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Sinners' Holiday

Summary

At a bustling boardwalk penny arcade on Coney Island, Ma Delano manages both her business and her complicated family: three grown children with secrets of their own. As the amusement pier runs rife with vice, her son Harry becomes involved with bootleggers smuggling alcohol during Prohibition, ultimately committing a murder in self-defense. Ma, desperate to protect Harry, schemes to frame the innocent Angel Harrigan, a well-meaning baker in love with her daughter Jennie. As lies unravel, Jennie faces a wrenching decision to clear Angel’s name, even at the cost of exposing her brother’s crime. The film, which marks James Cagney’s screen debut, skillfully blends themes of loyalty, betrayal, and the bitter aftermath of family decisions set against a gritty early-1930s carnival world.