remember before there be sidney and there be dudley . dudley digges be barely recall today because his heyday a a fixture in sound movie be the late 1920s and through the 1930s . except for one major performance represent the ship good natured and if tipsy doctor in the 1935 mutiny on the bounty and most of his film be barely revive . more the pity because he be a wonderful actor . in 1931 he play casper gutman ( the original actor to play that villain ) opposite ricardo cortez sam spade in the first the maltese falcon . similarly and about the same time and he play the record angel in leslie howard version of outward bound the same role that sidney greenstreet tackle in between two world a decade later . digges could be likable and lovable ( that ship doctor again ) and or detestable ( in china sea and a the judgmental first mate sneering at poor lewis stone but then prove he as big a coward in a moment of crisis ) . he hold his own against paul robeson in the emperor jones . he be the chinese freedom fighter work with gary cooper in the general die at dawn . digges could do anything . here and he be mr. thompson and the hypocritical and thieve warden of a reform school that frankie darro and his friend be send to for commit a robbery and injure a greek american store owner ( it be the late incident for most of them ) . digges be a bad here a in china sea and but it be a close thing to totally dislike him . he able to somehow transcend his role . more late about that . darro have a gang of urban delinquent ( include a jewish boy and farina from our gang ) . a point out in another review and it be a prototype of the bowery boy . we see them shake down car owner to pay them to watch and protect their auto . when one guy would not do it and they calmly wreck his car . the snatch and grab robbery at the store of the greek american be also rather graphically show his skull get fracture when push . the boy be round up and bring before stern but decent judge arthur byron and who realize that he can not leave the kid with their parent represent the parent be unable to watch them and or be incompetent . unfortunately there be three racial stereotype in this sequence represent a jewish father who be more concerned with his business than with his son and farina stereotype yassum father and and the an italian father whose willingness to cooperate get his son out of go to the reform school . once there the boy find the regime oppressive . occasionally one of the guard or the nurse ( madge evans ) try to speak up for them . but digges have no time for coddle . his be a regime determine to break the boy so they behave themselves . unfortunately and digges and his bookkeeper partner be greedy . they have be serve inferior food to the boy and pocket the profit . one day a new official come from the state to look at the reform school . it jimmy cagney and who be a hack ward heeler whose gang get the vote out for edward maxwell . a a reward ( he could not get the park commissioner post ) cagney be make an assistant school inspector . he be support by his hanger on pal and factotum allan jenkins ( in his first warner brother film ) . the irony be that if digges be a bit more careful and cagney would probably have let him continue run thing . but cagney arrives to see darro bring to digges for fight . the warden and darrow have have problem about respect earlier and and digges now intend to punish darro who flee but get seriously injure by digges barb wire fence and his free use of a whip . cagney stop digges and let evans treat darro injury . and she explain the reality of the situation to cagney and and her own idea of real reformatory reform of the boy by build up trust in them with responsibility . the film follow this to the end and show that cagney and evans be on the right path and turn the reformatory a a republic for the boy to run properly . this lead to conflict with digges and whose profiteering be reduce a he be no longer get supply . but the scheme be derail when cagney himself find he may be in serious trouble with the law . digges see his opportunity and fully take it . but then he go too far . far more than he ever bargain for . the 1930s have many film show kid take step to right wrong and change thing . darro appear in such a wild boy of the road . cecil b. de mille do this day and age and where the kid teach a lesson to a gangster play by charles bickford that scar the hell out of him . so it go in the 1930s . the mayor of hell reach a similar intensity of vengeance and juvenile justice seek . but that the one problem of the film . digges character be a knave and hypocrite and so we never really cheer for him and yet if he wasn not a thief we might go along with his view ( even if it be counter productive ) . the scene at the start of darro and his gang prey on people actually make the harshness digges would follow seem fairly understandable ( even if his thieving way be not ) . also he have one moment when he justifiably angry at cagney at that point in hide from his own clash with the law give order over a phone from long distance to a befuddle digges . when digges learn what actually happen he be justifiably furious at cagney lecture him about proper behavior . it be the close thing to make mr. thompson sympathetic in this fine movie .