A Lion Is in the Streets
Warner Bros. | Release Date: September 23, 1953 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The New York TimesBosley Crowther
A headlong and dynamic drama about a back-country champion of the poor who permits his political ambitions to pull him down a perilously crooked road. Read full review
80
The New YorkerRichard Brody
The movie offers, amid its hectic and rowdy melodrama, a constant and underlying vision of the crucial power of government to serve the public good—and the ease with which that power can, almost invisibly, be shifted to the unfair advantage of the rich and the connected. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
Though the story is a hackneyed one--the rise of an itinerant to a position of power--Cagney is so dynamic that he rivets the viewer's attention. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneDave Kehr
James Cagney had his crack at a Huey Long-like character in this overlooked 1953 feature directed by Raoul Walsh; the film suffers from a near-complete lack of originality but Cagney and Walsh, here as always ("The Roaring Twenties," "White Heat"), strike some sparks together. [01 Nov 1992, p.15C]
60
The GuardianStaff (Not Credited)
A melodramatic tale at heart, but carried off with some wit and flair. [01 Feb 2000, p.24]
60
The Observer (UK)Philip French
An effective, superficial film, much inferior to All the Kings Men, which was also based on Louisianas governor Huey Long. [30 Jan 2000]
60
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
This covers much the same ground as Robert Rossen's earlier feature, All the King's Men, and Robert Collins' later telemovie, The Life and Assassination of the Kingfish. In decidedly more idiosyncratic style, however, with Cagney's aggressive energy suggesting the particular populist allure of the Southern shyster/demagogue. Read full review
50
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
The Adrian Locke Langley novel was a long time coming to the screen since first purchased by the Cagneys for filming. Along the way it lost a lot of the shocker quality and emerges as just an average drama of a man's political ambitions. Read full review
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