Bullets or Ballots (1936)

Directed by William Keighley. With Edward G. Robinson, Joan Blondell, Barton MacLane, Humphrey Bogart. After Police Captain Dan McLaren becomes police commissioner former detective Johnny Blake knocks him down convincing rackets boss Al Kruger that Blake is sincere in his effort to join the mob. "Buggs" Fenner thinks Blake is a police agent.

Bullets or Ballots is a 1936 gangster film starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Blondell, Barton MacLane, and Humphrey Bogart. Robinson plays a police detective who infiltrates a crime gang. This is the first of several films featuring both Robinson and Bogart.

Two-fisted New York police detective Edward G. Robinson is so volatile that he manages to get himself thrown off the force in disgrace. The local gangsters are delighted, in that Robinson had been breathing down their necks. When Robinson goes to crime boss Barton MacLaine insisting that he's through with law enforcement and wants to switch to the other side, MacLaine's chief henchmen Humphrey Bogart doesn't buy the story, but has to go along since he doesn't want to incur the wrath of MacLaine. Robinson offers to show his former enemies how to circumvent the law, making him an invaluable participant in gang activities. Actually, Robinson hasn't gone crooked at all; he's operating undercover, with the full knowledge of the city police inspector, in hopes of locating the

Bullets or Ballots Trailer Bullets or Ballots is a 1936 gangster film starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Blondell, Barton MacLane and Humphrey Bogart. Robinso...

“What time does the crime picture start?” Al Kruger, notorious racketeer, asks the box office girl of a movie theater. When a gangster film from 1936 opens with a line that self-referential, I’m already glued to my screen. In fact, a big, unmistakable movie marquee—advertising a crime picture—fills the first shot of Bullets or Ballots…

After Police Captain Dan McLaren becomes police commissioner, former detective Johnny Blake publicly punches him, convincing rackets boss Al Kruger that Blake is sincere in his effort to join the mob. "Bugs" Fenner, meanwhile, is certain that Blake is a police agent.

This is a fast, smooth-working action picture. Story formula is along usual lines, with news events liberally sprinkled throughout. Martin Mooney, a New York reporter who got himself some front-page attention with a series of racketeering yarns in his newspaper, [is credited with co-writing the screen story with Seton I. Miller].

Bullets or Ballots is a 1936 gangster film starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Blondell, Barton MacLane, and Humphrey Bogart. Robinson plays a police detective who infiltrates a crime gang. This is the first of several films featuring both Robinson and Bogart.

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson: While not the most creative gangster movie ever made, Bullets or Ballots at least manages to remain quite entertaining. It holds up quite well after 70 years and creates an interesting view of a particular criminal element. Starring Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart. Warner, $19.97, 7/18/2006.