Me, Gangster (1928)





The story of Jimmy Williams' life as a criminal is presented through a diary written by him. Handwritten entries from Williams' diary appear as subtitles on the screen. The diary reveals that Williams once lived in a tenement district near New York's East River. As a young man, he and his friend Danny embark on a life of crime by robbing a man and evading the police. As adults, Williams and Danny become more deeply involved in criminal activities.

When Williams steals a $50,000 payroll from a factory owner, he is arrested and sentenced to two years in prison. At first, he has no intention of returning the stolen money. However, the news of his mother's death and the pleading of Mary Regan, his girlfriend, persuade him to return the loot.

On the day Williams is released on parole, members of his gang follow him to Mary's home. A fight breaks out, and the police intervene and arrest the perpetrators. Williams returns the money and is reunited with Mary.


Here is a picture as sentimental, as melodramatic, as pointedly moral as any picture ever made, yet it is completely absorbing. Raoul Walsh has the knack, possessed by Griffith in his heyday, of making the characters of a sticky story pulse with life.

The picture is outstanding for another and a more important reason. It brings a new player, a very fine, very compelling actor to the screen, one Don Terry, a young college man discovered by the author of the piece, Charles Francis Coe, in the Montmartre Cafe. Terry's performance stands out as one of the unusual and moving gestures of the cinema. He is not handsome, he is definitely a type, yet there is a rugged charm about him that gives him a niche higher than your sleek haired, amorous puppets.

The story is related in a novel form. It is "The Diary of Me, Gangster" and the subtitles are shown in handwriting, written in the first person. It is the boy's story, of course, yet there are splendid performances given by June Collyer, who makes the most of a weak role; by Anders Randolf and by Gustav von Seyffertitz. It is an injustice to relate the plot, since it is an ordinary one of the son of a wardheeler who finds that crime doesn't pay. Such trite phrases as "the straight and narrow path," "going straight," etc., are plentiful. But it is the absorbing interest of the prison scenes, the fascinating development of the situations and the absolutely perfect characterization of Terry that make it a splendid contribution to the art of the cinema. It may not touch your heart, except in one prison scene, but it will hold you spellbound.

Photoplay November 1928



Vintage magazines

Photoplay , November 1928
Photoplay , November 1928
Photoplay , December 1928


Books with substantial mentioning of Me, Gangster

James Robert Parish
Prison Pictures from Hollywood, Plots, Critiques, Casts and Credits for 293 Theatrical and Made-for-Television Releases
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London, 1991

Frederick W. Ott
The Films of Carole Lombard
Secaucus, NJ, 1974

Books with an entry on Me, Gangster

Aubrey Solomon
The Fox Film Corporation, 1915-1935, A history and filmography
Jefferson, N.C., 2011