Bullets or Ballots
1936 · Movie · Approved · 82 min · ★ 6.6 · 71% critics
A tough city detective appears to turn against the police so he can slip inside a powerful crime syndicate. As he climbs deeper into the mob’s world, suspicion grows on all sides and the pressure of keeping up the act becomes increasingly dangerous.
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Details
- Years
- 1936
- Release date
- 1936-06-06
- Language
- English
- Rated
- Approved
- Runtime
- 82 min
- Critic score
- 71/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.6/10 (52 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you like brisk 1930s gangster stories, undercover crime setups, or films in the vein of 'G' Men and The Mob; Not for you if you want deep emotion or major surprises.
Pros: fast pace; strong lead performance; tense mob intrigue | Cons: somewhat formulaic; thin emotional pull; uneven comic relief
Themes
- corruption
- police
- undercover
- film in film
- murder
- shootout
- infiltration
- police detective
- racketeer
- racketeering
- numbers game
- banking executives
- +1 more
Cast & crew
Edward G. Robinson
as Johnny Blake
Joan Blondell
as Lee Morgan
Barton MacLane
as Al Kruger
Humphrey Bogart
as Bugs Fenner
Frank McHugh
as Herman
Joe King
as Dan 'Mac' McLaren
Dick Purcell
as Ed Driscoll
George E. Stone
as Wires Kagel
Joseph Crehan
as Grand Jury Spokesman
Henry O'Neill
as Ward Bryant
Directed by William Keighley