That ending

This film has one of the most memorable endings in the history of cinema. You expect a gangster film to end with the gangster's death in a shoot-out but here he's offered a moral choice.

What's always intrigued me is the fact that we never see Cagney's face as he breaks down. Imagine depriving an actor of the opportunity to play such a scene directly into the camera. I always had the feeling that they did it that way because the studio didn't want to show its famous tough guy acting like a wimp- even if he was pretending.

Looking at the film again after several years, I note that Michael Curtiz avoided direct shots of people dying throughout the filming. This may have been at the insistence of the Hayes or Breen offices. Or it may have been inspired by William Wellman doing the same thing in "The Public Enemy". Curtiz gets a little more artistic about it- showing guys firing through mirrors, etc. Showing Cagney only in shadows, (remember Flynn and Rathbone in the same year's "The Adventures of Robin Hood"?), and hands is a continuation of what he's been doing throughout the film.

Cagney, when asked how he played the scene- as a genuine breakdown or an act- said the intent was ambiguity- you decide for yourself if it was real. That could also have been a reason for the breakdown occurring off-screen. The problem with that is that Cagney doesn't play it like a guy with any fear at all- nothing but defiance. No ambiguity there.