[7]
George Raft, Humphrey Bogart, and William Holden star in this better-than-average gangster flick. Raft and Bogart play convicts just released from prison. Raft reunites with his mother (Flora Robson) and younger brother (Holden) and tries to start a clean, new life, but finding work is hard to do when people learn about his record. He ends up falling in with Bogart again, but when Bogart’s mobster gang threatens to endanger Holden’s future, Raft takes a stand that puts all the main characters’ lives on the line.
Despite a flat, lethargic leading performance from George Raft, Invisible Stripes hooked me by making its mobster characters three-dimensional human beings with compassion, hope, and regret. William Holden (Network, Stalag 17), just 21 years old in this film, steals the show as Raft’s class-conscious younger brother, engaged (to Jane Bryan) and eager to open his own garage. Bogart shows all the promise of the star he would become just a few years later with The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca. The film’s second act unfolds rather predictably, slowly pushing Raft back to a life of crime. But the third act surprised me with its subtle dramatic twists and an ending that felt more sophisticated and honest than the pat endings Hollywood often gives to genre movies.
Directed by Lloyd Bacon (Marked Woman, 42nd Street). With Paul Kelly, Lee Patrick, and Henry O’Neill.