By the end he has regressed to the point where he is reliving Cagney's manic gangster role in "Public Enemy."

Scioscia is a long-time character actor frequently cast in gangster roles.

On his gangster roles: "You see mob guys when you play in nightclubs.

With the good reviews that Cagney received, he immediately starred in another gangster role in The Doorway to Hell.

Spain said he was due a movie tryout, and "a bunged-up face wouldn't be any help in Hollywood, unless Truman wanted a gangster role."

In Hollywood that attitude would change as he broke out of the gangster roles.

More of the same could lie in store for young black boys who play the gangster role too well.

The gangster roles came later.

The success of last year's "Mona Lisa," in which he played an ex-convict, served to underline his penchant for gangster roles.

He was eventually offered a screen test in Hollywood and played a series of gangster roles at Columbia Pictures.