Raoul Walsh

 Raoul Walsh

The Thief of Bagdad (1924)

What Price Glory (1926)

The Big Trail (1930)

The Roaring Twenties (1939)

They Drive by Night (1940)

High Sierra (1941)

Gentleman Jim (1942)

White Heat (1949)

RANKED:

8. What Price Glory (1926)

After the major successes of films like "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" and "The Big Parade," films dealing with the still-fresh events of World War I were incredibly commercially viable. The same is true for "What Price Glory," Raoul Walsh's most financially successful film of the 1920s. 

7. They Drive by Night (1940)

Often considered a proto-noir by many, "They Drive by Night" deals in the murder of a husband by a bored wife. The wife is attempting to get the attention of a truck driver, who freelances in an attempt to make enough money to start his own truck driving company. The film was seen as a sensational and melodramatic piece of entertainment.

6. The Thief of Bagdad (1924)

After the success of "Robin Hood," "The Thief of Bagdad" was another vehicle to showcase the stuntwork of Douglas Fairbanks. It also established Raoul Walsh as a director capable of large-scale productions. Costing over $1 million to produce, the film is adapted from the Arabian folk book, "One Thousand and One Nights," often referred to as "Arabian Nights." It was a major commercial success and continued to elevate Hollywood as an industry capable of large-scale spectacle entertainment.

5. The Big Trail (1930)

"The Big Trail" saw Raoul Walsh continue in his big-budget enterprises, after the commercial successes of "The Thief of Bagdad" and "What Price Glory." The reason for such an expensive production cost came from the fact that the new sound technologies that Hollywood introduced to its pictures were being carried over 2,000 miles between California and New Mexico to shoot thousands of cast, extras, and animals. To accommodate the largescale landscapes, a 70 mm film format was used. Fox had only used this format in a handful of films from 1929 and 1930, with "The Big Trail" being the last. However, the film was a commercial failure, much in part due to the fallouts from The Great Depression. Because of its failure, Walsh would take a hiatus from large, big-budget films. John Wayne, in his first leading role, would also have to do B-level films throughout the 1930s because of the film's failure. Despite this, the film is still heralded as a unique picture that accommodates the complexities of sound production and an incredible widescreen format.

4. High Sierra (1941)

Before "High Sierra," Humphrey Bogart was only ever considered a supporting player. When his friend and drinking partner, John Huston, adapted the film from its source material, he convinced Raoul Walsh to cast him in the lead. The film portrays Bogart as a complex criminal who attempts one last heist before he drives off into the sunset. However, due to the popularity of the 'film noir' movement, "High Sierra" offers a far more fatalistic view of its protagonist, venturing from the more traditional gangster films of the 1930s. Because of the success of the film, Humphrey Bogart was cast as the lead in Huston's directorial debut "The Maltese Falcon." The rest is Hollywood history. For this, "High Sierra" is known as the ignition point for one of the most celebrated careers in Hollywood history.

3. Gentleman Jim (1942)

Considered by Erol Flynn to be his favorite performance of his career, "Gentleman Jim" tells the story of heavyweight champion James J. Corbett. Flynn took the role very seriously and even went through extensive boxing training to prepare for it. In fact, Flynn's dedication to the role led to a minor heart attack while filming one of the boxing sequences. The film's realistic boxing would go on to inspire many more boxing films to come, as audiences came far and wide to see Flynn engage in what looked like actual boxing. The film's $2 million gross would make it one of only three other Flynn films to achieve such a feat.

2. The Roaring Twenties (1939)

By 1939, the gangster genre had all but come to an end. The film "The Roaring Twenties," plays homage to these classic gangster films of the early 1930s. It also seems to thematically suggest the ending of this genre in parallel with an end to many things: the end of the 'roaring' 1920s, the end of the classic genre, the end of one's own career, and (because of the state of the world in 1939), the anxieties over the end of everything. 

1. White Heat (1949)

The iconic 1949 film "White Heat" was an ending point for actor James Cagney, director Raoul Walsh, and one of Hollywood's foundational genres: the gangster film. The film follows Cagney as an insane gangster, Cody Jarrett, as the walls begin to close around him. Besides Jarrett's doting mother, everyone in the film is scheming behind his back to get rid of him. This creates a slow burn, as the viewer knows this will only end in demise and Jarrett's wrath. Jarrett's explosive death and his iconic line, "Made it Ma! Top of the world!" are the film's most memorable aspects. The tension, the scheming, and the slow drive towards finality all arrive at this incredibly memorable ending: a shrieking eruption that sends Cagney, Walsh, and the gangster genre kicking and screaming in a glorious farewell.