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The Mayor of Hell

Director: Archie Mayo, Michael Curtiz Run Time: 90 min. Format: 35mm Release Year: 1933

Starring: James Cagney, Madge Evans, Arthur Byron, Allen Jenkins, Dudley Digges, Frankie Darro

With guest host Bruce Bennett

When a bunch of street toughs are thrown into a juvenile reform school, the prevailing conditions are downright cruel. Enter Patsy Gargan (James Cagney), a well-connected former gangster who is brought in to oversee the institution. At first indifferent to his position, he soon takes an interest in empowering the boys thanks to his attraction to school nurse Dorothy (Madge Evans), whose progressive ideas on education introduce a sense of humanity to the harsh environs. Together they earn the boys’ trust, giving them an opportunity to find dignity in discipline. Naturally the powers that be do not like this turn of events, and the struggle reaches a violent climax when Patsy is called away to deal with unfinished business.

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