Question 1

What sparked a nostalgia craze after this film's release?

Accepted Answer

The film sparked a nostalgia craze, leading radio stations to play 1920s music, promotions on Bing Crosby's and Kate Smith's radio shows, and layouts in Life and Look magazines, which concerned censors about glamorizing the Prohibition era.

Question 2

How did this film popularize the phrase 'The Roaring Twenties'?

Accepted Answer

The film is responsible for popularizing the phrase 'The Roaring Twenties' to refer to the 1920s, a term that did not become common until the 1940s, unlike contemporary labels like 'the Jazz Age' or 'the Plastic Age'.

Question 3

Which real-life bootlegger inspired the character Eddie Bartlett?

Accepted Answer

The film is based on the life of bootlegger Larry Fay, though Eddie Bartlett differs physically; Fay was tall and gangly, and he was shot and killed by a doorman at his nightclub in 1932.

Question 4

What marked the end of James Cagney's gangster film cycle at Warner Bros.?

Accepted Answer

This film marked the end of James Cagney's cycle of gangster films for Warner Bros., as he wanted to diversify his roles and did not play a gangster again until White Heat in 1949.

Question 5

What shared footage appears in this film's bombing montage?

Accepted Answer

A shot of gangsters bombing a storefront uses an alternate angle of a shot from The Public Enemy (1931), which is also used in Angels with Dirty Faces (1938).

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The Roaring Twenties

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