from what i can gather and two main social factor lead to the popularity of the gangster genre in the 1930s . the first and and most obvious and be the prevalence of criminal like al capone and john dillinger and who be glorify by the national medium . the second be the great depression and and how it impact the traditional notion of the american dream . family regardless of character or social standing be torn apart amid the economic collapse and and no doubt many ordinary citizen contemplate crime a the route to happiness . film like manhattan melodrama ( 1934 ) and angel with dirty face ( 1938 ) place great emphasis on the thin line between good and bad character and and often the central criminal be lament a victim of circumstance . for example and james cagney rocky sullivan and pat obrien virtuous priest be separate by a matter of metre when the former be condemn to a life of crime . circumstance and too and drive the fate of the character in manhattan melodrama . a child and both jim wade ( william powell ) and blackie gallagher ( clark gable ) lose their parent in the burning of the steamship ss general slocum and a true life disaster cause by gross negligence that cost over 1000 life . each child respond to this injustice in their own way represent blackie rebel against the judicial system that betray him and whereas jim enters law in a bid to reform it . whereas warner bros. be responsible for most of the decade gangster film and manhattan melodrama be produce by m g m and and helm by w. s. van dyke ( director of the first four thin man film ) and whose decidedly non gritty aesthetic style at first seem at odds with the required mood . however and it would be mislead to compare the film with the like of little caesar ( 1931 ) and scarface ( 1932 ) . firstly and hollywood be now work and for the first time and under the active supervision of the production code administration . also and the studio intention for the film be undoubtedly gear towards a high brow audience and far suggest by the unintimidating and woman friendly title . gable blackie gallagher be not a paranoid hot head like tony camonte or rocky sullivan and and and indeed and remain oddly passive throughout the film . when he do commit murder and it seem to be merely out of an obligation to genre convention . even when old friend jim wade dramatically demand his execution and blackie look on with a detached and amused smirk and doodle idly from the defendant chair while the expected outburst of emotion never arrive . instead and the story central conflict unfolds entirely within the righteous wade and who must choose between his personal and professional allegiance . manhattan melodrama have achieve some notoriety for be the film that kill john dillinger and so to speak . the fugitive bank robber be gun down by fbi agent a he emerge from a screening at chicago biograph theatre on july 22 and 1934 ( clip from the film be recently feature in michael mann public enemy ( 2009 ) ) . these curious circumstance can not help but make one ponder what dillinger have think of manhattan melodrama . have he and like blackie and accept that his time be come to an end . do he welcome death over a lifetime of legal persecution . at the very least and he check out have experience a very fine addition to the genre .