Bullets Or Ballots (1936) [VHS]

Bullets Or Ballots (1936) [VHS]
by William Keighley

Bullets Or Ballots (1936) [VHS]

List Price: ~~$19.98~~
Category: VHS Video
See more movie releases

Buy Bullets Or Ballots (1936) [VHS] at Amazon.com

(Click here)

Buy this VHS video movie at online store in your country
Canada

Product details

Actor: Barton MacLane, Edward G. Robinson, Frank McHugh, Humphrey Bogart, Joan Blondell
Director: William Keighley
Cinematographer: Hal Mohr
Editor: Jack Killifer
Producer: Hal B. Wallis
Producer: Jack L. Warner
Producer: Louis F. Edelman
Writer: Martin Mooney
Writer: Seton I. Miller
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Black & White, NTSC
Running Time: 82 minutes
Release Date: 1998-09-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: MGM (Warner)
Studio: MGM (Warner)

VHS Movie Reviews of Bullets Or Ballots (1936) [VHS]

Movie Review: Don't Mess With Eddie Robinson!
Summary: 3 Stars

"Bullets or Ballots" (1936) features Edward G. Robinson in one of his best tough-guy roles as an undercover cop who infiltrates the New York rackets. This solid Warner crime drama also serves as a good vehicle for Humphrey Bogart as the untrusting, trigger-happy gangster. Not much action, per se, but director William Keighley keeps the pot boiling - climaxed by a memorable confrontation between Eddie G. and Bogey. The DVD includes a "Breakdowns of 1936" blooper reel with outtakes from "Bullets or Ballots" (watch for the brief moment in which Robinson needs technical support to handle a gun).

Movie Review: William Keighley directed the film with a firm and fresh efficiency...
Summary: 3 Stars

Following his brutal portrayal in "The Petrified Forest," Bogart became a much more articulate and calculating killer in "Bullets or Ballots," a gangster thriller starring Edward G. Robinson as a crusading crime-buster, modeled after true-life cop Johnny Broderick, known as "the toughest cop on Broadway," who pretended to be thrown off the police force in order to infiltrate Bogart's gang and get the evidence to bring him to justice...

Bogart revealed no emotion whatever as he goes about his gun-happy chores of shooting a respected newspaperman as well as his partner-in-crime, Barton MacLane, in his characteristic double-cross...

The exciting finale found both Bogart and Robinson in a blazing showdown, an unusual ending for this period in film history, but one which Robinson had fought hard to retain...

William Keighley directed the film with a firm and fresh efficiency...

Movie Review: Another good gangster film
Summary: 4 Stars

With the implementation of the Hays Code in 1934, Warner Brothers explored new ways of retaining the excitement of the pre code films while honouring the principle of not making the gangsters into heroes. The solution was to make their great stars switch sides so in this one, Edward G. Robinson is an ex-cop who infiltrates the mobs. The head of the racketeers is Barton MacLane who lacked Robinsons's star power and accordingly, the heavy is much less attractive.

The plot is more complex than most of these films with the introduction of the bankers and politicians who actually head the syndicates. Whether Robinson has turned crooked or not provides most of the suspense and he cleverly walks a fine line between good and evil. His character is a loner and the film is dominated by the relationships between the men. It is also not as fast moving as others films in the genre where actions speak louder than words.

Joan Blondell has a small part as a smart business woman who runs the "numbers game" and invests it with more depth than she was often given the opportunity to do. Her two encounters with Humphrey Bogart, typecast as a violent but very suave racketeer, are memorable. Her sidekick is Louise Beavers who transcends black stereotypes and plays a woman of resource and intelligence. The presence of Blondell implies a romance but Robinson's loner avoids a relationship with her in a couple of touching scenes.

The DVD is chock full of worthwhile extras including an interesting documentary on the immigrant in the gangster film, an amusing short film on golf with Joe E Brown, Douglas Fairbanks Junior and Edward G Robinson himself, a Vitaphone cartoon with the signature detailed drawings and rollicking music, a musical short and a very funny newsreel item. There is also one of those blooper shorts from the Warner Brothers Films of 1936. If you know your Warner's films, these are always good fun to see. The commentary attached to the film itself is analytical to the point of boredom - a bit like a university thesis on the film's plot and script. The commentator misses the opportunity to say much about the players and the sheer entertainment value of the Warners product. Incidentally, the print of the film itself is outstanding, particularly preserving the superb lighting.

The DVD is excellent value particularly if it is purchased as part of the Warner's Tough Guys Collection.

Movie Review: Decent Gangster Film
Summary: 4 Stars

Bullets or Ballots is a good gangster film set in the later 1930s which helps to explain their existence after Prohibition. Edward G. Robinson plays Johnny, a veteran of the police force whose unpopular methods leave him with nowhere to turn but to the gangsters who want him on their side. Humphrey Bogart plays a gangster who feels his position is being threatened and who serves to make trouble throughout the film. Joan Blondell plays Leigh, a pretty girl who is close friends with Johnny.

