Sinners' Holiday

Sinners' Holiday
Directed by John G. Adolfi
Written by Marie Baumer (play)
George Rosener
Harvey F. Thew
Starring Grant Withers
Evalyn Knapp
James Cagney
Lucille La Verne
Joan Blondell
Production
company
Release dates
  • October 11, 1930
Running time
 60 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Sinners' Holiday is a 1930 all-talking crime drama film starring Grant Withers, Evalyn Knapp, James Cagney (in his film debut), Lucille La Verne, and Joan Blondell. It is based on the play Penny Arcade by Marie Baumer. Both Cagney and Blondell reprised the roles they played in the original Broadway production.

Synopsis

Lucille La Verne (as Ma Delano) runs a penny arcade on an amusement pier at Coney Island with her children: Evalyn Knapp, Ray Gallagher and James Cagney. Underneath La Verne's establishment, Warren Hymer is running a bootleg operation. In order to escape detection, Hymer doubles as a sideshow operator. Grant Withers, who works as a barker, is in love with Evalyn Knapp. When Hymer attempts to flirt with Knapp he is thwarted by Withers. Cagney secretly becomes involved in Hymer's bootlegging operation, against the wishes of his mother. When Hymer gets picked up by the police on suspicion of bootlegging, Cagney takes over his operations and pockets the proceeds. Hymer is unexpectedly released from prison and discovers Cagney's treachery. Hymer encounters Cagney on a darkened pier but Cagney shoots him before he can act. He confesses everything to his mother but she attempts to place the blame on Withers, whom she doesn't like, by placing the murder weapon in his briefcase. As Withers is about to be taken away by the police, Knapp, who witnessed the crime and is in love with Withers, tells the police the truth and her brother (Cagney) confesses to the crime much to the chagrin of his mother.

Cast

Preservation

The film survives complete (a print is preserved at the Library of Congress) and in 2015 has been released by Warner Archive on DVD.

Reception

TIME felt that the story was credible and that it was refreshing to see a feature that was less than an hour long, and with a concise story, as opposed to unnecessarily long hour-and-a-half features, which had recently been released.[1]

References

  1. ↑ "Cinema: The New Pictures Oct. 27, 1930", TIME.

External links