a tragic backstory, having seen his old man gunned down by police when he was a kid. Growing up without a father, he learned that it is lawyers who profit from these things, so he decides to study criminal law. Only instead of being on the side of good law-abiding folk, he will use the knowledge he gains in law school to help a mobster (Barton MacLane) beat the cops.

Adding a few plot complications is his close friendship with a college roommate (Robert Middleton) which leads to him being "adopted" by the roomie's rural family. While staying with them on their farm one summer, he falls for his pal's sister (Lola Lane).

Despite the chance of living a good life with kind and honest people, Nolan refuses to let go of his hatred for the police. So when he returns to the city in the fall, he finishes his studies and becomes a lawyer for the mob. We then see him rise up the ranks, running a very posh legal office, helping all sorts of crooks pervert the court of justice, especially 'mentor' MacLane.

The story takes an interesting turn when his old roomie agrees to go undercover for the police. Not exactly to bring him down, but to prove to the police that Nolan may be morally challenged but is not a criminal mastermind. This leads a series of unexpected reversals for both characters, and their brotherly bond is tested to say the least. It all culminates in a big shootout back at the farm, which is used as a hideout. Barton fears Nolan is going to betray him, so he shows up to get rid of loose ends.

The studio ran into trouble when releasing the film in the midwest. Chicago refused to let it be exhibited in its theaters unless Republic changed the name to GANGS OF A CITY. But Chicago is still mentioned several times in the story, and moviegoers would certainly know what city these gangs were running.