Robinson plays his decent character very well, but not particularly notably. Bogart's character is childish and headstrong and he plays the part well, a variation on his many gangster parts. Blondell is less pretty here than in her pre-code films and she dons many low cut dresses perhaps to compensate.

One of the most notable parts of this film is the incredibly sexy kiss between Bogart and Blondell.

Movie Review: Getting Rid Of The Racket
Summary: 4 Stars

Edward G. Robinson stars as a cop dedicated to getting rid of gangsters running rackets. When he is fired, he winds up taking a job with crime boss Barton MacLane, against the wishes of MacLane's number one man, Humphrey Bogart. MacLane wants Robinson to make his organization foolproof against the police. When they start having more interference from the police, people in the organization start questioning Robinson's trustworthiness, especially trigger-happy Bogart. This is a tough film, trying to address the problem of gangsters after Prohibition ended. Robinson, MacLane, and Joan Blondell as Robinson's disappointed girlfriend all turn in terrific performances, while Bogart contributes yet another of his bad guy jobs that he did so often until he became a star. I liked the perspective in this gangster film, which focused more on what the law was doing to end the problem, rather than simply giving us the story from only the gangsters' point of view. It's one of Warner Brother's least well known crime films, but it definitely deserves a look.

Write your own review

Summary of Bullets Or Ballots (1936) [VHS]

Get two gangster-movie icons for the price of one as tough police detective Edward G. Robinson faces off for the first time against Humphrey Bogart, the ambitious enforcer for a big-time racketeer. Bogart's effectively the co-star--virtually a one-man crime wave--though he rates only fourth billing behind Eddie G., Joan Blondell, and Barton MacLane. Still, no question it's Robinson's movie; the former "Little Caesar" walks the line beautifully as an honest cop who, unjustly jettisoned from the force, agrees to go to work for the mobster (MacLane) he's long pursued. A fascinating air of fatalism attaches to Robinson's character, whether shrugging off his betrayal by the new police commissioner (and his oldest friend), trading polite threats with his new criminal colleagues, or dismissing the possibility of happiness with the nightclub operator (Blondell) who clearly cares for him.

The title is a bit of a misnomer: Despite a rhetorical reference to "ballots" as the public's means of expressing outrage over the costs of crime, it's bullets that get the job done. Bullets and fists: the movie makes clear that Robinson has beaten confessions out of people on many occasions, and in best hardnosed Warner Bros. tradition, it has no illusions about the empty symbolism of crime commissions and grand juries. There's a nice subplot involving Blondell creating the numbers racket as off-hours distraction from her main occupation; her territory is Harlem, and Louise Beavers, usually relegated to maid roles, has spirited fun with the chance to strut as Blondell's partner. William Keighley directed. --Richard T. Jameson

Melodrama Video

Video Genres

Movies most talked about in Melodrama Video

Bullets Or Ballots (1936) [VHS]
MGM (Warner); Release date: 1998-09-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.84
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

Blood on the Sun [VHS]
Republic Pictures; Release date: 1994-09-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.69
Price in other shops: ~~$9.98~~

Framed (1975) [VHS]
Paramount; Release date: 1986-09-27; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $19.00

Band of Angels [VHS]
Warner Home Video; Release date: 1994-07-07; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $10.99
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

Blood Brothers [VHS]
Warner Home Video; Release date: 1994-04-20; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

Torpedo Run [VHS]
MGM (Warner); Release date: 1998-09-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $36.09

Come and Get It [VHS]
Hbo Home Video; Release date: 1994-12-12; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.25
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

Thunderbolt & Lightfoot / Movie [VHS]
MGM (Video & DVD); Release date: 1992-04-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.99

Golden Earrings [VHS]
Universal Studios; Release date: 1998-01-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

New Moon [VHS]
MGM (Warner); Release date: 1993-12-17; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.88

Similar Video, DVDs, Audio CDs

The Public Enemy
CAGNEY,JAMES; Release date: 2005-01-25; DVD
Best price: $2.67
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

G Men
CAGNEY,JAMES; Release date: 2006-07-18; DVD
Best price: $7.75
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

The Roaring Twenties
BOGART,HUMPHREY; Release date: 2005-01-25; DVD
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

The Enforcer
BOGART,HUMPHREY; Release date: 2003-12-16; DVD
Best price: $8.24
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

Dead End
SIDNEY,SYLVIA; Release date: 2005-03-08; DVD
Best price: $8.46
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

In a Lonely Place
BOGART,HUMPHREY; Release date: 2003-03-18; DVD
Best price: $7.30
Price in other shops: ~~$19.94~~

A Slight Case of Murder
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2006-07-18; DVD
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

San Quentin
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2006-07-18; DVD
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

Brother Orchid
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-03-25; DVD
Best price: $17.44
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

Little Caesar Image

Little Caesar
LE ROY,MERVYN; Release date: 2005-01-25; DVD
Best price: $11.75
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~