Gang War (lost part-talking gangster film; 1928)

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Gangwar.jpg

Lobby card, featuring a still from the film.

Status: Lost

Gang War was a part-talkie film in the gangster genre that was released on September 2nd, 1928. It stars Jack Pickford (Mary Pickford’s younger brother) in what will be his final film role before his death in 1933 and Olive Borden. The primary reason the film is known today is that it was the film that was attached to the famous Mickey Mouse short, Steamboat Willie. Partially due to it being overshadowed by Steamboat Willie, it remains largely unknown.

Plot

In the prologue (the only speaking part of the movie), two reporters tell the audience what is going to happen in the film.[1]

On the San Francisco Bay waterfront, a man named Clyde Baxter (played by Jack Pickford) performs on the street for money (also known as busking). One night while street performing, he meets a woman who goes by the short and simple name of Flowers. He teaches this woman to dance, but soon finds out that a gang boss, "Blackjack", is also infatuated with Flowers (played by Borden). To add to that, there is an intense turf war between Blackjack and a rival gangster named Mike Luego.

Soon, Blackjack ends up winning Flowers over and marries her, but he does not consummate the marriage (having sex after marriage). Then, Clyde is eventually able to win Flowers back, and Mike Luego is about to kill the both of them before Blackjack comes and sacrifices himself to save Clyde and Flowers.[2]

Reception

Steamboat Willie was a huge hit, and, as mentioned above, completely overshadowed the film that preceded it. The reviews for Gang War were fairly mixed. The New York Times called it better than the majority of films of its kind, but also dismissed it as "more gang fights". They also found the film to be kind of cliché. They did not like the sentimentality of Blackjack's death, and would do the audience a favor if they removed some words, especially the word "well" (based on this info, the film must have said the word an irritating amount of times).[3]

Availability

Very little information on this film remains. No footage of the film is known to currently survive,[4][5][1] however, a handful of stills and posters for the filmstill do exist. It is deemed unlikely for the film to be found, however there is no proof that all prints have been destroyed, so some possibility remains of its continued existence.

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