Development Rowland Brown wrote the scenario for
Angels with Dirty Faces in August, 1937. He was known in Hollywood for writing and directing a number of crime films in the early 1930s, including
The Doorway to Hell and
Quick Millions. He presented the story to
Mervyn LeRoy, who was keen to direct a "
vehicle" starring the Dead End Kids, a group of young actors from New York. At the time he was offered the role of Rocky Sullivan, Cagney had already made one film for Grand National,
Great Guy, but fearing he would be typecast in "tough guy" roles, as he had been at Warner, Cagney turned down the role and opted to star in
Something to Sing About. The film's budget grew to an astronomical $900,000, and, on its release, did not fare well at the box office. Its underperformance is believed to have been a contributing factor in the 1939 bankruptcy of Grand National. Following
Something to Sing About, Cagney returned to Warner after reaching a better deal with them. At his brother's insistence, he took Brown's story with him and presented it to the studio. Warner acquired the story and then asked a number of directors to take on the project. LeRoy was the first, and although he showed interest, he was unable to commit because he was making films for
MGM; Warner then asked Brown, who showed no interest at all; and finally, Michael Curtiz, who accepted their offer. To play Rocky, Cagney drew on his memories of growing up in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, New York. His main inspiration was a drug-addicted pimp, who stood on a street corner all day hitching his trousers, twitching his neck, and repeating: "Whadda ya hear! Whadda ya say!". Cagney's other inspiration was his childhood friend, Peter "Bootah" Hessling, who was convicted of murder and executed by electric chair on July 21, 1927. The night Bootah was executed, Cagney was playing in a Broadway performance, and wept on hearing of his death. Pat O'Brien was cast as Father Jerry Connolly, Rocky's childhood friend. O'Brien had been a contract player with Warner Bros. since 1933, and eventually left the studio in 1940 following a dispute over the terms of his renewal contract. He and Cagney first met in 1926 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. O'Brien was a "lonely, young" actor "playing in a stock company". He heard the stage play
Women Go on Forever (by
Mary Boland) was coming to Asbury Park and on its way to
Broadway. Wanting to meet the star of the show, he went backstage after a performance and met Cagney for the first time. O'Brien and Cagney became great friends and remained so until the former's death in 1983. Cagney died only three years later. By May 1938, the
Dead End Kids had already starred in
Samuel Goldwyn's
Dead End; as well as Warner's
Crime School (both with Humphrey Bogart). They had signed a two-year contract with Goldwyn in 1937, but he sold the contract to Warner Bros. the same year because of their behavior on the set of
Dead End; in one instance, they "jumped" Bogart and "stole his pants" while in another they crashed a truck into a soundstage. Bogart portrays the crooked lawyer Jim Frazier in
Angels With Dirty Faces. German scholar
Winfried Fluck described Bogart's character, Jim Frazier, as an "entirely negative" and "thoroughly bad figure," in "contrast" with Cagney's antihero.
Writing Brown's story was revised a number of times by
John Wexley and
Warren Duff. They provided "powerful treatments,"
Filming Principal photography began in June 1938 at Warner's Burbank studios, and finished a week behind schedule in August, due mostly to the time it took to shoot the scenes of Rocky's gunfight with police and his execution.
Huntz Hall saw Gorcey being hit, and later recalled in 1978: "Leo hated [Cagney] for the rest of his life" after the incident. While filming Rocky's shootout with the police, one scene called for Cagney to be "right at the opening" as machine-gun bullets took out the windows above his head. At this point in his career, Cagney had experience with the unpredictability of using live gunfire and he later recalled that either "common sense or a hunch" made him cautious. He told Curtiz to "[shoot the scene] in
process," and as he got out of the way, "Burke, the professional machine gunner, fired the shots". One of the bullets deflected hitting "the steel edge of the window," and going "right through the wall" where Cagney's head had been. This experience convinced Cagney that "flirting this way with real bullets was ridiculous". Rocky's execution was shot at the
Sing Sing Correctional Facility. The death house featured in the film was designed by state architect
Lewis Pilcher. It went into service in February 1922. For years, viewers have wondered if Rocky really turns yellow as he is being strapped into the electric chair, or if he is faking it in order to keep his promise to Jerry. Cagney later said: "In looking at the film, it is virtually impossible to say which course Rocky took—which is just the way I wanted it. I played [the role] with deliberate ambiguity so that the spectators can [form their own opinions]. It seems to me it works out fine in either case." ==Release==