Invisible Stripes (1939)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Lloyd Bacon

Writers:

Warren Duff (writer)
Jonathan Finn (story)

Release Date:

30 December 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Three Men and a Girl... Bound by Invisible Ties - Branded by Invisible Stripes

Plot:

Cliff and Chuck leave prison together. Cliff tries the straight life but falls back into crime with Chuck and his gang...

Plot Keywords:

Garage | Ex Convict | Sidecar | False Accusation | Shootout

Cast

George Raft	...	Cliff Taylor
Jane Bryan	...	Peggy
William Holden	...	Tim Taylor
Humphrey Bogart	...	Chuck Martin
Flora Robson	...	Mrs. Taylor
Moroni Olsen	...	The Warden
Henry O'Neill	...	Parole Officer Masters
Paul Kelly	...	Ed Kruger
Lee Patrick	...	Molly Daniels (Chuck's blonde)
Marc Lawrence	...	Lefty Sloan (henchman)
Joe Downing	...	Johnny Hudson (henchman) (as Joseph Downing)
Tully Marshall	...	Old Peter (inner prison gate trustee)
Margot Stevenson	...	Sue
Joseph Crehan	...	Mr. Chasen (garage owner)
Chester Clute	...	Mr. Butler

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #5755)

Filming Locations:

Sing Sing Penitentiary - 354 Hunter Street, Ossining, New York, USA

Company:

First National Pictures

Trivia:

At one point in the film, George Raft meets Humphrey Bogart and Lee Patrick leaving a movie theatre; the film that's being shown, prominently advertised, is You Can't Get Away with Murder (1939) starring Humphrey Bogart.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Tim is wheeling his motorcycle into the back of the garage after taking Chuck to meet his girlfriend, shadows of the police waiting inside are visible on the garage door, ruining the surprise that they are laying in wait for him.

Quotes:

Cliff Taylor: I'll be back in a couple of days.

Soundtrack:

The Japanese Sandman

"You think changin' your uniform means anything, you'll still be wearin' stripes. You may not be able to see 'em, but they'll be there alright."

George Raft and an unrecognizably young William Holden are top billed as brothers Cliff and Tim Taylor in this 1939 gangster genre film that has both brothers skirting opposite sides of the law as they try to make a life for themselves.

The story opens with Cliff Taylor and fellow Sing Sing inmate Chuck Martin (Humphrey Bogart) about to leave prison with their sentences completed. Taylor is determined to go straight, Martin can't wait to get back to his criminal life. As Cliff tries to settle back into his former life with his family, events conspire against him making it difficult to stay on the straight and narrow. Additional pressure comes from brother Tim, who wants to make a better life for himself and fiancée Peggy (Jane Bryan), but earning twenty dollars a week as a mechanic makes him fantasize about "taking what he wants".

The film see-saws it's way back and forth for Cliff, who alternately tries to play it straight and then gets mixed up with Martin's gangster pals. In that regard, George Raft really gets to portray a con man, hiding his involvement from Tim and his mother (Flora Robson), until events spiral out of control during a botched robbery attempt by Martin's gang.

If you're into film nuances, this one offers a number of treats. For starters, there's the scene where Bogey's character Martin is shown coming out of a movie theater with his blonde girlfriend Molly (Lee Patrick); the film that's playing - 1939's "You Can't Get Away With Murder", starring Humphrey Bogart! Speaking of Molly, she's almost a dead ringer look alike for Bette Davis, making me do a couple of double takes. And then there's the brief uncredited appearance of Dead Ender Leo Gorcey as the head stock boy for a general store where Cliff briefly finds a job.

I found myself enjoying this film, even if uneven at times. George Raft and Humphrey Bogart went on to make one more film together in 1940's "They Drive By Night", where they share equal billing as brothers involved in wildcat trucking, one might call them brother truckers.

For it's own part, "Invisible Stripes" may be hard to come by, not available as a studio release, but many of these Warner Brothers films find their way onto classic movie TV channels like TCM or are available through specialty video houses. This one would be well worth your time, especially if you're a fan of Raft, Bogey, Holden or the gangster genre itself.