Cagney

For this screenprint of 1963, Andy Warhol repurposes a promotional photograph for the 1938 film Angels with Dirty Faces, featuring the legendary Hollywood actor James Cagney in the role of notorious gangster William "Rocky" Sullivan, whose litany of crimes included robbery, racketeering, and murder. A "hero figure" to young neighborhood ruffians, Sullivan is eventually arrested for his crimes after a dramatic police standoff and meets his fate in the electric chair. At the request of his childhood friend, Jerry, a Catholic priest, Sullivan pretends to be a coward on his way to his execution to dispel the aura of glamour that his young admirers see in him. Cagney's supporting cast included Humphrey Bogart, Pat O'Brien, and the Dead End Kids (later known as the Bowery Boys). Warhol produced seven versions of this screenprint between 1962 and 1964, describing them as "drawings" because each displayed unique characteristics of inking and printing.